I was reading this article on the BBC website about the origin of the English language. Apparently the proto-language English eventually developed from was kicking around in Turkey 9000 years ago. The article also links to this web site which lists all the languages spoken in the UK and all the countries where English is spoken in it's various forms and dialects. The whole thing is a bit mind boggling. Personally I speak English/Glaswegian with trace elements of Scots. And I'm fairly sure I can remember a few choice French words as well. So what languages does everybody else speak?
Modern English with a bit of Manc creeping in; Canadian English; US English and I am passable in "Pikey" English. I can understand but not speak Geordie; a few phrases of Latin, Old English; basic French; a little Klingon (really) and I can read Early Middle English without too much effort
I speak 'Merican and can discuss my testicles in German and Spanish. I'm hoping to add French to my scrotal repertoire in the future though.
Thats really interesting, as Ive just watched a history channel documentary on the Hittites and cuneiform. When translated, (cuneiform tablets) the scholars realised it was am Indo-European language, and had nothing to do with the middle eastern/arab languages. (as was assumed for a long time).
My CV says passive intermediate French, and as far as English goes, I speak a Yorkshire/Bristolian hybrid. Fun times! The dialects mess with the accent too. And I can understand the majority of versions of Irish English, agus an cúpla focail as gaeilge (and there they are...!)
English, Scouse, a few words of Polish and Swedish, very basic French and a little Middle Egyptian (plus some Klingon, Romulan, Jaffa and Huttese).
I know only some swearing in Klingon. London English Cantonese basic Mandarin (which basically is Cantonese with a Mandarin accent)
My first language is English. I can get by in French, although my grammar is lousy. I can speak a teeny bit of Spanish, and I have an assortment of odd words and phrases in Italian, German, Punjabi, Mandarin and Cantonese.
Something to tell us about your past? How'd you manage to learn Polish? We have a poles in work. You have to tell me those words so I can be dead smart
I never knew MAP was so cultured in alien languages. Is Klingon being used as some sort of weird code?
I spent 3 months working in Poland a few years ago and picked up a few works (mainly yes, no, I don't speak Polish, sorry, hello and goodbye). It lets us talk about you without you knowing... :yeleyes: