Trying to learn as many lanugages as possible
August 28, 2009 9:10 PM Subscribe
I want to know how to speak in as many languages as possible, not necessarily fluently, just a couple things in each one. The goal here is variety, rather than depth.
Things I am looking for:
-basic phrases, things you can't possibly get through a conversation without saying ( Hello, no, yes, I am ____, thank you, sorry, etc)
- Things that would be helpful in a foreign country (I am not very good at ____, where is ____, etc)
Has the dual purpose of impressing people and increasing my chances of survival in a foreign country.
Things I am looking for:
-basic phrases, things you can't possibly get through a conversation without saying ( Hello, no, yes, I am ____, thank you, sorry, etc)
- Things that would be helpful in a foreign country (I am not very good at ____, where is ____, etc)
Has the dual purpose of impressing people and increasing my chances of survival in a foreign country.
Learn how to say "Do you know who I am?" in every language.
posted by furtive at 9:31 PM on August 28, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by furtive at 9:31 PM on August 28, 2009 [3 favorites]
There's a whole site dedicated to this kind of thing.
posted by jedicus at 9:33 PM on August 28, 2009
posted by jedicus at 9:33 PM on August 28, 2009
Our own LanguageHat has co-authored a book about how to cuss in lots of different languages.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:14 PM on August 28, 2009
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:14 PM on August 28, 2009
How to learn (but not master) any language in 1 hour.
posted by cmgonzalez at 11:42 PM on August 28, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by cmgonzalez at 11:42 PM on August 28, 2009 [1 favorite]
Stay inside the language family of your native language, and you'll be breezing along.
Try to tackle something completely alien and therefore difficult and you'll need grit, time and a whole lot of work.
posted by flippant at 12:26 AM on August 29, 2009
Try to tackle something completely alien and therefore difficult and you'll need grit, time and a whole lot of work.
posted by flippant at 12:26 AM on August 29, 2009
Omniglot's collection of useful phrases in many different languages with sound files for some of them
posted by Beautiful Screaming Lady at 2:35 AM on August 29, 2009
posted by Beautiful Screaming Lady at 2:35 AM on August 29, 2009
I was just coming in to recommend Omniglot myself. Instead, since it's been posted, I'll reinforce that recommendation with a link to where it was featured on the Blue earlier. It's got a good selection of useful phrases, but it's also got some silly fun (they teach you how to say "My hovercraft is full of eels" in 79 different languages).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:39 AM on August 29, 2009
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:39 AM on August 29, 2009
And I completely understand the fascination with a lot of different languages; I sort of collect a couple of phrases in other languages myself. Although the things I know how to say in Chinese and in Russian are probably not useful (a friend in college taught me how to say "You are not a Chinese newspaper" in Mandarin, and the friend of a college roommate taught me a word in Russian which she claimed meant "to ejaculate copiously).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:41 AM on August 29, 2009
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:41 AM on August 29, 2009
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The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast
posted by aquafortis at 9:15 PM on August 28, 2009