importance of the ancient languages

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<<I'm surprised (arthur also) that hungarian does have latin words, because I thought hungarian isn't related to the european languages, so not the latin (and not the germanic, slavic etc..)>>

A little correction:

Hungarian is not an Indo-European language, therefore it is not related to Slavic, Germanic or Latinate languages. BUT: being a Finno-Ugric language, it IS related to European languages.

Sorry Liz,
I thought that hungarian is related to mongolian, and that therfore it's an asian language. (but spoken in europe of course )it make sense, that it would be realted to them when you're considering the loctaion :-)

My sister has noticed that I've visited ths forum and she will read my messages !!!!!

No probs, Pauline :-)

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I would imagine that it would sound very much like Dutch, and it would be very similar to Frisian. Pauline, why is it that you've studied only Germanic languages, when your mother tounge is French? Is it just because of your geographical location in N. Europe, or do you just prefer Germanic languages because of personal taste? Other Germanic languages are incomprehensible to me, and I don't find them nearly as appealing as Romance languages like Italian and Spanish, or even French. I plan on studying French at university, and after that, I'm probably going to tackle Italian. But, if I do study another Germanic language, I'll probably do German, for business purposes, as there is close to 100 million German speakers in Europe.

About a year ago, in a Chinese restaurant, I was talking with my parents about which languages I would study at university. At the time, I was adamant that I would study French and Spanish, and depending on where I went, that I would start either Italian or Portuguese in the second year.

Then my mother said something rather bizarre: 'I think you should do French and German instead.'

I immediately ridiculed her suggestion, on the grounds that German 'sounds horrible', 'looks horrible', was 'too difficult' and that there was 'nothing of interest in Germany'.

A year later, German is now my favourite language out of all the languages I have some knowledge of. And I'm obviously going to do French and German at university next year! So, it's amazing how one can change one's mind in such a short space of time.

Hello LAA,

It's because of the languaegs of this country (french, dutch, German). At my school it's obligatory learn : 1.Latin 2. ducth 3. Englsih then you can choose to leanr german also. The big choice is between languages or sciences etc because if you would like learn well those languages, of course you must study sufficiently.

I chose sciences, so I have 4h language lessons every week. I don't learn anymore latin, but 4 hours it's not many. This year, I will pay more attention at English, because it's very important and my level is low, and my ducth is the level of the final exam (after 3 years, 2009) so I'm learning english & german during those hours.

Romance languages are nice, but personally I like very much the germanic ones also. spanish and italian are appealing, as you've wrote, in fact i can speak some spanish & understand italian, but very basic.

My aim is to study medicine for be a doctor, so for me languages are very fun hobby.I'm fearful that i will not be able speak a language and communicate, so it's a good idea learn several.

It seems you love languages ! If you study french at uni, speak spanish already then italian will be very easy for you. Maybe you will experience some difficulties separate them - for exemple mix the verbs etc.. I have this with german and dutch, sometimes english also.

What you learn at school, and what are the options ? we can create a thread for all the school age visitors to tell what they're learning. it would be interesting :-)

<< So, it's amazing how one can change one's mind in such a short space of time. >>

Yes, I agree. also, it's in the fashion to prefer Romance languaegs, but there's not a good justification. german can be beautiful !!! English also of course.

That is interesting Pauline, I find myself in a similar situation. My aim is also to study medicine to be a doctor, so languages are really only a hobby for me. Although I can pretty much understand written Romance languages, my goal is to learn how to understand them when spoken and become overall better at them. People find it odd that I have such an interest in Romance languages but yet am reluctant to study Latin. My native toungues are English and Spanish. The closest major language to Spanish, Portuguese, is very easy for me to understand, especially when written. However, the closest major language to English, Dutch, is beyond my grasp of comprehension, save a few words here and there. I have set a sort of challange to myself to be able to understand more of the other Germanic languages a little better. I guess we'll see how I faire...

<<What you learn at school, and what are the options ? we can create a thread for all the school age visitors to tell what they're learning. it would be interesting :-) >>

I have never taken a foreign language course in my life. In the U.S., schools don't push foreign language acquisition as agressively as they do in Europe. I've taught myself Spanish, although I don't feel fluent, because I make some grammar mistakes with future tense verbs, and place a "lo" la" "le" "el" in the wrong places sometimes, and my vocabulary is not what it would be if I had actually studied it professionally. But, as you said, I have acquired a love of languages. I only recently took an active interest in them, as a result of their relationship with other social sciences like history, cultural anthropology, geopolitics, etc. I have a passion for Latin languages. To me, they are simply the most beautiful that exist, particularly Italian and Spanish. With the completion of about one year or semester of Spanish at uni, I'll be fluent. From there, I'm going to take up French. I see that as the path of slowly closing in on my goal of one day learning Italian. As of now, I just don't see the practicality of it, as Italian is not widely spoken in places outside of Europe. I just love the beauty of it, and the culture which is transmitted through it.

I commend you on your impressive knowledge of numerous languages. I believe you said you are 14, no? Not bad for such a young chick.

<<My native toungues are English and Spanish. The closest major language to Spanish, Portuguese, is very easy for me to understand, especially when written. However, the closest major language to English, Dutch, is beyond my grasp of comprehension, save a few words here and there. I have set a sort of challange to myself to be able to understand more of the other Germanic languages a little better. I guess we'll see how I faire... >>

I second that. Being that my native tounge is English, and that my Eng. vocabulary is about 4 times that of my Sp. vocabulary, you would think that I would find other Germanic languages to be easier. Well, the fact is I don't. In written form, I can understand a good amount of Portuguese, and I can communicate fairly well with Italian speakers most of the time, and in written form, I can understand at least a little of French. I can't comprehend a thing in German or Dutch, both in written and spoken forms! If some of the vocabulary is of a similar origin, it is still so different as to be totally unintelligable for me. For me, other Latin languages are a lot easier to make heads or tails of.

Speak for yourself LAA. Foreign language was a mandatory subject at every school I've ever been to, and also all the others that I am familiar with. I would say it was pretty aggressive as I started at mandatory foreign language classes when I was six. It was also required (at least two years) for admittance into the colleges and universities I applied to. Where did you attend school?

Really? Well, foreign languages weren't offered at any of my schools until the Junior high level, and even then, it was only at 8th grade. I move around a lot, so I have been to a multitude of different schools, but I usually end up starting at the new school right in the middle of the year. The foreign language classes are always filled up by that time, so I never have a chance to take one. And I think in California, foreign language used to be a requirement, but I've inquired since I moved back to Cali a couple of months ago, and according to the school staff, it's not anymore. In Vegas, it was not required at all. It was only one among many elective options. Now I'm a Junior, and once again, I entered my school late, so I missed yet another opportunity to take a foreign language class. I've been to 4 different high schools now, three different middle schools, and three different elementary schools.

Wow, I didn't realize you moved around so often. You've attended more schools now than the number I'm familiar with (not counting college/university as I did some extensive research)!

I should have to take into account that I am a private school baby. Been to just one public school for just two weeks of my life, though I remember foreign language there too.

I also should take into account that speaking Spanish (the main foreign language offered) in some capacity is considered very important in Miami, thus perhaps stressed more.

<<You've attended more schools now than the number I'm familiar with (not counting college/university as I did some extensive research)! >>

I'm sorry. I don't understand what you meant by this. Maybe the caffiene is just running out in my brain.

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Well, you lucky girl. I usually do school, work, and I used to be on a club swim team until my disease worsened. Public school that is.

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The stupid town I just moved into recently is 56% Hispanic. The numbers speak for themselves. I can't wait to move back to L.A. or Vegas. Not because of the large Spanish speaking population, but because I hate this stupid hick, farm town atmosphere. I just prefer a metropolitan lifestyle.

Pauline: ''My aim is to study medicine for be a doctor, ...''

As I know what kind of doctor you want to become, see here (german site) for making up your mind if this is the right choice: www.kvpm.de/

<< The closest major language to Spanish, Portuguese, is very easy for me to understand, especially when written. However, the closest major language to English, Dutch, is beyond my grasp of comprehension, save a few words here and there. I have set a sort of challange to myself to be able to understand more of the other Germanic languages a little better. I guess we'll see how I faire... >>

JR,
it's interesting you would like to study for be doctor also. You want to be a GP or specialise ?

For soem reason, it seems between the romance languages it's more easy guess and undertsnad, that between the germanic. The big shock would be for you the word order, because german and dutch put the verbs to the end, split verbs and make many inversions what we don't know in romance langauegs, and in english it isn't also I think. After this, in ducth there's nothing too difficult, but German has a difficult system with accusative, nominative, dative and genitive.I suppose it's for most people very difficult, unless your own langaueg has complications similar .
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Hello LAA,

how incredible !!!!!
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Yes, i'm 14. Thanks :-) when I'm feeling well, I can learn very quickly and well, but I think i not make things with a high level of exactness.

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what disease have you ? it seems it's something to see with movement ? i hope it will not worsen more. Have other people at your school a disease ? At my school there isn't another person, but they are very kind to me and sometimes i receive extra help.
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<< Foreign language was a mandatory subject at every school >>

Hello Tiffany,
In belgium it is mandatory also. At athénée (grammar school) it's mandatory learn latin first, but at the other schools you must leanre english only I think, and perhaps also some german or ducth if you chose them.Then it depend of your school if you can learn spanish, russian etc...
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Are the private schools better that the public ones ? I think ther aren't private schools here. the differneces depend of you, for exemple if your talent is academic, or technical etc... then there are special schools for people who have disabilities motoric or learning. There are differnet schools for religions also, the most of them are catholic.

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