Any linguists among us?

[OneSerious]

Hi all!

Just lost my job last week and have been looking for work. Whilst I have no formal IT training I still know my way round a computer. However that doesn't count for much to would be employers.

I've been looking at going back in to education. I'm 22 so I'm hoping it's not to late. Some time back I took a notion to learn German or Dutch. I know jobs in translation pay pretty good and it's something I wouldn't mind learning. I should point out that in school I did French (badly) and hated every moment of it but as I've got older I now appreciate education in a way I didn't back in school. I also came away with a C grade in GCSE English (UK peeps will know what that is.) which isn't exactly great, it's considered a bare minimum pass.

Anyway, I've been looking on some websites at online courses. If I did decide to go ahead with this I assume going to college or getting a tutor would be best since you would have someone who can explain the ins and outs of the language one to one.

So I just wanted to see if we had any people on here who speak multiple languages and how they went about learning and what their experiences were with learning a new language.

Thanks.

 

[noobvious]

There are certainly some multi-lingual people here, but you'll find most of them are on your side of the Atlantic, as opposed to mine. It's fascinating to me that many Europeans for whom English is a second or third language write better than many Americans who only speak English.

 

[Trucidation]

Well, when the majority of reading materials you're interested in are in certain languages that can be a powerful motivator. I don't know about translation jobs paying well unless it's the ones dealing with specific technical areas. Short of going native I agree that a structured course would be your best bet for starting out. Striking out on your own, I found it easiest to start with childrens' books and folk tales. In my experience once I get past the grammar and general cultural idioms translation gets easy pretty fast and then it's only a matter of vocab. Momentum and motivation are crucial though.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
when you are born in a Country with only around 300,000 inhabitants (and that's an over estimate) you have to learn other languages.

The main problem however if you are a Native English speaker is that most people just want to learn English and relish any opportunity to practice it so the chances are that even when you attempt to speak the foreign language people will answer in English --- Even in Paris where a few years ago people would do ANYTHING to avoid speaking English --it's the reverse now.

Just keep pressing on in the foreign language.

Internet Radio broadcasts are also good -- much clearer than the old fashioned "Short Wave Radios" we used to have when I was a youngster.

Read foreign papers too or look at the News media sites of the Countries you are interested in. The sites are often mult1-lingual so a help there.

Another excellent way is to watch a DVD in your Native language but with the subtitles of the language you want to learn switched on.

Also these courses are absolutely EXCELLENT

Read this Wiki and then search on Assimil. EXCELLENT and Natural method

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assimil

Cheers
jimbo

 

[vierasniper]

sarcasm is my native tounge

 

[OneSerious]

Hi there
when you are born in a Country with only around 300,000 inhabitants (and that's an over estimate) you have to learn other languages.

The main problem however if you are a Native English speaker is that most people just want to learn English and relish any opportunity to practice it so the chances are that even when you attempt to speak the foreign language people will answer in English --- Even in Paris where a few years ago people would do ANYTHING to avoid speaking English --it's the reverse now.

Just keep pressing on in the foreign language.

Internet Radio broadcasts are also good -- much clearer than the old fashioned "Short Wave Radios" we used to have when I was a youngster.

Read foreign papers too or look at the News media sites of the Countries you are interested in. The sites are often mult1-lingual so a help there.

Another excellent way is to watch a DVD in your Native language but with the subtitles of the language you want to learn switched on.

Also these courses are absolutely EXCELLENT

Read this Wiki and then search on Assimil. EXCELLENT and Natural method

Assimil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers
jimbo

I've just looked Assimil up and it seems to get good reviews. Most people have said it beats the other traditional learning methods. I think I will pick up their German with Ease book and CD and see how it goes. I do like the idea of Dutch, but if I'm correct Dutch is very Germanic and maybe trying to learn German first would help if I in future decided to give Dutch a go.

sarcasm is my native tounge

I'm pretty good at it myself

 

[Kari]

Judging from your post, you are on a right track. I'm one of those people believing in importance of knowing not only other cultures, but their languages as well.

I come from a bilingual Finnish home (Finland is bilingual > Finnish and Swedish), married with a German wife living in Germany, after living in both Italy and Spain. My work language has mostly been English. My daily life includes my four main languages. I've never really studied a foreign language and I'll notice it; although I understand everything and can make me understood, I make silly mistakes time to time.

My point is, at 22 nothing is too late to you. Take studying as a project, make a plan and stick to it. It takes only a year or two and then you will have a huge advantage on job market.

One alternative would be to seek a job abroad and study there. An example: Here in Germany is a constant need of English speaking personnel. Call centers etc. are looking people who can English or some other foreign language. You have no problems to find something; because you are an EU citizen, you have 25 countries to choose, where you don't need any permits to work, or if the official permit is needed it is given to you automatically.

Once you have found a job, even part time, you can take courses in local language. For instance here in Germany every town has a "Volkhochchule" (Volk = people, hoch = high, schule = school), kind of evening schools to adults where you can take lesson from German to pottery, from painting to folklore dancing. I checked the net now and for instance a 100 hour (four hours a night five days a week, four weeks) intensive, small group German course for beginners costs a few hundred euros, including text books. After that there is also 100 hour intermediate A and intermediate B and then Advanced levels.

For non-EU citizens this would be almost impossible, I've seen it when trying to organize things for a non-EU friend of mine. But you are an EU citizen, the whole Europe is open to you. Knowing something about European business world, I would say the important languages on the future job market are German, French, Russian and (really!) both Japanese and Chinese.

Search Google for "English jobs in XXXX" if you are interested in this method, learning a language while working abroad. Here's a good site for English jobs in Germany: http://www.toytowngermany.com/jobs/

Kari

P.S. Also my computers "speak" several languages , thanks to Windows 7 Ultimate's language packs:

 

[lorddenis]

Judging from your post, you are on a right track. I'm one of those people believing in importance of knowing not only other cultures, but their languages as well.

I come from a bilingual Finnish home (Finland is bilingual > Finnish and Swedish), married with a German wife living in Germany, after living in both Italy and Spain. My work language has mostly been English. My daily life includes my four main languages. I've never really studied a foreign language and I'll notice it; although I understand everything and can make me understood, I make silly mistakes time to time.

My point is, at 22 nothing is too late to you. Take studying as a project, make a plan and stick to it. It takes only a year or two and then you will have a huge advantage on job market.

One alternative would be to seek a job abroad and study there. An example: Here in Germany is a constant need of English speaking personnel. Call centers etc. are looking people who can English or some other foreign language. You have no problems to find something; because you are an EU citizen, you have 25 countries to choose, where you don't need any permits to work, or if the official permit is needed it is given to you automatically.

Once you have found a job, even part time, you can take courses in local language. For instance here in Germany every town has a "Volkhochchule" (Volk = people, hoch = high, schule = school), kind of evening schools to adults where you can take lesson from German to pottery, from painting to folklore dancing. I checked the net now and for instance a 100 hour (four hours a night five days a week, four weeks) intensive, small group German course for beginners costs a few hundred euros, including text books. After that there is also 100 hour intermediate A and intermediate B and then Advanced levels.

For non-EU citizens this would be almost impossible, I've seen it when trying to organize things for a non-EU friend of mine. But you are an EU citizen, the whole Europe is open to you. Knowing something about European business world, I would say the important languages on the future job market are German, French, Russian and (really!) both Japanese and Chinese.

Search Google for "English jobs in XXXX" if you are interested in this method, learning a language while working abroad. Here's a good site for English jobs in Germany: http://www.toytowngermany.com/jobs/

Kari

P.S. Also my computers "speak" several languages , thanks to Windows 7 Ultimate's language packs:

View attachment 112840

You just reminded me of this:

Do you speak russian ? yes vodka :roflmao:
And you also reminded me of a sceene from Pulp Fiction althog i dont think its vise to post it. Dont want to get banned.

I speak 3 languages
- English
- German (its a little rust'y)
- Slovene

And you are never too old to learn a language.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
when you are born in a Country with only around 300,000 inhabitants (and that's an over estimate) you have to learn other languages.

The main problem however if you are a Native English speaker is that most people just want to learn English and relish any opportunity to practice it so the chances are that even when you attempt to speak the foreign language people will answer in English --- Even in Paris where a few years ago people would do ANYTHING to avoid speaking English --it's the reverse now.

Just keep pressing on in the foreign language.

Internet Radio broadcasts are also good -- much clearer than the old fashioned "Short Wave Radios" we used to have when I was a youngster.

Read foreign papers too or look at the News media sites of the Countries you are interested in. The sites are often mult1-lingual so a help there.

Another excellent way is to watch a DVD in your Native language but with the subtitles of the language you want to learn switched on.

Also these courses are absolutely EXCELLENT

Read this Wiki and then search on Assimil. EXCELLENT and Natural method

Assimil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers
jimbo

I've just looked Assimil up and it seems to get good reviews. Most people have said it beats the other traditional learning methods. I think I will pick up their German with Ease book and CD and see how it goes. I do like the idea of Dutch, but if I'm correct Dutch is very Germanic and maybe trying to learn German first would help if I in future decided to give Dutch a go.

sarcasm is my native tounge

I'm pretty good at it myself

Hi there
I ripped the CD's of the German with Ease on to a single Minidisc and listen when using public transport -- the book is a nice small size to carry around too.

You can rip to IPOD or other music player too -- I like the Minidisc as I can also record on it so I can check my pronounciation against the original.

I am currently trying the Spanish Course with the Base Language in French -- that way I can practice 2 Languages at the same time -- since my current contract is in France I need to understand some French too -- I've always wanted also to learn Spanish but never got round to it until now.

I'd definitely recommend the Assimil method -- its better to do 15 mins a day EVERY DAY rather than longer stretches with several days between the lessons.

15 Mins per day is enough and you will be surprised how quickly you build up a decent basic vocabulary.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[OneSerious]

Thanks for the replies guys! Kari, lorddenis and Jimbo. You folks with your multiple languages impress me no end. Think I will pick up the Assimil basic German when I get my last pay on Friday, as Jimbo recommended. It will be a start and I've read good things about it. If all goes well, maybe sit some official exams in the future. Now that I'm unemployed and the way the job market is in the UK right now, I have plenty of time on my hands. So I might as well spend it educating myself.

I'll hopefully drop in here with an update on how I'm going.

Cheers folks!

 

[SledgeDG]

Not sure if learning German helps you in the UK. If it is just about learning a foreign language, I would pick Spanish. it's much easier than German (not so many funny exceptions from the grammar rules)
Fact is, the more languages you know, the easier it becomes to learn the next one.
But if you stick with German and run into problems, just drop me a msg and I'll try to explain.

-DG

 

[Skulblaka]

I know English, obviously, Russian and currently learning Japanese.

 

[Pusspa]

if it helps, I am a cunning linguist.

 

[Skulblaka]

if it helps, I am a cunning linguist.

Dictionary, translation?

 

[Kari]

Not sure if learning German helps you in the UK. If it is just about learning a foreign language, I would pick Spanish. it's much easier than German (not so many funny exceptions from the grammar rules)
Fact is, the more languages you know, the easier it becomes to learn the next one.
But if you stick with German and run into problems, just drop me a msg and I'll try to explain.

-DG

I was not recommending German because I live here. My recommendation was based on facts and my personal keen interest in European trade.

Statistics speak for themselves. Germany is Britain's biggest trading partner. Between January 1st and August 31st 2010 German import and export all together was about 47 billion pounds. Spanish trade same period was under 1/3th of that, about 15 billion pounds.

From this point of view it's quite clear which language is more important, if the goal in studying a foreign language is it to be an asset in job searching. The British companies are going to need more and more German speaking employees.

Source: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=topPartners

Kari

 

[noobvious]

if it helps, I am a cunning linguist.

I was waiting for this one....:haha:

 

[thefabe]

This is supposed to be one of the easiest ways to learn a second language. It's used by many Corporations and Goverment agencies. Learn Spanish - Learn French - Language Learning - Rosetta Stone

I only speak English and some constrution worker Spanglish.
Fabe

 

[The Howling Wolves]

Thanks for the replies guys! Kari, lorddenis and Jimbo. You folks with your multiple languages impress me no end. Think I will pick up the Assimil basic German when I get my last pay on Friday, as Jimbo recommended. It will be a start and I've read good things about it. If all goes well, maybe sit some official exams in the future. Now that I'm unemployed and the way the job market is in the UK right now, I have plenty of time on my hands. So I might as well spend it educating myself.

I'll hopefully drop in here with an update on how I'm going.

Cheers folks!

Best of Luck to you my friend in your quest for a new job!

 

[SledgeDG]

Statistics speak for themselves. Germany is Britain's biggest trading partner. Between January 1st and August 31st 2010 German import and export all together was about 47 billion pounds. Spanish trade same period was under 1/3th of that, about 15 billion pounds.

I don't doubt that, Kari. I went from a different POV : since in Germany learning English (at least the basics) in school is mandatory for grade 4 and up, it might be more beneficiary to learn an easier language first. But of course it still makes a difference if you're trading and are able to speak German or not. Usually people respect that you're trying at least.
I speak German, English, French Dutch and Spanish...not all as fluently but I can swear in at least 25 languages :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

-DG

 

[Kari]

I went from a different POV : since in Germany learning English (at least the basics) in school is mandatory for grade 4 and up, it might be more beneficiary to learn an easier language first. But of course it still makes a difference if you're trading and are able to speak German or not. Usually people respect that you're trying at least.

I most sincerely hope all Germans reading this understand I don't want to offend anybody or anything, but a sad fact is that the amount of people, per capita, in Germany who can speak and understand English is not nearly as high than in most other European countries (not counting France, Spain and Italy). I have no idea is it because of German educational system, or something else, but it's a fact, easily tested.

A most common answer when asking if somebody speaks English is "Nein", simply and short. For instance I have a lot of family and friends visiting from Finland and before retirement customers and other work related guests from non-German speaking countries. Trying to make it easier to my guests, I always ask in restaurants, shops etc. if the personnel can speak English, so my guests could communicate directly with them. It's surprisingly often when the answer is this one word. Nein.

It is also surprisingly often I've heard the answer "Aber warum? Ich bin doch Deutsch!" (But why? I am German!")

Kari


P.S.
A trivial funny fact: In Western Europe, English is less known, spoken and understood in Italy, Spain, all French speaking regions (France, parts of Swizerland and Belgium) and all German speaking regions (Germany, Austria, parts of Swizerland). These countries or regions are also the only ones in Western Europe where all foreign TV and film is dubbed to local language, instead of showing original versions with subtitles as in the rest of the Western Europe.