| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | Poll: If you could instantly speak any language fluently, which would it be? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Peter Simon 
Netherlands
Local time: 05:38
English to Hungarian
+ ...
As I always hated German for its quite rough sound (no, my hearing is actually very good) and, partly because of its connotations for middle-/east-Europeans, I never learned it but I've had to realise lately that it's a must in this part of the world. I regularly have to drive across Germany and Austria to get to my native country and back to the Netherlands and people in between don't often speak English so I've become weary (at least at my age) of always having to apologise for not speaking Ge... See more As I always hated German for its quite rough sound (no, my hearing is actually very good) and, partly because of its connotations for middle-/east-Europeans, I never learned it but I've had to realise lately that it's a must in this part of the world. I regularly have to drive across Germany and Austria to get to my native country and back to the Netherlands and people in between don't often speak English so I've become weary (at least at my age) of always having to apologise for not speaking German. No more. Otherwise, I'd like to speak Mandarin as during the three years I spent there they were unable to properly teach me much so I was only able to get by on my own initiative, with the help of books and the dictionary, but that was decades ago. Besides, Arabic is becoming important, too, in Europe, though with my learning style mainly based on reading, it's just as difficult (if not more) than Chinese. Almost lastly, I'd like to be conversant with Turkish people also amply present in my city. I dare not mention Spanish or Italian as I've also been learning some Russian, just to refresh my very old memories so the above would be enough over 65, I guess, at least for a while. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Paulo Melo
Brazil
Local time: 00:38
English to Portuguese
+ ...
if I consider the trouble I would be saving - and the opportunities I would have.
Japanese because I learned it for years never became fluent.
Spanish because it's the best language for cursing ))
| | | | Peter Simon
Netherlands
Local time: 05:38
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Paulo Melo wrote: if I consider the trouble I would be saving - and the opportunities I would have. Japanese because I learned it for years never became fluent. Spanish because it's the best language for cursing ))
I guess Hungarian is the richest language for cursing. Don't ask me to write 20 lines of just one sentence as a really rude example
[Edited at 2024-02-23 17:52 GMT]
| | | | Paulo Melo
Brazil
Local time: 00:38
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Peter Simon wrote: Paulo Melo wrote: if I consider the trouble I would be saving - and the opportunities I would have. Japanese because I learned it for years never became fluent. Spanish because it's the best language for cursing )) I guess Hungarian is the richest language for cursing. Don't ask me to write 20 lines of just one sentence as a really rude example [Edited at 2024-02-23 17:52 GMT]
At least in how it sounds and how I can partly understand it I'm sure Hungarians must excel at it too!
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Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 21:38
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
I'd like to speak Mandarin Chinese because it would increase the amount of projects I would deal with. PR China is filing thousands of patents every year and achieving success in many technology fields. Furthermore, it would enhance my readings because History was mainly written by the Western "values"-based traditional historians.
| | | | Iulia Parvu
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:38
Member (2022)
English to Romanian
+ ...
Peter Simon wrote: Paulo Melo wrote: if I consider the trouble I would be saving - and the opportunities I would have. Japanese because I learned it for years never became fluent. Spanish because it's the best language for cursing )) I guess Hungarian is the richest language for cursing. Don't ask me to write 20 lines of just one sentence as a really rude example [Edited at 2024-02-23 17:52 GMT]
Romanian joined the chat: 😏😏😏
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 04:38
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Cecília Alves wrote: Tom in London wrote: ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "If you could instantly speak any language fluently, which would it be?". This poll was originally submitted by Iulia Parvu. View the poll results » Arabic, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian. And then others. Interesting you mentioned Brazilian Portuguese. That's a surprise...
It's no surprise to me
Brazilian Portuguese is easier to learn than European Portuguese for a non-native speaker. And this particularly applies to the phonetics of the variant.
For example, I think it's easier for an English speaker to pronounce 'legau' (cool) than 'legal' (the final "l" sound). Although I know that this final 'l' can be pronounced in certain regions of the country.
By the way, in European Portuguese it's 'fixe' as in fish.
To date, I've only met one non-native speaker who had a reasonable good European Portuguese with a slight accent, and he was even able to imitate the sound of the regional variant from the north of Portugal.
When someone learns our mother tongue, I always praise them, even with written or verbal mistakes.
| | | | Cecília Alves
Argentina
Local time: 00:38
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| It could be, but... | Feb 23 |
expressisverbis wrote: It's no surprise to me Brazilian Portuguese is easier to learn than European Portuguese for a non-native speaker. And this particularly applies to the phonetics of the variant. For example, I think it's easier for an English speaker to pronounce 'legau' (cool) than 'legal' (the final "l" sound). Although I know that this final 'l' can be pronounced in certain regions of the country. By the way, in European Portuguese it's 'fixe' as in fish. To date, I've only met one non-native speaker who had a reasonable good European Portuguese with a slight accent, and he was even able to imitate the sound of the regional variant from the north of Portugal. When someone learns our mother tongue, I always praise them, even with written or verbal mistakes.
It seems easier if one aims to learn "neutral" Brazilian Portuguese, as when they go to very large cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. But, of course, there you'll find lots of slangs, like street language unknown to many foreigners, even to many "cariocas" or "paulistas". If you go further North or further South, many other differences appear in pronunciation (phonemes "t", "s", "d", for example), vocabulary ("aipim", "mandioca", "macaxeira" - manioc - a classic example) and also grammar ("você vai", "tu vais" "tu vai"). Thus, we have many "Portugueses", different "Brasis", clearly due to our being a continental country.
I cannot say much about European Portuguese, its particularities, apart from distinguishing certain orthography, vocabulary and grammar differences from Brazilian Portuguese. But maybe it could be more difficult to learn because it's less "permissive" than our variant, meaning that it preserves more its use of the lexicon and grammar.
Anyway, it makes more sense to me that an european is more interested in learning Portuguese from Portugal, for obvious geographical reasons. Unless they already know this variant and is willing to spend some time in this other side of the ocean...:)
[Edited at 2024-02-24 02:22 GMT]
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