Friday Five had a great weekend and is now ready to get back to work....

[magnetic_pole]

Via alisanne, the week's prompt from thefridayfive and my answers.

1. After your first language, what language would you most like to learn? (Say first language too)
2. Does your country have a second language? What is it?
3. How many languages can you count to 5 in? To 10 in? List them.
4. What is the first overseas country you visited? And from where? (ie/ timbuctoo to mars)
5. What country do you most want to visit? And why?



1. After your first language, what language would you most like to learn? (Say first language too)
Monolingual English speaker here who'd love to know Spanish! So useful. It should be required in the US, IMHO, and started much, much earlier than our current system allows. (In the school system I attended as a child, we only started a language at 15, having had no grammar beforehand. Needless to say, most of us didn't get very far.)
2. Does your country have a second language? What is it?
No national second language in the US. In the city where I live, public documents are also translated into Spanish, Vietnamese, Amharic, and sometimes Chinese.
3. How many languages can you count to 5 in? To 10 in? List them.
To ten in French, German, and Spanish. (And English, of course.) To five in Cantonese and Japanese, though with a bad accent.
4. What is the first overseas country you visited? And from where? (ie/ timbuctoo to mars)
Hm. Does overseas simply mean foreign, crossing a border? In which case, US to the Mexican border. Leaving the continent, US to the UK.
5. What country do you most want to visit? And why?
So many places I'd like to go! China is high on my list right now because I'm interested in the pace of urbanization there and the sheer scale of the new cities. Never been there before. Malaysia is always up there, too, because we visit friends there every five years or so, and our stay is always filled with wonderful food and conversation and local travel.

Comments

[alisanne]

You can count in Cantonese and Japanese? How'd that happen? :)

I agree about Spanish. I wish I could speak it. It would be very useful in my job.

Yes to China. Dumplings ahoy! <3

[therealsnape]

Oh, you can count in really a lot of languages! I'm with Alisanne, how did Cantonese and Japanese happen?

China does sound fascinating. I hope you'll get a chance to go, then we'll all get a picspam!

[magnetic_pole]

I really wish we'd all learn Spanish from an early age here in the US. It's such a useful language in this part of the world! (And in your profession, I'd imagine.)

The Cantonese and Japanese are both down to the better half actually. Many years ago, when she was teaching bilingual Cantonese kindergarten, I tried to learn a few words along with her students. (She had a mixed class, some Cantonese speakers, some not. It's her parents' language.) I have an impressive command of about ten very simple words in Cantonese. :) Such a difficult language. And the better half, mischievous as she is, always mocks me by imitating my terrible accent. I keep telling her, whatever you do, DON'T SAY IT THE WRONG WAY! I'll never learn.

And the Japanese--I bet you know the first few, too! The Issei, Nisei, Sansei, etc. have helped us out there.

Hurrah, dumplings! I'll take that culinary tour with you, A. M.

[magnetic_pole]

One day! Right now my brother-in-law and his family are living in Hong Kong, so I'm hoping the next time we visit them we can extend the trip a bit. You haven't been, have you? Perhaps Lord S has a period of urban exploration on the horizon?

I love vicarious flist travel. :)

And as for the Cantonese: as I was telling Alisanne above, the better half taught Cantonese bilingual kindergarten when we were first out of college. As she taught the students a few simple words and characters, I tried to learn, too. (Some of her students were Cantonese speaking, some weren't. It's her parents' language.) At the time, we were living near a Chinatown in our city, and so I'd walk though like a five year old, pointing and exclaiming "Fifth Street! Person! One dollar! Community Center!" (I actually really do know community center, for some reason.)

And the Japanese is is part due to the fact that Japanese-Americans call themselves "first generation," "second generation," etc. in Japanese: Issei, Nisei, etc. (Is that true in Europe, too?) M.

P.S. You would be *horrified* by my accent in all languages. I'm the worst sort of monolingual American--I just didn't start early enough.

[write_out]

I wish learning a second language was required as early as kindergarten. We had to take two years in high school and most kids didn't do more than that.

[alisanne]

*nods*
Spanish would be so useful. Also? Vietnamese. I have had several Vietnamese patients I would love to have been able to communicate with.

What a cool way to learn another language! <3

LOL, I know like 2 words in Japanese. Domo arigato and kunichiwa. Or is that 3? :P

I'm ready to go on an eating tour of the world whenever you are! ♥

[secretsolitaire]

My first opportunity to learn Spanish came in 8th grade -- too late! I took five years of it and can limp along in Spanish-speaking countries, but if we started earlier we'd all do SO much better.

My first overseas countries are just like yours: Canada and UK. :)

Hope you make it to China! Would love to see your pics.

[magnetic_pole]

Those are the two perfect words to know in Japanese! :)

I would hop on an eating tour in an instant. Not a formally organized one--I saw advertisements for those in Cambodia last summer, and they were ridiculously expensive and patronizing (in both directions) guided tours of food carts. Just a good group of friends with lots of food knowledge who want to spend all their travel time eating (and occasionally seeing some architecture).

Or: my real life, but on the road, in more interesting places, now that I think about it. Hee! So yes: when I win the lottery, I'll let you know you should start planning! M.

[magnetic_pole]

Wouldn't kindergarten have been wonderful? Because half my trouble is just lack of comfort with the leap of faith that speaking language requires. (The lack of grammar instruction didn't help either. So much for progressive education.) M.

[magnetic_pole]

Eighth grade is way too late! *sigh* But I'm envious you selected Spanish and have been able to use it a bit. Even limping is valuable. :)

The UK is a lovely first-overseas country, especially for cautious people like me. It was just different enough to whet my appetitive for me, and yet similar enough to figure out quickly and convince me that I could do it again, elsewhere, even where there were greater cultural barriers.

As for China, one day! M.

[alisanne]

Sounds great! I'll wait for that call. :)