annieca Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Just like our fields of history thread, I thought it would be interesting to see what languages we all know. Feel free to add them as you see fit. German annieca Spanish annieca French Italian Latin Greek Russian I know I want to learn either Russian, Czech or Romanian because of my interest in Cold War and Post-Cold War history in Eastern Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsolo25 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 This is actually an interesting thread to me, because I find language acquisition to be such a loosely-defined thing among grad students in the humanities. I only have one outside of English that I can make a legitimate claim for--Portuguese. I have described myself as fluent before, maybe even on this site, but I'm probably really high proficient. After all, I began taking it in college. I put my all into learning it, studied in Brazil extensively, but I think true fluency is really a life-long thing, as in it's your first language or you've lived in a country for at least 5 years. I can understand a lot of Spanish, especially when I read it, but I would never tell anyone that it's one of my languages. Same for Italian. Even though I could, if absolutely necessary, get by in a conversation in either one. Not trying to be a wise-guy, just a little skeptical about all of the people on gradcafe who are fluent in 3 or 4 languages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhohlemonster Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca Spanish annieca French Hebrew uhohlemonster Italian Latin Greek Russian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runaway Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca Spanish annieca French Hebrew uhohlemonster Italian Latin Greek Russian Polish runaway annieca-- I would start learning a Slavic language if you can. The grammar has quite a learning curve but getting the hang of one will make others much easier in the future, if you realize you need them. Romanian, at least, is a romance language, and shouldn't be too much trouble for you down the line if you already know Spanish! (Comparatively speaking, of course.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotov Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov Spanish annieca French Hebrew uhohlemonster Italian Latin Greek Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazedandinfused Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused French Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Greek Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theregalrenegade Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 (edited) German annieca, kotov Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused French theregalrenegade Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Greek Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Want to learn Welsh and Gaelic, and if I delve into Empire - Mandarin and Cantonese Edited April 6, 2012 by theregalrenegade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyjin Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused French theregalrenegade Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Greek Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin Likely picking up French during my PhD if I need a romance language, and there's a bunch of research in my field in that language. Otherwise, I'd like to be able to read Chinese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelkel Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused French theregalrenegade Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel Greek Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin I'm rough in both. Haven't studied Latin since my junior year of high school, but I managed to test out of all levels offered at my UG a year out of practice. Proud of that. I'd like to develop fluency in German and eventually learn French cause I know I'll need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganymede18 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18 French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18 Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin I think the plan is to pick up italian also during ph.d. medievalists need lots of languages! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grlu0701 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18, grlu0701 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18, grlu0701 (kind of) French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18 Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin Italian is next on the list for me -- having the basics of Spanish should help with the transition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CageFree Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18, grlu0701 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18, grlu0701 (kind of), CageFree French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18, CageFree (reading, can speak a bit) Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin Portuguese CageFree (reading) I took Latin and German in college but I can't say I'm fluent in either... I forgot most of my Latin, except that it has helped me understand French and Portuguese well enough to pass a translation test. I plan to take a "Portuguese for Spanish speakers" class to develop spoken fluency, and then I'll probably either take German again, or work on French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeLight Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18, grlu0701 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18, grlu0701 (kind of), CageFree, StrangeLight French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18, CageFree (reading, can speak a bit), StrangeLight Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin Portuguese CageFree (reading), StrangeLight (reading, swearing) Hungarian StrangeLight (swearing only) runaway 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotov Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I'm planning to pick up Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian and Yiddish during grad school. I have some reading knowledge of Ukrainian but it's very specialized so I didn't list it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safferz Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18, grlu0701 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18, grlu0701 (kind of), CageFree, StrangeLight French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18, CageFree (reading, can speak a bit), StrangeLight, Safferz (Franglais) Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin Portuguese CageFree (reading), StrangeLight (reading, swearing) Hungarian StrangeLight (swearing only) Somali Safferz Arabic Safferz (reading) I plan to learn Italian, and perhaps Amharic if I decide to learn a second African language for my research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runaway Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I'm planning to pick up Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian and Yiddish during grad school. I have some reading knowledge of Ukrainian but it's very specialized so I didn't list it. I'm also planning on Yiddish eventually (after German and Hebrew, probably)... have you looked into which program you might do, kotov? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudewen Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 German annieca, kotov, Kelkel, Ganymede18, grlu0701 Spanish annieca, crazedandinfused, Ganymede18, grlu0701 (kind of), CageFree, StrangeLight, pudewen (very rusty and basically useless to my work) French theregalrenegade, Ganymede18, CageFree (reading, can speak a bit), StrangeLight, Safferz (Franglais) Hebrew uhohlemonster, crazedandinfused (ktzat) Italian Latin Kelkel, Ganymede18 Greek Ganymede18 (New Testament) Russian Polish runaway Romanian kotov Japanese kyjin, pudewen (sort of, it's in process) Portuguese CageFree (reading), StrangeLight (reading, swearing) Hungarian StrangeLight (swearing only) Somali Safferz Arabic Safferz (reading) Chinese pudewen (modern and classical) I'm also planning to learn Manchu starting next year! And I may decide to try to acquire a reading knowledge of French or German at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhohlemonster Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I'll be learning German and Arabic. I also have a reading knowledge of french but no longer can speak... NYU has a Yiddish summer program, I believe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safferz Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 How are you all planning to learn your new language(s)? Will you enroll in courses during grad school, study abroad? I've never actually had to *study* a language before (what I know I've learned growing up), so I'm wondering what the best approach would be for learning Italian, which is the missing piece for my research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pudewen Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 How are you all planning to learn your new language(s)? Will you enroll in courses during grad school, study abroad? I've never actually had to *study* a language before (what I know I've learned growing up), so I'm wondering what the best approach would be for learning Italian, which is the missing piece for my research. The best way to learn is certainly through study abroad, but unless you're willing to take a year off from your program, I'd say your optimal strategy is to start taking Italian in your first year, do a study abroad program your first summer (which should give you the equivalent of a second year), and then take another course your second year. After that, see where you stand (depending on your needs, three years of Italian may well be plenty; my impression is that it's not an especially hard language for native English speakers to learn). That's the strategy I'm taking with Japanese; though it will probably take me a bit longer to learn it than it will take you with Italian (and I started the summer prior to my first year, letting me take a second year class this academic year). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMP Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Safferz. It depends on your learning style. I am a very hands-on person so I learn quickly and best when I am in an immersed setting. So I did my Hebrew and German in Israel and Germany respectively. I've tried continuing them in the US upon my return but it's SO hard! But I will be heading off to Middlebury this summer to get my Hebrew back up to where I left off, and do plan on working one of my languages in 2013.. we'll see where things go. I can self-study history but languages... ugh, no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotov Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I'm also planning on Yiddish eventually (after German and Hebrew, probably)... have you looked into which program you might do, kotov? I'm not really sure. I may just try to pick it up on my own. I think they teach it at SWSEEL at IU, which I'm going to for Romanian this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safferz Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thanks pudewen and TMP! Really helpful advice. I'll start with an intro course in the fall and figure out how to spend summer 2013 in Italy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oseirus Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I see once again there is a classic regional bias against my native tongue of Gibberish. We Gibberers will suffer no more! Gibberish for ever! Hilversum 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedig13 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I see once again there is a classic regional bias against my native tongue of Gibberish. We Gibberers will suffer no more! Gibberish for ever! I am thedig13, and I approve of this message. oseirus and theregalrenegade 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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