Languages! - Voltra Online

Siron

Friend PM Trade

Hiya!

What languages do you;
Speak/read/want to learn/ recognize parts of?
(fictional ones count too!)

So, i have this weird thing that whenever i hear or see some language i feel the need to study them
(i mean i tend to give up just as quick cause i get distracted easily at times oops)

Anyway they're really interesting interesting to me so, please tell me about your experiences with languages!

(feel free to share sources for studying them as well, admittedly i just mess around with Duolingo, oops)

Personally: i speak Dutch (and one of it's dialects) and English
I can understand a little bit of German, reading it being easier than trying to understand people speaking german
But that's mostly cause it looks/sounds a lot like Dutch.
However i can not, for the life of me, speak it :'D

Currently: Lowkey trying to learn spanish [note to self to not give up on it just yet]

That and i have a tendency to recognize/decipher random sentences in languages i don't really know lol
Or at least parts of it/ some of the context i suppose. Not 100% accurate though

Would love to learn: Spanish, Russian and idk probably Japanese or something
Used to really want to study Latin as well, maybe some day :')

Was quite hyper writing this so let's just hope what i just wrote is somewhat coherent . (:

Hachi

Friend PM Trade

★
I speak conversational cantonese, I can get by and make small talk but nothing complex.
I really want to learn it properly so I can communicate better with my fam HAHA... but the resources are very limited

I took a year of mandarin in college, which was also the first time my illiterate ass learned how to read/write chinese ALDKJF I don’t use it at all so I’ve forgotten a lot. I have little confidence in writing characters, but I can read an elementary sentence or type with a pinyin keyboard... most mandarin I remember by trying to connect it with canto but the two are very different.

I took 3.5 years of spanish in middle/high school, most of which I've also forgotten ALDKFJ there's no way I could speak it, but I remember a lot of vocab and I can sometimes piece together the meaning of a conversational sentence in writing.

I taught myself japanese hiragana and katakana for the sole purpose of reading lyrics at karaoke... and that's it ALKJFDLJK

languages are so cool tho! I'd love to learn more, I just wish I had time/dedication. I tried duolingo for a lil, but it didn't stick bc it felt very memorization-based, and I don't learn languages very well that way.

pachi

Friend PM Trade

★ ★ ★
fluent in eng and mando chn
know some french due to being canadian
took (mandatory) french in grade school, elective spanish but forgot most of it
took jp for years and now i'm semi-passable at it, great for consuming jp media haha

bonus: i can understand minnan dialect chn but can't speak it for shit

rn i'm sorta half-assedly trying to maintain/learn more jp on my own, was taking conversational classes before covid hit akdjfkfjfj

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@Hachi:
Oh Cantonese is something i don't hear a lot about!
Actually had to look it up, had no idea the two languages where related in a way o:

And that's a cool reason, it might just double as extra motivation as well to try and become more knowledgeable about the language c:
Also learning languages is probably easier when you have people to practice with.

Where you raised bilingual? (if you don't mind me asking)

And the characters do seem a little intimidating
if my mind serves me right, weren't there multiple ways of writing the same character or am i confusing things with Japanese here?
This is also the first time i've heard about a pinyin keyboard, still not quite sure what it is/does
Is it like converting words/letters to characters automatically or? o:

Ah, i feel, they made us learn french and german at school, i too remember very little of it haha. :')
Wish they would've offered Spanish though, rip.

Also that's amazing lmao :vanora_xd:

And that is true, duolingo is mostly memory based but i feel like it's one of the few (free) sources that include quite a bit of content
so far the duolingo owl and i are still on good terms lol.

Kitalpha Hart

Friend PM Trade

Are ya ready, guyz?!

I knew ASL, but it's been so long I need to take classes again lol
I can generally tell Korean from Japanese or Chinese, but Japanese uses a lot of Chinese symbols so sometimes telling the two apart can be hard

Put ya guns awn!

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@pachi:
Ah i see!
Any idea if there's any big differences between Canadian and European French? o:

And admittedly that's why Japanese is on my ''wish list'' as well
Being able to watch stuff without subtitles sounds like the dream

That sounds really cool.
Dialects are amazing. Sometimes i wonder how they're not their own languages since some of them differ so much the original language.
(we have quite a bit of dialects over here, oops. But also, for some reason, the people up in the north (the Frisians) have their own language, to this day im still clueless as to why that is an official language haha)
You ever planning on learning how to speak the dialect as well? o:

Oh how has that been going for you?
Any sources in particular you're making use of? o:

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@Kitalpha Hart:

That's neat! Would you say it's difficult to learn?
Seems like learning ASL differs a lot from learning spoken languages o:

Had no idea they used some of the same characters actually.
In my mind , between japanese and chinese, japanese looks more playful/round-ish to me while chinese characters look '' sharper ''
Not quite sure how to describe it.
But can imagine if some of the characters/symbols are the same (and you're aware of this) it becomes quite hard to tell apart. o:

Hachi

Friend PM Trade

★
@Siron: my parents tried to raise me bilingual, but I think overexposure to english at school and in media (and um... internalized racism) made me lose too much cantonese.

I don't speak it nearly as well as my older sister does.

hmm there's simplified chinese and traditional chinese, in which a lot of the same characters are written differently. eg. the word for love can be written as 爱 or 愛

in chinese, some characters are pronounced the same but are written different and mean different things, if that's what you're thinking of?
in jp, some kanji are written the same and mean the same thing but pronounced differently depending on context.
languages are so confusing ALDKFJ

yeah exactly! pinyin is the romanized form of mandarin, so it's a keyboard with the roman alphabet, and you type words like "ni hao" and it pops up as "你好"

do you live somewhere with a lot of french/german speakers?

most ppl here learn spanish bc we have a lot of spanish speakers. I thought I would use it more often but ALDFKJD nope
the most difficult thing about learning a language is the upkeep

that's true! I do like how accessible duolingo is, I wish there were more resources like it. I think it's a good place to start, and esp if you want to learn some phrases for traveling.
ALDKFJD whenever the duolingo owl slides into my dm's I feel fear
maybe someday that fear will turn into motivation

Kitalpha Hart

Friend PM Trade

Are ya ready, guyz?!

@Siron: where I live if I travel twenty miles some signs are entirely different
I live between two large Deaf communities so there's a lot of words with different signs

Put ya guns awn!

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@Hachi: I see, i see
And can imagine that over exposure to one language might take it's toll on another.
Still think it's cool you're trying to get better at it though, is she one of the people you regularly practice with? o:

Oh that might've been what i was thinking of yep
is there a rule of using simplified vs traditional or is it all about personal preferences?

And they are, like how some languages have exceptions and with others it's like
the whole language is an exception like please, don't do this to us :'D

Oh that sounds cool, really convenient too
Is the roman way of writing the words a legit thing as well or is it more like idk, a stepping stone of sorts?
(hope you don't mind me asking these questions, i'm a curious person)

And i live very close to the border of both Germany and Belgium
Not the french part of belgium but you know, most of them can at the very least speak it so i guess that's why they chose that over other languages :')

And aw, well at least it's fun when you can, even if just partially, tell what they're talking about in songs or in tv shows that have spanish in it.
Yes, rip @ the upkeep ;-; Agree with you one that one.

Yes i just realized i missed a few days, am scared to check my mail now

Careful, it feeds on our fear :')

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@Kitalpha Hart:
Oh wonder why that is. o:
I hope the rest remains mostly the same or they at least have a way to communicate/figure out the different ones.
At the same time it's quite interesting too how they end up developing different signs.

Suddenly reminded of this video about the community in VR chat i saw a while ago.
They had rooms/worlds dedicated to ASL to help people out and i think they even made some new signs to easily communicate some things in game!

Hydrangea

Friend PM Trade

**** (> o . o <) ****

I speak Mandarin Chinese (but can't write that much Dx ), English and Malay. Cantonese on other hand, I can understand a little bit but I don't speak or write despite coming from a family that mainly speaks Cantonese and Mandarin lol

I would like to learn Italian and Japanese someday as I find them interesting. Oh, and maybe Balinese even though I'm not very fluent (ow o ; )

Count Trashula

Friend PM Trade

The only language I really know is English. I took French in school, but only got the first year of it and had to take that twice, thanks to moving partway through the year. Forgot most of what I learned by now, but still remember bits and pieces... enough that I could ask for the nearest library I guess but not enough to hold a conversation :^P
I know even less of Spanish and German, just enough I can pick out some key words/phrases and maybe even get the gist of what someone is talking about if I'm lucky. I'd like to eventually learn enough of those to be able to communicate/get by. I don't have to be totally fluent, but "not helpless" would be nice.
And I don't know hardly any ASL, but I think that would probably be ...handy... to learn.

ALWAYS PING ME

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@ChiffonOrange:
Oh Malay, as well as balinese, i don't hear often either!
Do they share some similarities with oter languages you know or are they completely different? o:

And Italian sounds cool too

@Nephila:
ohh, you ever plan on expanding your knowledge on french or is it more like something you had in school for a bit remembered/ something you studies as hobby?

@Count Trashula:
Every words/sentence counts!
Oh spanish and german are both 2 very different languages, is it purely out of interest or do you live in an area with a lot of spanish/german speakers? o:
And yeah i don't think one necessarily has to strive for fluency, being able to help yourself in more than one language is already a very helpful, and fun, thing.

Also 10 points for that pun

@Totalanimefan:
Ohh, i wonder if there's some form of sign language that's considered most, how would you call it, most universal/widely understood?
Never actively tried studying to languages at once, let alone trying to learn one spoken/written vs sign language
What would you say is the biggest difference between learning the two? o:
And japanese really sounds like a lot of fun, speaking other languages with friends is a great way of practice too

Hydrangea

Friend PM Trade

**** (> o . o <) ****

@Siron: Hmmm... I would say they're completely different *inserts thinking emoji* due to the pronouncations, words, etc. Then again, I don't hear Balinese often either

Yeah *nods* Except I can't even roll the R word that perfectly lol (; _ ; )

Kitalpha Hart

Friend PM Trade

Are ya ready, guyz?!

@Siron: ASL is a conglomerate of local sign languages plus a more universal set of signs (at least in the States) smashed together, from what I can tell
The local changes are stuff like "happy birthday" tho, not really ever anything too major

Put ya guns awn!

quest♤Shop

Priestess of Pie

Friend PM Trade

Like a lot of people here I took Spanish in school, but forgot most of it. I can catch words and phrases sometimes... maybe even roughly translate something written but will probably make a lot of mistakes.

I took a few Japanese classes in college, but didn't keep with it. Now my Japanese and Spanish are kind of mixed up in my head.

When Duolingo came out I tried learning Esperanto for a little bit, but again, I'm unable to keep up with it. That's an interesting language though.

Hachi

Friend PM Trade

★
@Siron: oh nah ADLKFJ I think I've talked to my sister in english like all my life so it feels weird to talk to her in anything else HAHA
I talk to my dad in canto tho, bc he doesn't understand english very well

countries use exclusively simplified or traditional on their signage/menus/etc! iirc simplified is used in mainland china, and traditional is used in HK and taiwan.

english is definitely a "language of exceptions" that's for sure ALDKFJ

the romanized form is a stepping stone used to teach non-mandarin speakers - it's not really used too much in the real world. it makes mandarin much more accessible for learners, but learning with it makes you kind of dependent on it.

oh I see, that's very cool! it sounds like you live in a very lingually-diverse area. lots of people to practice with!

Siron

Friend PM Trade

@ChiffonOrange:
Ah i see! They sound interesting though (:

Also i share your struggles, i have a really hard time with the R sounds in different languages
I usually mess them up or exaggerate them and it just makes it sound funny :vanora_xd:
---

@Kitalpha Hart:
Ohh glad it's nothing too major. You think you could refer to those little changes as a dialect in a way or would it be too similar for that?

---

@Priestess of Pie:
Mistakes are part of the progress (:
But even recognizing a few things can help a lot

Ohh Esperanto?
I forgot about that, heard it being mentioned a few days ago and completely forgot what it was
Had to look it up, it's the language someone wanted to make a thing so people over the whole world could understand each other right?

Shame it never became bigger but to be fair there's already some languages that are spoken world wide so it would have some tough competitors.
Would be cool to see it become an official thing though

Did Esperanto remind you of any other languages or would you say it's a rather unique language?

Sorry if Reply late!

Please ping me!

Questing

Priestess of Pie

Friend PM Trade

@totalanimefan: That's really interesting! And of COURSE England made their own. XD

@Siron: It's definitely Latin based. I'd say it sounds a little like Italian when spoken.

Mallow

Tumbleweed
My Sons

Forums General Chit-Chat Languages!

Siron

Hachi

pachi

Siron

Kitalpha Hart

Siron

Siron

Hachi

Kitalpha Hart

Siron

Siron

Hydrangea

Count Trashula

Siron

Hydrangea

Kitalpha Hart

Priestess of Pie

Hachi

Siron

Priestess of Pie

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