Polyglots
- Thread starter silentkman
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Rock Strongo
Legend
Interesting! What would the situation be here at TW? I speak Swedish and English fluently, can hold extended conversations in Danish, understanding Norwegian, knows a tiny amount of German, and took Dutch lessons five years ago.
Now if only my father could've been bothered to teach me Swahili when I was younger...
Now if only my father could've been bothered to teach me Swahili when I was younger...
D
Deleted member 734136
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GabeT
G.O.A.T.
O
OhYes
Guest
"Matching their five languages for the ATP are Novak Djokovic (Serbian, English, French, German and Italian), Sergey Stakhovsky (Ukrainian, Slovak, Czech, Russian and English) and Tommy Robredo (Catalan, Spanish, French, English and Italian)."
Slovak and Czech should be very similar languages, as Catalan and Spanish, especially as Russian and Ukrainian, and as Serbian with Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegrin...
So Novak knows 9 of them ?
Slovak and Czech should be very similar languages, as Catalan and Spanish, especially as Russian and Ukrainian, and as Serbian with Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegrin...
So Novak knows 9 of them ?
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Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
I'm fluent in two, almost fluent in a third and understands another two and a half.
D
Deleted member 734136
Guest
The article is wrong while counting how many languages Roger speaks....
They counted swedish and italian, but when he did an interview with the italian tv in Rome, he managed to say a couple of very simple things, then said "that's all of my italian", and then everything was translated to him in english.
I suspect the same goes for swedish, so the real number for Roger i would say it's 4.
They counted swedish and italian, but when he did an interview with the italian tv in Rome, he managed to say a couple of very simple things, then said "that's all of my italian", and then everything was translated to him in english.
I suspect the same goes for swedish, so the real number for Roger i would say it's 4.
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Agreed. In the Rome final prize presentation, Djokovic spoke Italian, Federer spoke English.
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
plus there's this, OhYes:
" and as Serbian with Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegrin"
BlueB
Legend
Hmm some language misconceptions here... I'll start first from what I know for sure. In the days of old Yugoslavia we all learned Serbo-Croatian in school. This is what Serbian, Croatian, Montenegro and Bosnian people speak. It's really just the matter of dialects. Only in the post war new states everyone pushed for uniqueness of own language. On the other hand, Macedonian and Slovenian (not Slovak) are distinct languages. Still pretty understandable to Serbo-Croatian speakers though."Matching their five languages for the ATP are Novak Djokovic (Serbian, English, French, German and Italian), Sergey Stakhovsky (Ukrainian, Slovak, Czech, Russian and English) and Tommy Robredo (Catalan, Spanish, French, English and Italian)."
Slovak and Czech should be very similar languages, as Catalan and Spanish, especially as Russian and Ukrainian, and as Serbian with Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegrin...
Slovak and Czech are different languages too but surly close. They are supposedly more apart then Russian and Ukrainian. The last 2 are almost the same thing, from what I gather from people I know here.
As for me, I speak Serbo-Croatian, English, and still can read French almost fluently. I understand Macedonian and Bulgarian about 80%, other Slavic languages about 50%, Italian, Spanish and Afrikaans about 35%. Few words of Zulu too
Noelan
Legend
It looked to me that he didn't even undarstand Pietrangeli trophy ceremony speech at Rome.
RacquetAbuse101
Semi-Pro
Noelan
Legend
Actually Macedonian is quite different from languages that you listed. But, oh well, someone tried to make a joke
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Dutch and English fluently. Can speak and understand Korean (my mother is S. Korean), but can only read slowly. Can read french well, but can't really speak it fluently and have a hard time understanding it if someone fluently speaks French to me. Obviously have some knowledge of the German language since I'm Dutch, but I'm not fluent in it.
My first language is Ukrainian, I speak English and a bit of French and speak Ojibwe the language of Canadian first nations people. I also write Ojibwe in sylabics.
sylabics chart.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=cree...files%2F24586%2F24586-h%2F24586-h.htm;500;386
It makes writing and reading so easy.
sylabics chart.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=cree...files%2F24586%2F24586-h%2F24586-h.htm;500;386
It makes writing and reading so easy.
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heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
Djokovic and Fognini are very good, above Fed in languages.
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
Fed really ain't that special language wise, being Swiss and all. He's expected to know Swiss German and German from family and school. French is another big language in the country so he got good at that. And then there's English, which he masters to perfection, but that's not strange considering his life
Don't forget his mother is South-African, so they actually spoke some english at home.
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
true as well - and he learned it in school and it's not as far from his native tongue as it is for the Italians, French and Spanish players.
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
Germans and Swiss people, correct me if I'm wrong.
Swiss German is not a written language, but a very, very odd dialect of German with a lot of words that are German-like but still quite different from German. I.e. they have their own words, grammar, but there's a common base. But the sound is very different.
I'm pretty fluent in German though not completely, but I only understand about 10-15 % (max. 20), when Fed speaks Swiss German and I listen intently.
I presume a native German might get closer to 30 or even 50 % depending on which region from Germany he/she is from.
Edit: From wiki: "German people tend not to understand Swiss German, therefore when an interview with a Swiss German speaker is shown on German television, subtitles are required".
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dominikk1985
Legend
aren't all swiss People speaking italian? I think italian is one of the 3-4 official swiss languages, isn't it?
Chanwan
G.O.A.T.
It is, but it's a minority language nevertheless - 5 % or so have it as their mother tongue. Don't think they learn it all over the country (at least not extensively), but I'm not sure.
Noelan
Legend
There were italian speaking cantons in Switzerland.
But for Federer, it doesn't looks to me that he is good in italian, but his french is quite good.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
People in a country don't necessarily speak all official languages. In most cases, they don't. In Belgium for example, the official languages are Dutch (Flemish) and French. Kim Clijsters is Flemish (Dutch speaking), Justine Henin is Walloonian (French speaking). They used to converse with each other in English.
ScentOfDefeat
G.O.A.T.
Don't forget German. It's not a very well known fact, but German is also an official language in Belgium. A tiny percentage of the population speak it.
D
Deleted member 734136
Guest
Not all of them.
In Switzerland to know which language is predominant, you need to watch the position.
For example, in the south it borders with Italy so italian is predominant, north-west with France so french, north-east with Germany and Austria so german.
Federer grew up right in the middle of the border with Germany and France so it's understandable that he knows both.
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heninfan99
Talk Tennis Guru
LapsedNoob
Professional
I speak English.
Und ich spreche Deutsch.
Puedo conversar en Espanol.
I puhua vähän suomea.
Rääginnatuke eesti.
Et ere.
Und ich spreche Deutsch.
Puedo conversar en Espanol.
I puhua vähän suomea.
Rääginnatuke eesti.
Et ere.
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Flash O'Groove
Hall of Fame
I only speak French and English, with some Persian and German.
Yeah, it's true. Here in Europe everyone knows languages.
I speak only six and here people consider me very stupid. People in my circles always make fun of me, it's really annoying.
It's like being Superman on Krypton lol, he was just regular Joe over there.
But yeah, normally ultra polyglots can converse in 20-30 languages easily.
I speak only six and here people consider me very stupid. People in my circles always make fun of me, it's really annoying.
It's like being Superman on Krypton lol, he was just regular Joe over there.
But yeah, normally ultra polyglots can converse in 20-30 languages easily.
Russeljones
Talk Tennis Guru
I like how you tried to make it seem like you yourself are a polyglot.
I also speak decent math. Math is the language of the Universe, so does that count?
Crionics
Semi-Pro
I would say more like 3. Swiss German is not a language, but a dialect.
Anyway, the problem with counting the number of languages one speaks is at what level do you consider you speak the language. If all one can say is "hello", " thanks" and "goodbye" in some language, it's not very hard to claim speaking multiple languages.
Crionics
Semi-Pro
Not really. As Italian is only spoken by a minority of the country, it's not a mandatory course in non-Italian-speaking parts of the country. Swiss Germans learn usually French and English as foreign languages (you could also add high German to the list of foreign languages :lol: ) and Swiss French learn high German and English as foreign languages at school.
O
OhYes
Guest
Hmm some language misconceptions here... I'll start first from what I know for sure. In the days of old Yugoslavia we all learned Serbo-Croatian in school. This is what Serbian, Croatian, Montenegro and Bosnian people speak. It's really just the matter of dialects. Only in the post war new states everyone pushed for uniqueness of own language. On the other hand, Macedonian and Slovenian (not Slovak) are distinct languages. Still pretty understandable to Serbo-Croatian speakers though.
Slovak and Czech are different languages too but surly close. They are supposedly more apart then Russian and Ukrainian. The last 2 are almost the same thing, from what I gather from people I know here.
As for me, I speak Serbo-Croatian, English, and still can read French almost fluently. I understand Macedonian and Bulgarian about 80%, other Slavic languages about 50%, Italian, Spanish and Afrikaans about 35%. Few words of Zulu too
Yes, Bulgarian. :idea: I forgot about Bulgarian beeing very similar to Macedonian. So Novak is good with 10 languages then :lol: He wouldn't be able to write novels, but he could communicate.
The Green Mile
Bionic Poster
Only fluent in English. Decent in Maori and Spanish.
Body language counts too, you are good at that probably. Also math is the language of the Universe.
So, for now you know five languages
Mustard
Bionic Poster
But people in Germany require subtitles when someone speaks in Swiss German on TV.
octobrina10
Talk Tennis Guru
Rafa speaks: the Majorcan dialect of Catalan (it's his native language) & Catalan, Spanish, Italian, English.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Most people in the UK would need subtitles when listening to a Glaswegian or a Geordie or a Scouser in full flow! Doesn't mean they're actually speaking separate languages though...despite what we may think! :wink:
Rafa speaks: the Majorcan dialect of Catalan (it's his native language) & Catalan, Spanish, Italian, English.
If without injuries, the Rafa could be the greatest linguisticarian ever
Crionics
Semi-Pro
+1
In addition, all the swiss german newspapers and official documents are written in high german not swiss german. Swiss german is a dialect not a language. There are also a lot of dialects in Germany actually, but it's mainly used at home, not at work or at some social events unlike in Switzerland.
LapsedNoob
Professional
Body language counts too, you are good at that probably. Also math is the language of the Universe.
So, for now you know five languages
Math isn't the language of the universe, math is a construct we use to understand the universe. The 'math' that underlines all things is not a language and not really math, more simply rules of being. A way.
Cheers!
How do you know that?
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