What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

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Johann
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What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Johann »

Recognising a polite request via PM, and since others might not be able or don't use private areas for "socializing", maybe good to give it, maybe anew, a space for shares and requests.

Scale of topic: What's your first, or mother language? Which languages to you speak? Where did you took birth? Where did you went on and took additional resistance, probably adopting other/further traditions of communities?
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Dan74
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Dan74 »

Russian (mother tongue) -> English (best language now) -> German (fluent/advanced) -> Italian (semi-fluent) -> French (learning now, A2-B1)
_/|\_
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Ceisiwr
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Ceisiwr »

English, and I know some limited Welsh (less so than when I was younger). I’ve lived in Cymru all my life.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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StrivingforMonkhood
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by StrivingforMonkhood »

English is my mother tongue. I speak French fluently. I can read Spanish, Portuguese and German rather well.

I understand Russian grammar very well.

I've dabbled in Mandarin, Turkish, Korean and Japanese.


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tharpa
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by tharpa »

Johann wrote: Wed Sep 14, 2022 5:05 am Scale of topic: What's your first, or mother language? Which languages to you speak? Where did you took birth? Where did you went on and took additional resistance, probably adopting other/further traditions of communities?
After you, Bhante.
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mjaviem
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by mjaviem »

... Watch out for the dracul cometh in futurum to gnaw on your anima... la morte!... nous avons il diabolo... ugly con Salvatore... My little brother penitenziagite... Les hommes must do penitentia...

- Master, what language was he speaking?
- All languages and none...
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by User13866 »

Russian > norwegian > english

Born in Tatarstan, USSR
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DNS
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by DNS »

The best way to learn a foreign language is immersion in a nation and then learning that language by force to survive. I went to high school in Israel, so had to learn Hebrew very fast. Classmates of mine from Arab nations and from Iran picked up Hebrew super fast, as it's similar and also writes right-to-left like Hebrew. From them I also picked up some Farsi and Arabic.

I wonder if it's even necessary to learn other languages in the 21st century. There are so many apps that do the translating for you, for example, google translate and others. I had one guy come to my office who was from Brazil. He didn't speak English or Spanish but had an app where you talk into the phone and the phone talks back doing the translating, in that case, from Portuguese to English and vice versa.

But I have heard it's good exercise for the brain to know other languages.
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mjaviem
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by mjaviem »

DNS wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 11:42 pm The best way to learn a foreign language is immersion in a nation and then learning that language by force to survive. I went to high school in Israel, so had to learn Hebrew very fast. Classmates of mine from Arab nations and from Iran picked up Hebrew super fast, as it's similar and also writes right-to-left like Hebrew. From them I also picked up some Farsi and Arabic.

I wonder if it's even necessary to learn other languages in the 21st century. There are so many apps that do the translating for you, for example, google translate and others. I had one guy come to my office who was from Brazil. He didn't speak English or Spanish but had an app where you talk into the phone and the phone talks back doing the translating, in that case, from Portuguese to English and vice versa.

But I have heard it's good exercise for the brain to know other languages.
And if you don't leave your home country you are also kind of forced to learn English in these times. I never lived outtside Argentina (for long) but not knowing some English is kind of embarassing in job interviews, when meeting a tourist, or when you like some topic but you must keep at unpopular websites in spanish discussing old news. Perhaps you are right and in the near future with AI there won't be a need to learn languages but learning new things make people feel good which is better to feeling bad.
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Eko Care
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Eko Care »

DNS wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 11:42 pm The best way to learn a foreign language is immersion in a nation and then learning that language by force to survive.
How about immersion in a commentary and then learning Pali language by force to survive?

According to the commentary "own language" is Pali.

:thinking:
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Ceisiwr
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Eko Care wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:19 am According to the commentary "own language" is Pali.
Which is a very Vedic understanding of language. It’s also nonsense.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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Eko Care
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Eko Care »

Ceisiwr wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:31 am
Eko Care wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:19 am According to the commentary "own language" is Pali.
Which is a very Vedic understanding of language. It’s also nonsense.
What is the problem of stating "the own language of a Buddhist" as Pali?
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Ceisiwr
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Eko Care wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:50 am
Ceisiwr wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:31 am
Eko Care wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:19 am According to the commentary "own language" is Pali.
Which is a very Vedic understanding of language. It’s also nonsense.
What is the problem of stating "the own language of a Buddhist" as Pali?
If you are referring to the commentarial claim that Pali is the default language of humans, then the issue is that it’s not only a Vedic way of thinking but also demonstrably false.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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Eko Care
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Eko Care »

Ceisiwr wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:52 am
Eko Care wrote: What is the problem of stating "the own language of a Buddhist" as Pali?
If you are referring to the commentarial claim that Pali is the default language of humans, then the issue is that it’s not only a Vedic way of thinking but also demonstrably false.
In the above, I meant the term 'Sakaya Nirutti' in suttas.
Ceisiwr wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:52 am If you are referring to the commentarial claim that Pali is the default language of humans, then the issue is that it’s not only a Vedic way of thinking but also demonstrably false.
How you disprove it?
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Ceisiwr
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Re: What's your first (second...) language, ...your first (second...) from?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Eko Care wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 1:03 am
Ceisiwr wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:52 am
Eko Care wrote: What is the problem of stating "the own language of a Buddhist" as Pali?
If you are referring to the commentarial claim that Pali is the default language of humans, then the issue is that it’s not only a Vedic way of thinking but also demonstrably false.
In the above, I meant the term 'Sakaya Nirutti' in suttas.
Ceisiwr wrote: Sat Sep 17, 2022 12:52 am If you are referring to the commentarial claim that Pali is the default language of humans, then the issue is that it’s not only a Vedic way of thinking but also demonstrably false.
How you disprove it?
Proto-Indo-European isn’t Pali. Pali derives from it, as do other languages such as Sanskrit. Sanskrit being another language which is claimed to be mystically innate to humans.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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