The Five-Minute Forums  

Go Back   The Five-Minute Forums > FiveMinute.net > Miscellaneous

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 07-06-2010, 03:25 AM
Sa'ar Chasm's Avatar
Sa'ar Chasm Sa'ar Chasm is offline
Our last, best hope for peace
Staff
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sitting (in Ottawa)
Posts: 3,425
Default New thread!

In the spirit of re-establishing the forum community, a new thread discussion:

If you could have any 5 languages installed in your brain, which would they be and why?

For myself,
1. French, to increase my employability in an officially bilingual country.
2. Irish Gaelic. I have an Irish last name, but nobody in my family has spoken any form of Irish in about 500 years.
3. Latin: geek cred
4. Klingon: see above.
5. Mandarin. I, for one, welcome our new economic overlords in their native tongue.
__________________
The first run through of any experimental procedure is to identify any potential errors by making them.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 07-06-2010, 10:40 AM
Derek's Avatar
Derek Derek is offline
Dean of misderektion
Senior Staff
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sector 001
Posts: 1,106
Default

Let's see,... Python, C#, Lisp, -- oh wait, that's not what you meant. (and who wants to speak lisp anyway?)

1. Ancient Greek: I've learned some of this already through study on my own, but I'd love to be able to read fluently.
2. Latin: Like Sa'ar said, Geek cred.
3. Hebrew: So I can read in both directions!
4. Elvish: Just to be different from Sa'ar's pick of Klingon.
5. Mandarin: Just to be the same as Sa'ar.
__________________
"Please, Aslan," said Lucy, "what do you call soon?"
"I call all times soon," said Aslan; and instantly he vanished away and Lucy was alone with the Magician.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 07-06-2010, 10:47 AM
MmeBlueberry's Avatar
MmeBlueberry MmeBlueberry is offline
Future's so bright ya gotta wear shades
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 95
Send a message via AIM to MmeBlueberry Send a message via Yahoo to MmeBlueberry
Default

1. Hebrew. I've studied Koine Greek and would love to be able to read the Old Testament in its original language as well as the New. (Koine Greek displaces choice #5 if we are including languages we know somewhat but would like to know more fully.)
2. Klingon. Why not?
3. Spanish. My students take it, and it would be nice to be able to know it myself. Plus, I live in Florida.
4. Latin. Etymology is fun, and Latin would help there. Also, some of the historical documents that I find interesting were written in Latin.
5. I'm having trouble deciding here...could be Italian, or German, or Arabic, or Russian, or American Sign Language, or lots of other possibilities. Once I learn the other four I'll narrow it down.
__________________
"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." --The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 07-06-2010, 10:50 AM
Ginga's Avatar
Ginga Ginga is offline
Outside looking in
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,467
Default

1. Italian, since I've got Italian blood in me and am in touch with almost none of it, save for my excessive love of the food.
2. Japanese. I've got the accent down, now I just need to... not speak gibberish.
3. Latin for the geek cred as well.
4. Spanish. Again with the love of the food, I don't know.
5. and hell, I'll take Klingon, too.
__________________
What further instructions could there be besides, 'Kiss your ass goodbye'?
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 07-06-2010, 12:08 PM
Nate the Great's Avatar
Nate the Great Nate the Great is offline
You just activated his Trek card
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 4,858
Default

Klingon, Latin, French, Esperanto, and (kinda cheating) whatever that pronunciation guide gobbledegook is that you find in dictionaries.
__________________
mudshark: Nate's just being...Nate.
Zeke: It comes nateurally to him.

mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.

Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.

Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 07-06-2010, 12:32 PM
Andy Taylor's Avatar
Andy Taylor Andy Taylor is offline
Third eye blind
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 37
Send a message via MSN to Andy Taylor
Default

English is the obvious one.

*tumbleweed*

I'd like to speak sign language actually, I think that would be a useful, possibly helpful skill. Something like Manderin would be interesting too. I'd learn Irish only if I could have a sexy Irish voice to go with it. And I'll throw Latin in, it'd be cool learning where a lot of our language came from.
__________________
Burp.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 07-06-2010, 12:59 PM
evay's Avatar
evay evay is offline
But if you put the hammer in an elevator...
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Deck Four, Section Seven
Posts: 522
Default

1. Italian: I speak mostly my family's dialect of Sicilian, which means in our little hometown in Sicily I can get around, but the farther north I go, the less I'm understood.

2. Latin: to get a jump on all the other Romance languages, and to read all the cool old stuff in the original.

3. Greek: ditto for the cool old stuff.

Can I just rotate 4 and 5 depending on where I'm traveling?
__________________
Any truth is better than indefinite doubt. — Sherlock Holmes
"The Adventure of the Yellow Face," Arthur Conan Doyle
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 07-06-2010, 06:04 PM
NAHTMMM's Avatar
NAHTMMM NAHTMMM is offline
Noodles And Hot Tofu! MMM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: St Louis, MO, USA, . . .
Posts: 2,959
Send a message via Yahoo to NAHTMMM
Arrow

1. English -- have that already
2. Spanish -- it's fun to speak and I should have a rudimentary grasp of it already, aside from the rolled R
3. Python -- then I can finish my game good and proper

Past this point my brain would probably suffer catastrophic failure in some horrific manner.
__________________
My 5MV webpages My novel fivers list

Yup

“There must have been a point in early human history when it was actually advantageous to, when confronted with a difficult task, drop it altogether and go do something more fun, because I do that way too often for it to be anything but instinct.” -- Isto Combs
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 07-06-2010, 06:51 PM
Katy Jane's Avatar
Katy Jane Katy Jane is offline
Or is it KJHTMMM now?
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 1,139
Send a message via MSN to Katy Jane Send a message via Yahoo to Katy Jane
Default

1. American Sign Language, I've always wanted to learn it and just never got around to it.

2. German, because most of my ancestors are German.

3. Spanish, because there's an awful lot of it in the US and so I won't have to ask "What's that mean" when ever NAH says something in Spanish.

4: Japanese, mostly to be able to write it, because I like the way it looks.

5. Eh, I'll throw in either Elven, Klingon or Vulcan for the geek cred.
__________________
Vulcan children are never late with their Sehlat's dinner
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 07-06-2010, 09:25 PM
PointyHairedJedi's Avatar
PointyHairedJedi PointyHairedJedi is offline
He'd enjoy a third pie
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: The Scotlands
Posts: 4,354
Send a message via ICQ to PointyHairedJedi Send a message via AIM to PointyHairedJedi Send a message via Yahoo to PointyHairedJedi
Default

1. Scottish Gaelic. For one thing, I live in just about the only place where it's still spoken (even though the Scottish Parliament has insisted on putting up bilingual signs that almost no-one can read throughout the whole country) so there are times when it would be handy. For another thing, Sa'ar and I could confuse the hell out of each other, probably quite amusingly - there's some overlap between the two, but they are distinct languages.

2. Dutch. Well, the reason why is kinda obvious, for that one - I do know two Dutchies.

3. Umm... I've always thought Persian has a particularly nice script, which may be a spurious reason, but why not?

4. French would probably be useful, even if none of it ever stuck at school.

5. And now for the humourous choice; Right-Wing American. It would be nice to know what the hell they're on about, sometimes. Maybe I am better not understanding though...
__________________
Mason: Luckily we at the Agency use use a high-tech piece of software that will let us spot him instantly via high-res satellite images.
Sergeant: You can? That's amazing!
Mason: Yes. We call it 'Google Earth'.
- Five Minute 24 S1 (it lives, honest!)

"Everybody loves pie!"
- Spongebob Squarepants
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 07-08-2010, 09:30 AM
MaverickZer0's Avatar
MaverickZer0 MaverickZer0 is offline
Suuuuuper genius
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: On Beach Street, in a Dimensional Area
Posts: 745
Send a message via AIM to MaverickZer0 Send a message via MSN to MaverickZer0 Send a message via Yahoo to MaverickZer0
Default

Quote:
whatever that pronunciation guide gobbledegook is that you find in dictionaries
That's not a language. It's the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), which is a really dumb name since there's about five of them. It also doesn't help anyone but trained linguists and people who actually read the pronunciation guides at the front of the dictionary. [/linguistics nerd]

ANYWAY.

1. Latin: Same reason as everyone else, plus it sounds cool.
2. Japanese: I like the language. What can I say?
3. Welsh: Because I have heredity there, and feel really guilty about knowing none. Despite it being a horrible language, in my opinion.
4. Russian: I have an interest in Cyrillic languages, too.
5. Ancient: Yes, from Stargate...leave me alone, I like it.
__________________
Sig v8.2.2

No, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to go and do it anyway.

*pokes avatar* Made by a good LJ friend. Thanks Ani!

Dark Blues: I'm going to kill you!
Enzan: Not if I kill me first!
Dark Blues: You...are aware my goal is accomplished either way, right?
Enzan: ...Yeah...
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 07-08-2010, 11:13 AM
Nate the Great's Avatar
Nate the Great Nate the Great is offline
You just activated his Trek card
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 4,858
Default

Yeah, but I just get bugged when I see a pronounciation guide that is ostensibly for the average person, when there's no such thing as an average person that can decipher it.
__________________
mudshark: Nate's just being...Nate.
Zeke: It comes nateurally to him.

mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.

Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.

Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 07-09-2010, 12:27 AM
Katy Jane's Avatar
Katy Jane Katy Jane is offline
Or is it KJHTMMM now?
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 1,139
Send a message via MSN to Katy Jane Send a message via Yahoo to Katy Jane
Default

I can't decipher those pronunciations either. <_<
__________________
Vulcan children are never late with their Sehlat's dinner
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 07-09-2010, 12:38 AM
NAHTMMM's Avatar
NAHTMMM NAHTMMM is offline
Noodles And Hot Tofu! MMM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: St Louis, MO, USA, . . .
Posts: 2,959
Send a message via Yahoo to NAHTMMM
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by MaverickZer0 View Post
people who actually read the pronunciation guides at the front of the dictionary
*waves hand* If I care enough about getting the pronunciation right, sure I'll go look at what the characters are supposed to mean.
__________________
My 5MV webpages My novel fivers list

Yup

“There must have been a point in early human history when it was actually advantageous to, when confronted with a difficult task, drop it altogether and go do something more fun, because I do that way too often for it to be anything but instinct.” -- Isto Combs
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 07-09-2010, 01:49 AM
Nate the Great's Avatar
Nate the Great Nate the Great is offline
You just activated his Trek card
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 4,858
Default

I am seriously not joking. Pronounciation guides are meaningless to include in mass consumption dictionaries if the common man can't read them.

Looking up an appropriate word...

# IPA: /pɹəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃən/, SAMPA: /pr@%nVnsi"eIS@n/

Is that supposed to mean anything to me? Why is "prun-ounce-e-hay-shun" so taboo and impossible to use?
__________________
mudshark: Nate's just being...Nate.
Zeke: It comes nateurally to him.

mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.

Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.

Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old 07-09-2010, 02:08 AM
Zeke's Avatar
Zeke Zeke is offline
The lens that flares in the night
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Ottawa, ON
Posts: 3,396
Send a message via ICQ to Zeke Send a message via AIM to Zeke Send a message via Yahoo to Zeke
Default

I'm mostly with Nate on this one, actually. Dictionaries are one thing -- as long as the pronunciation chart is right at the start (preferably the inside cover), I don't mind the funny symbols, since they're more precise. But the way Wikipedia does it has been bugging me for some time. Not only do most articles not have pronunciation guides, even for foreign names, but the ones that do use IPA and usually don't link to the chart! How hard would it be to do that? The IPA symbols are not remotely intuitive to an English-speaker; using them without linking to their meanings is worse than useless.

When I want to convey a pronunciation to someone quickly, I use Nate's method. If I say that the mathematician Cauchy often gets his name mispronounced -- that people say "COE-shee" when they should say "coe-SHEE" (he was French) -- you know right away what I mean. But I understand why a dictionary would want to be more formal.

(Btw, Cauchy is reputedly the mathematician whose name is on the most things, so this is a real problem.)
__________________
FiveMinute.net: because stuff is long and life is short

[03:17] FiveMinZeke: Galactica clearly needs the advanced technology of scissors, which get around the whole "yanking on your follicles" problem.
[03:17] IJD: cylons can hack any blades working in conjunction
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old 07-09-2010, 02:21 AM
NAHTMMM's Avatar
NAHTMMM NAHTMMM is offline
Noodles And Hot Tofu! MMM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: St Louis, MO, USA, . . .
Posts: 2,959
Send a message via Yahoo to NAHTMMM
Default

Oh, ew. I was thinking in terms of using actual alphabetic symbols with fiddly bits and schwas. (I remembered that word just in time to type it. Yay me.)
__________________
My 5MV webpages My novel fivers list

Yup

“There must have been a point in early human history when it was actually advantageous to, when confronted with a difficult task, drop it altogether and go do something more fun, because I do that way too often for it to be anything but instinct.” -- Isto Combs
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old 07-09-2010, 04:08 AM
MaverickZer0's Avatar
MaverickZer0 MaverickZer0 is offline
Suuuuuper genius
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: On Beach Street, in a Dimensional Area
Posts: 745
Send a message via AIM to MaverickZer0 Send a message via MSN to MaverickZer0 Send a message via Yahoo to MaverickZer0
Default

I agree. I've had three of the (main) five phonetic alphabets hammered into my head by coursework, but 99% of the people who look at those guides haven't. It's useless, since not enough people know it. It's nice to have a guide like that, but it just isn't taught widely enough for the usage it gets.

IF they could agree on one international standard and agree to teach it widely, then it would be a wonderful thing. But they haven't, so it isn't.
__________________
Sig v8.2.2

No, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to go and do it anyway.

*pokes avatar* Made by a good LJ friend. Thanks Ani!

Dark Blues: I'm going to kill you!
Enzan: Not if I kill me first!
Dark Blues: You...are aware my goal is accomplished either way, right?
Enzan: ...Yeah...
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old 07-20-2010, 09:31 AM
catalina_marina's Avatar
catalina_marina catalina_marina is offline
Surfin' you say?
Member
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: North-West of the South-East of Nowhere.
Posts: 4,949
Send a message via ICQ to catalina_marina Send a message via AIM to catalina_marina Send a message via MSN to catalina_marina Send a message via Yahoo to catalina_marina
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the Great View Post
Why is "prun-ounce-e-hay-shun" so taboo and impossible to use?
Because that would defeat the international part. It's fine when you're trying to tell an English-speaking person how to pronounce it, but it's pretty useless in, say, an English - Italian dictionary (meant for Italians), as they'd have no idea how the English pronunciation rules work. After all, that's why they're looking it up. Of course, when telling a Dutchie how to pronounce this (I don't know how Italian brains work), you could tell him "prun-auns-i-hee-sjun" but what if you don't know who is reading it?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not defending IPA or any of those others, but if you want international, it's the closest thing we've got. I agree with Maverick though, that we should pick one and stick with it.

Practically though, I know just how that would turn out. As we have too many choices, every great country would want the right to pick one for itself, and then we, in the EU, are taught one, and told that we should learn another as well, as it's used in the US. (Of course, Canada would follow the US, as would most of Asia, but after a while they switch to the Euro - I mean the European system, since they think the US isn't so stable anymore. Meanwhile, Africa doesn't care.) It's happened before, it will happen again.
__________________
~Bachelor of Science Marijke

I'm not the devil, I just work for her.

What spoon? There is no spoon. According to Zeke, it's a cat. ~NeoMatrix

"Apparently we're on the wrong side. Or the right side if you like winning." ~Spike

Sa'ar Chasm: Too far south you hit Belgium.
catalina marina: Not in Limburg you don't.
Sa'ar Chasm: You do if you go south in the right way.
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old 07-20-2010, 02:49 PM
Sa'ar Chasm's Avatar
Sa'ar Chasm Sa'ar Chasm is offline
Our last, best hope for peace
Staff
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sitting (in Ottawa)
Posts: 3,425
Default

My, you've gotten cynical.

Also, is it too late to change Klingon to Elven? I have more in common with pansy archers than burly warriors.
__________________
The first run through of any experimental procedure is to identify any potential errors by making them.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 06:41 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.