legov Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 If you learn Mandarin you have a good knowledge base to learn Clementine and Tangerine. Old joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 13, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted January 13, 2012 You will probably always be able to find somebody who speaks Arabic in the Muslim countries of the world though. That is a lot of places, and most of them north and east of Saudi Arabia (ie, Iran, Iraq, the "stans") have their own local languages. Few people in Southeast Asia speak fluent Arabic, if any at all. I think it's analagous to Latin in the mediaeval Christian world, in that it is the lingua franca used for religious study. Peoples' knowledge of it may be rudimentary compared to the local languages, but it may do in an emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 It is very good for us that the most powerful nation on the earth at the moment speaks English. I just feel we are all so lucky that we speak English, because it is literally everywhere around the world. Was watching some Spanish football and I saw some advertising hoardings in English and on the stadium/stand it said 'salida' and then underneath 'exit'. English isn't even an official language in Spain. Funny, I saw a Chinese advertising hoarding at Villa Park that day. Not to mention that our matchday shirts all have Chinese words plastered on them. Disclaimer btw: I'm not a Chinese chauvinist, I'm just playing devil's advocate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Is there a chance that Spanish may become the majority language in USA by the end of the century? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 15, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 15, 2012 Is there a chance that Spanish may become the majority language in USA by the end of the century? You'll be dead by then in all probability and even if it was, English would still be the language of business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 You will probably always be able to find somebody who speaks Arabic in the Muslim countries of the world though. That is a lot of places, and most of them north and east of Saudi Arabia (ie, Iran, Iraq, the "stans") have their own local languages. Few people in Southeast Asia speak fluent Arabic, if any at all. I think it's analagous to Latin in the mediaeval Christian world, in that it is the lingua franca used for religious study. Peoples' knowledge of it may be rudimentary compared to the local languages, but it may do in an emergency. Yeah, but more so. Firstly I dont think I referred to South East Asia, which Indonesia aside is an Islam free zone but throughout the countries I did name check I dont think you would ever be too far from a man who speaks some form of Arabic. Like English, Arabic is a very wide spread second language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Is there just 1 arabic language, or many? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Firstly I dont think I referred to South East Asia, which Indonesia aside is an Islam free zone Islam is actually the most popular religion in South East Asia, nearly 250 million people. It's the official religion of Malaysia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_ian_taylor Posted January 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted January 18, 2012 Is there just 1 arabic language, or many? Several different dialects - Moroccan is different enough from Iraqi to almost be a different language, but Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is used for the news in all Arab countries. If you can master MSA, then you should be able to have a conversation with most people, though you'll sound a bit odd and formal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 19, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted January 19, 2012 The other thing you have to bear in mind when you're learning a language is who's going to be teaching it. When I did an evening class here at the uni a couple of years ago, I was considering between improving my French, or starting out with Italian, Spanish, German or Russian. Seeing as I have access to our staff database, I checked out the photographs of the lecturers for the respective courses: four hairy-arsed blokes and one very attractive young blonde lady. German it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 The other thing you have to bear in mind when you're learning a language is who's going to be teaching it. When I did an evening class here at the uni a couple of years ago, I was considering between improving my French, or starting out with Italian, Spanish, German or Russian. Seeing as I have access to our staff database, I checked out the photographs of the lecturers for the respective courses: four hairy-arsed blokes and one very attractive young blonde lady. German it was. I see the German teacher has changed from when I was there!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC_Hitz Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 You're worthless without peaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Here you go Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 19, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted January 19, 2012 OK. This pic (red eye and all) does not remotely do her justice, she's actually a stunner. But still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 OK. This pic (red eye and all) does not remotely do her justice, she's actually a stunner. But still... Why does that picture look like one you would put on a ransom note? How much do you want for her, Mike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I'm not falling for that, that's Christian Bale in a wig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I'm not falling for that, that's Christian Bale in a wig. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted January 19, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted January 19, 2012 Skills. :notsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Skills. :notsure: That pic is seamless! This graphic design shizzle is easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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