language difficulties for euopean travelers

[Fluffythepoo]

So i intend to go backpacking around europe with some friends after university, i currently speak fluent french, english, and spanish; and im learning german right now (germanic syntax so much nicer than romantic ). I kinda wanna pick up 1 or 2 more languages and im in the process of trying to deciding which one(s).

Thinking Italien and/or Dutch, and just wondering if anyone with experience traveling europe think something else would be more useful/more likely to come in handy or anything else thats worth considering (but not greek.. been to greece, tried the language, didnt care for it), especially curious as to what your experience in uralic/serb countries has been if you didn't speak the language

 

[excalipoor]

I'd say English, French, Spanish and German is plenty already, but if you want more, I'd say learn Swedish or Norwegian. The two, as well as Danish, are fairly similar, so just one of them will greatly help you all over Skandinavia. Then again, English will do the trick just as well.

 

[manic_depressive13]

Out of curiousity, how are you learning German? Are you doing it through an institution or self-teaching? If the latter, how did you go about it and what resources did you use?

Unfortunately I can't help you with your question. I've only been to Europe once and that was visiting Greece. Foul language, foul place.

 

[aba1]

I was never good at learning different languages. I am kinda jealous I am not going to lie. I spent many years studying french cause of when I was born and being Canadian I had to take french classes for 9 years and I still never got it very well. I can read some things somewhat but I really cannot speak the language or write it at all. I also know a tiny tiny bit of Japanese mostly cause of the many years of Judo I have done.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Out of curiousity, how are you learning German? Are you doing it through an institution or self-teaching? If the latter, how did you go about it and what resources did you use?

Unfortunately I can't help you with your question. I've only been to Europe once and that was visiting Greece. Foul language, foul place.

Just started this semester taking it at university, I supplement classes with children's tv shows and books. Did the same thing with French/Spanish.. As your competency increases you increase the difficulty. I've actually found plenty of German kids shows on YouTube like "Kleiner Trotro" or German muppets (Sesamestrauße!), and I found some German kids books at Chapters though there's also plenty of German ebooks online. Also throwing on the news (in whatever language) when you're doing other stuff, having it in the background actually helps just as much as actively watching it. And the last thing I do is a bimonthly get together with willing German students to do nothing but talk German.. The only rule of the get together is you can only speak German, it's the next best thing to actually talking to Germans (tho talk to Germans whenever you can)

I'd say English, French, Spanish and German is plenty already, but if you want more, I'd say learn Swedish or Norwegian. The two, as well as Danish, are fairly similar, so just one of them will greatly help you all over Skandinavia. Then again, English will do the trick just as well.

Ya that was the impression I was left with, as my pollack friend put it "if they don't speak English, they speak German, and if they don't speak German they speak French"

 

[JochemHippie]

German will get you a long way around south Europe.

And english will help you in most northern countries, don't really need dutch, most of us here speak english

 

[Eleuthera]

Depends on where in Europe you plan on going. English will suffice in Ireland and the UK (obviously), Scandinavia (Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark), the Netherlands and (northern) Belgium. French in France, Luxembourg and (southern) Belgium. Spanish for Spain.
Going further east you'll be able to use German in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic (probably also Slowakia).

The main countries you'd be missing after this are Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the former Yugoslav republics. I can't really recommend languages for those, besides their own. Something in the slav group possibly, Russian maybe?

 

[DJjaffacake]

Speaking Spanish will probably get you by in Italy, the two languages are almost identical. By the same token, already speaking Spanish will make Italian much easier to learn, and the locals will be more receptive that way. Other than that, English, French, and German are the three big European languages, the others aren't spoken much outside their native countries. So unless you want to go to a specific country which doesn't speak English, French, German, or Spanish you're probably alright with what you've got.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

you'll be able to use German in Germany, Switzerland, Austria

I would like to point out the dialect differences are so immense that there are different subtitles on DVD/BLU-RAYs between these areas, not to mention not all of Switzerland speaks English or even German.

 

[Flying Dagger]

I'm studying in Maastricht at the moment and I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't speak English - I'd rule out dutch as something necessary to enjoy being here

 

[Eleuthera]

you'll be able to use German in Germany, Switzerland, Austria

I would like to point out the dialect differences are so immense that there are different subtitles on DVD/BLU-RAYs between these areas, not to mention not all of Switzerland speaks English or even German.

The dialects are different yes, but if you speak basic German you'll be able to get by in all three of those countries. And the parts of Switzerland that don't speak German speak French, Italian of Romansch.

 

[Sonicron]

If you care for visiting Scandinavia, I recommend learning Swedish. Other than that, I'd say you're pretty much settled already.
On a personal note, I'm quite impressed at your knowledge of languages.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Just started this semester taking it at university, I supplement classes with children's tv shows and books. Did the same thing with French/Spanish.. As your competency increases you increase the difficulty. I've actually found plenty of German kids shows on YouTube like "Kleiner Trotro" or German muppets (Sesamestrauße!), and I found some German kids books at Chapters though there's also plenty of German ebooks online. Also throwing on the news (in whatever language) when you're doing other stuff, having it in the background actually helps just as much as actively watching it. And the last thing I do is a bimonthly get together with willing German students to do nothing but talk German.. The only rule of the get together is you can only speak German, it's the next best thing to actually talking to Germans (tho talk to Germans whenever you can)

hi, first of all its sesamstraße not sesamstrauße

strauße are a bunch of ostriches and with sesam on front, these ostriches are made out of sesame.

not pointing it out to make fun of you. the thought of sesame ostriches is just damn funny.

anyways, having a bimonthly get together with willing German students (damn you, dirty mind!) is a good idea.

so good that it shows.

His Emergent Reality Lab took a classroom full of students just learning Mandarin Chinese and attempted to teach them a semester's worth of material in eight weeks. Part of the learning experience involved students roleplaying being lost in a Beijing airport, complete with costumed actors, sets, and a huge Kinect-controlled screen simulating the airport's environments and facilities. According to Sheldon, the class ran through the preconceived scenario in a fraction of the time expected, and spent the rest of the lesson in a form of "emergent play."

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120636-Star-Trek-Producer-Proposes-Modern-Day-Holodeck

It's Dangerousboring to Golearn Alone! Take This
http://lernen.goethe.de/spiele/lernabenteuer/himmelsscheibe/en/ (game)

http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/
http://german.about.com/od/onlinecourses/a/An-Online-German-Course.htm
http://www.digitaldialects.com/German.htm
and have fun learning

Bahahaha I had no idea the word ostrich was just a typeo away from street... Love German xD

And that actually looks fun enough to want to learn mandarin o.o
Also demonstrates why conventional language teaching techniques are a waste of time >.<

 

[JambalayaBob]

I was never good at learning different languages. I am kinda jealous I am not going to lie. I spent many years studying french cause of when I was born and being Canadian I had to take french classes for 9 years and I still never got it very well. I can read some things somewhat but I really cannot speak the language or write it at all. I also know a tiny tiny bit of Japanese mostly cause of the many years of Judo I have done.

I'll tell you right now that it's probably not really your fault that you can't speak French after classes for 9 years. Taking a foreign language class because you have to is nothing like learning a foreign language because you want to, or learning a foreign language because you're in another country and you almost have to. I took 4 years of Spanish, and I know maybe a few hundred words and phrases. I've been self-teaching Japanese for a few months, and I've already surpassed my Spanish proficiency in many ways.

Schools suck for learning languages, and textbooks are good for a start, but are terrible to rely on heavily. A second language has to be taught completely differently, a lot more like learning an instrument than like learning math. Anyone with the will and time can learn any number of languages.

 

[Angie7F]

I learnt German for a couple of years but never got far...
However recently I am pretty surprised t find out that I can read instructions on the installation guide for my car headlight and it made me glad to have had taken those courses.

 

[generals3]

So i intend to go backpacking around europe with some friends after university, i currently speak fluent french, english, and spanish; and im learning german right now (germanic syntax so much nicer than romantic ). I kinda wanna pick up 1 or 2 more languages and im in the process of trying to deciding which one(s).

Thinking Italien and/or Dutch, and just wondering if anyone with experience traveling europe think something else would be more useful/more likely to come in handy or anything else thats worth considering (but not greek.. been to greece, tried the language, didnt care for it), especially curious as to what your experience in uralic/serb countries has been if you didn't speak the language

No need to learn dutch, most people who speak dutch also speak english. Italian however can be quite useful, Italians are really bad when it comes to foreign languages and Italy is a must see country.

 

[TheCrapMaster]

Well to get by in Scandinavia your english is more then enough. Seeing we are pretty small populated countrys and english is teached in schools most people under the age of 45ish have a good understanding of english. Tho if your planing on going to these parts and realy want to learn something, take swedish. Then you can understand danish and norwegian, tho not what the people of finland are saying. At best we share afew similar words with the finns, sadly not more .

 

[SckizoBoy]

I would like to point out the dialect differences are so immense that there are different subtitles on DVD/BLU-RAYs between these areas, not to mention not all of Switzerland speaks English or even German.

Oh god that's true... I did a post-grad alongside a whole load of German speakers, and it was like at least half a dozen different languages (1 Israeli, 1 Bavarian, 1 Brandenburger, 1 Austrian, 1 Czech & 2 Swiss... all completely different). I struggled so badly to understand anyone other than the Israeli, Brandenburger & the Austrian... :/

Anyway,

So i intend to go backpacking around europe with some friends after university, i currently speak fluent french, english, and spanish; and im learning german right now (germanic syntax so much nicer than romantic ). I kinda wanna pick up 1 or 2 more languages and im in the process of trying to deciding which one(s).

Thinking Italien and/or Dutch, and just wondering if anyone with experience traveling europe think something else would be more useful/more likely to come in handy or anything else thats worth considering (but not greek.. been to greece, tried the language, didnt care for it), especially curious as to what your experience in uralic/serb countries has been if you didn't speak the language

Wow... quite the polyglot, eh... with the four you have, that's plenty, since you have one Latin (forgotten how English is categorised), two Romance and one Germanic. So... if you want to pick one, go for one of the Slavic languages, because they're significantly different to merit in depth study. Italian would be really easy for you to pick since you already have EN/ES/FR, Dutch is almost like a lowland dialect of German (oh, please, don't kill me Dutch/Germans! ;D ) though to be fair as already mentioned German dialects are far more varied than in any other European language.

Other than that... Russian would be quite a change as well considering the entire eastern third of Europe would most likely be able to speak it, and if you were to study a Scandinavian language (or two) note that Norwegian and Danish are almost identical, Swedish is a little different and spoken quite a bit in Finland, and Finnish is not a Scandinavian language! -_-

Still, whereabouts were you thinking of going?

 

[Fluffythepoo]

I would like to point out the dialect differences are so immense that there are different subtitles on DVD/BLU-RAYs between these areas, not to mention not all of Switzerland speaks English or even German.

Oh god that's true... I did a post-grad alongside a whole load of German speakers, and it was like at least half a dozen different languages (1 Israeli, 1 Bavarian, 1 Brandenburger, 1 Austrian, 1 Czech & 2 Swiss... all completely different). I struggled so badly to understand anyone other than the Israeli, Brandenburger & the Austrian... :/

Anyway,

So i intend to go backpacking around europe with some friends after university, i currently speak fluent french, english, and spanish; and im learning german right now (germanic syntax so much nicer than romantic ). I kinda wanna pick up 1 or 2 more languages and im in the process of trying to deciding which one(s).

Thinking Italien and/or Dutch, and just wondering if anyone with experience traveling europe think something else would be more useful/more likely to come in handy or anything else thats worth considering (but not greek.. been to greece, tried the language, didnt care for it), especially curious as to what your experience in uralic/serb countries has been if you didn't speak the language

Wow... quite the polyglot, eh... with the four you have, that's plenty, since you have one Latin (forgotten how English is categorised), two Romance and one Germanic. So... if you want to pick one, go for one of the Slavic languages, because they're significantly different to merit in depth study. Italian would be really easy for you to pick since you already have EN/ES/FR, Dutch is almost like a lowland dialect of German (oh, please, don't kill me Dutch/Germans! ;D ) though to be fair as already mentioned German dialects are far more varied than in any other European language.

Other than that... Russian would be quite a change as well considering the entire eastern third of Europe would most likely be able to speak it, and if you were to study a Scandinavian language (or two) note that Norwegian and Danish are almost identical, Swedish is a little different and spoken quite a bit in Finland, and Finnish is not a Scandinavian language! -_-

Still, whereabouts were you thinking of going?

still a long way from actual german fluency .. and all 4 are part of the indo-european language family, which is subcatagorised into branches/subfamilies, 2 of which are Romantic (true descendants of latin like french/italien/spanish), and Germanic (which are for the most part a mix of latinate languages and proto-germanic , like english and german)

but russian seems to be a reoccurring theme.. id never really considered it practical for anywhere besides russia/ukraine, but even then englsih/french would carry me pretty far.. any russian speakers with input? as in how much would you miss in russia/ukraine without russian?

and im going everywhere.. errehwhar! not gonna miss st.pattys in dublin, munich oktoberfest, the venician carnival, san fermin, or kiev day.. also sochi olympics if the timing works