How many languages can you speak?

[kesslari]

I've never heard of Ladino before. Where is that spoken?

Wow, someone read the post

To explain Ladino requires a history lesson. The short answer is that it is spoken in various places - the Balkans, North Africa, Turkey and Greece, and some cities in the US (and probably Latin America).

Most simply put, it's the Spanish equivalent of Yiddish.
Yiddish was the language of the Jews of Germany and Eastern Europe - it is essentially Low German, written in Hebrew characters, with some Hebrew words mixed in.
Ladino was the language of the Jews of Spain (Sepharad) - essentially 15th century Castillian Spanish, written in Hebrew characters, with some Hebrew words mixed in. The Spanish Jews were expelled (or killed or forced into conversion to Catholicism) in 1492. Those who fled settled mostly in the Ottoman empire, which welcomed them - so Ladino (their language) went with them. Wherever they lived their music picked up style and form from the local music, so Ladino music includes music of North African, Greek, Turkish, etc etc, derivation, as well as Spanish. Some of it is liturgical, some of it is secular, much of it is amazingly beautiful. It's not a blend of these musical traditions (it's not a "world music fusion) - local music picks up local style.
I've sung love songs (Los Bilbilicos), songs of religious "history" (Cuando El Rey Nimrod, about the birth of Abraham), and folk songs (Hija Mia Mi Querida, an argument between a father and his daughter about her marriage plans - I've sung that as a duet with my daughter, it was a lot of fun).

I have a friend who grew up in a Ladino-speaking neighborhood in Los Angeles.

 

[macaroni tony]

Kesslari, my wife thanks you for giving me another language history to read up on every day after work

 

[slobake]

Wow, someone read the post

Dude I always read your posts. Where else can I learn about cool languages like Ladino or hear quotes from great old folk tales?

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Oh, I know a little bit of Norweigan in addition to the languages I learned at school, but I've failed to actually make it out there yet. But that's just enough to order beer, coffee, ask the way to the bus and the chemist. It would be no good if someone gave me directions in Norweigan but I work on the principle that my accent will be so thick that they will simply reply in the perfect English that seemingly everyone in The Netherlands, Germany and the Nordic countries speak (and Finland).

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Oh, people were joking about strands of English. Some of the dialect forms from Africa, South-East Asia, or even parts of the UK aren't really particularly mutually intelligible. Doric makes little sense to me, for example.

 

[champbassist]

I'm fluent Hindi, Bengali and English.

Hindi is my mother tongue, Bengali was the main language in the city where I grew up and English was my primary medium of education.

People speak some Punjabi where I'm natively from, so I can speak a wee bit of that as well.

If it comes to reading, though, I can read and understand a fair bit of Russian and Kannada as well- these are scripts that are completely different from my primary languages.

 

[buldog5151bass]

English is my native tongue. I used to be pretty fluent in Spanish (6 years school, one year dating an exchange student). Now that my son is studying, and because of client contact, it is coming back. Also used to know some Madarin from a former girlfriend (sensing a pattern here?).

 

[Beamrider]

I am also fluent in the language of love.

So you also speak Italian? Cool!!!

On that subject...
Italian (mothertongue)
English
Spanish
Catalan
A bit of French
and my hometown's dialect, which has its own syntax and grammar and has hardly anything to do with Italian.

 

[Webtroll]

English, Bad English, and Spanish

 

[Fuzzonaut]

German
French (work)
Spanish (wife)
Italian (family)
English (just because)

 

[pedroims]

English, Spanish and Portuguese.

 

[MEKer]

English, Spanish, non-fluent German

Hi, Fuzzonaut!

 

[Funky Ghost]

Fluently, 1.

Passingly ( I can get my point across with some gesturing and pantomiming ), 1

Cursing, about a dozen I guess.

 

[TomA1234]

I can speak 2 languages:
English (mother tongue) and GCSE level French, which means I could just about stumble my way through a basic conversation.

 

[chuck norriss]

I can speak enough Spanish to communicate and get me into trouble but I wouldn't say I am fluent. The same goes for English. Learned Spanish from family, friends and co-workers.
I can also speak some evil minion.
I'm guessing our friends from Europe and countries other than the U.S. are going to speak multiple languages more often. Is that a myth?

i speek won

 

[Fuzzonaut]

Guten Tag MEKer!

 

[bassdude51]

I can speak 2.2 languages. English, Hillbilly and .2 Spanish. "Donde esta la casa de pee pee?" (Thanks Steve Martin!)

 

[fhm555]

...I can speak enough Spanish to communicate and get me into trouble but I wouldn't say I am fluent...

I've always had a knack for picking up languages. Never have been what you would call fluent in anything but english, but over the years I've been immersed in spanish, japanese, farsi, and korean long enough to be able to effectively communicate with the locals.

Sadly, after I'm out for a while what I learned pretty much goes away. I remember a few words, but it is a classic case of losing it because I don't use it.

 

[ZenG]

Slobake:- can you give me an example of " Evil Minion"?

 

[Polfuste]

french (mother tongue) and B2 at bullats test in english (over A1 to C2, C2 being best level)