Does anyone know a second language?

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I used to speak chinese

they say two danish-ish phrases, but that are distorted "kamelåså" and another one i dont remember now, and when the store-guy grabs the customer by the shirt, he says "we cannot understand each other!! !" but the other one obviously doesnt understand what he says

I've tried since grade 3, but I just think that I cannot learn french. I don't say that easily, I've tried really really hard to learn it. I don't think that my mind can comprehend another language.

^ lol, understandable, the language sounds as they have porridge in their mouths when talking... *sorry danes* but what language doesnt sound like that when you dont undersand it...

as he says "it has collapsed into mess of guttoral sounds" thats how we always heard the danes, as "guttoral gibberish" sortof. its still a mystery to us why their talk comes off like that to us, i cant pinpoint it. cus italian, greek, chinese, swahili, none of them have that "guttoral sound" reputation.
_I_ suspect that its a lot of german sound and influence, that we notice as "not fitting" when heard in a nordic language. just a thought.

English, Russian, French, studied Chinese for 3 years but not that good with it now. I used to know some Ukranian when I was younger (self-taught, with aid of my grandfather who gave me a self-teach book) but forgot most of it now.

Same here.
I'm waiting for my Kanji book to arrive and then the madness can begin XD
'cause I figure I can learn all the Japanese I want, but if I don't know kanji, I'd still be pretty much illiterate (when it comes to Japanese).

Here's a site that inspires me quite a bit:
http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about

What about cymraeg(Welsh)? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFrCCjZRi0E

welsh just sounds like any other funky foreign language. danish has something w their expiration while talking, its...
almost like.... theyre straining themselves, lifting something heavy, while talking :S

the only language w a similar "effect" is korean, that it sounds like theyre applying a lot of pressure while talking :S

not necessarily true

No, some welsh speakers make guttoral sounds when they talk and by some I actually mean a lot. Korean sounds a lot like japanese and i'm an asian language and culture freak so don't argue with me on that.

I know how to speak, read and write two languages: Swedish (native tongue) and English. I have studied and am quite proficient at reading French, German, Dutch, Russian, Greek, Latin and (of course) Esperanto but I can't say I know them. The nordic languages (with the exception of Finnish and Sami) are pretty similar and I can read (with a high degree of comprehension) Norwegian, Danish and some Icelandic. I know some Finnish words and phrases (apart from the standard-profane of this language) and can get by at least by reading.

Actually knowing a language is a very different thing. I can do math, but I can't say I know all of mathematics. I can make myself understood in a foreign society because of human abilities of recognizing common needs.

Knowing an entire language is also different. I can't say I know all of English's 250 000 words or even all the words of Swedish. So I guess I know no languages completely. Sorry.

Well I have a Japanese magazine here filled with kanji and I have no idea what it says.
I see signs in movies, with kanji, and I have no idea what they say.
I try to read kids websites and again there's kanji that I don't know the meaning of.

To me, in a way, that's being illiterate.

I have a second language. It's called English. I think I am fairly good at it.

Third language would be French, where I need a lot more practice before I can get moderately good.

I wish to have Japanese as a fourth language. I have been learning a word here and there over the years, but I know practically nothing about Japanese grammar.

Icecypher: Your English is better than most native speakers <grin>.

1234: I was visiting a friend of mine in Hokkaido a few years ago. He lives in a fishing village with his parents. We were hanging out with his friends, and he was writing something, and he kept asking his friends about the correct way to write some of the kanji, and they would talk and try to remember, and argue about it. They could read the characters, but had forgotten how to write them, because a lot of them have many strokes. I think there are 50,000 official kanji characters but only about 2,000 in current use, and only a few hundred in daily use.

I love language. All of it Creoles, pidgins, philiology. Sadly, I have never actually developed enough long-term interest to fully learn a language, although I have recently become rather enamoured in celtic tongues, namely Old Irish and its decendents. I have studied (to an extent) Koine Greek, Classical Latin, MAndarin, Standard Arabic and a bit of Spanish.

I don't know if it will last, but as I have a bit of Irish and Scottish blood in me, its like I can actually meld, I guess into it. The Modern Gaelics are not dead quite yet, so I guess I might move over there, should HaShem will it. I'm fine with Alaska to.

Anywhere that's not the south will do actually.