Multilingual People Explain Which Foreign Language Was The Easiest To Learn
People become polyglots for a variety of reasons.
Some people grow up bilingual, with one language being spoken at home and another being spoken out in the world.
Others take it upon themselves to learn more languages. And every language has its own various challenges.
Bibbidi Bobbidi
<p>Italian.</p><p>Just get an Italian girlfriend and download Italian language versions of RPGs you've already beaten. Congratulations, you're now qualified to eat pasta.</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/LonelyPauper/" target="_blank">LonelyPauper</a></p>Slang Game
<p>I literally learned English by watching cartoons since a really young age. I spoke a lot of russian and learning another language at the time. Then developed my vocabulary through literature. The hardest part was getting used to the slang. I couldn't understand a word my first year in England.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Sayor1/" target="_blank">Sayor1</a></p>Cut From The Same Cloth
<p>Hindi - I grew up in a household speaking Punjabi, but learned Hindi from watching Bollywood movies. The languages share some roots, so it was like learning Italian when you speak Spanish.</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/GidhaRani/" target="_blank">GidhaRani</a></p>Idioma de facÃl
<p>Spanish. I'm a French speaker. Spanish is simplified French with lots of "o"s and "a"s Oh, and intonations too.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/moon-angel/" target="_blank">moon-angel</a></p>Formulas
<p>I like Spanish, as it is not so difficult knowing if a noun is masculine or feminine.</p><p>In German or French, you need to learn the gender of each noun, word by word. Sometimes you have a clue, but it's far more difficult than in Spanish.</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ballena8892/" target="_blank">ballena8892</a></p>Even The Language Is Imperialist
<p>English because it was omnipresent, and I feel like I just learned it by hearing it on TV all day and reading Harry Potter books because I didn't want to wait for the translation. I never felt like I put any real effort into learning it, it just sort of happened.</p><p>Of the language I actively learned I think Spanish was the easiest (relatively simple grammar, not many crazy exceptions to the rules), but it certainly helped that I spoke French already</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Inevitable-Aardvark/" target="_blank">Inevitable-Aardvark</a></p>Groupings
<p>It depends on your native language and /or on what foreign language you already know.</p><p>Romance languages are close enough to allow you to pick another one up relatively easily. I've never studied Spanish, yet I can understand it well and can stumble my way through a basic conversation, based on my knowledge of Italian.</p><p>Ditto for Scandinavian languages. I'd probably become fluent in Swedish within a few months of practice and even the trickier Danish is much less nonsensical when you approach it as a Norwegian speaker.</p><p>English is odd... Easy to butcher, tough to master.</p><p>German, as all inflected languages, is more intimidating and definitely has a steeper and longer learning curve.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Kalle_79/" target="_blank">Kalle_79</a></p>Roots
<p>Latin. By the time you've picked up one or two of the Romance languages, Latin words are pretty easy to recognize. Sentence structure is a bit less easy, and while pronunciation may look hard at first with some words, <em>every letter is pronounced in Latin</em> so there are no 'tricky' letters or sounds. Of course, it's a dead language, so there's that...</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/temporalwanderer/" target="_blank">temporalwanderer</a></p>Word Order
<p>Easiest was Spanish, but most surprisingly easy was Mandarin. I am by no means fluent in Mandarin or close to it, but the sentence structure is surprisingly similar to English (both are SVO) and verbs are never conjugated, so memorizing and learning all the conjugations just isn't a thing. You of course have to learn how to mark time and tenses, but it's not as complex as for languages in which every verb is conjugated for every tense and every person.</p><p>Sure there's the tones and the characters and the measure words and all that, but on the whole was surprisingly less difficult than I anticipated.</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Robearsn/" target="_blank">Robearsn</a></p>When Things Mix Inside Your Brains
<p>Well i have two first languages: English and Japanese.</p><p>So Italian is easy because it's alphabet is similar to English. Korean is easy because Japanese has the same grammar structure and even some similar words. Totally different alphabet and slightly more confusing honorific system, but nonetheless easy in general.</p><p>On the other hand, Spanish can be a huge pain in the butt for me sometimes because it's TOO similar to Italian. I'll mix up the vocabulary far too often lol</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/kaede1101/" target="_blank">kaede1101</a></p>People Share Famous Quotes Often Misused By Not Using The Full Quotation
It's amazing how the entire meaning of a quote can change with just a few additional words. Some people like to exclude these words to make the quote fit their narrative, but these Redditors know the truth. Keep reading for an eye-opening experience.
u/olChum_69 asked: What are some famous quotes people misuse by not using the full quote?
Machiavelli
<p>Machiavelli: "It is better to be feared than loved, <em>if you cannot be both.</em> "</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ObtuseSage/" target="_blank">ObtuseSage</a></p><p>"I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." -Michael Scott</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/IceBankYourMom/" target="_blank">IceBankYourMom</a></p>The love of...
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5Mzk0Mi9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzU3MDU4M30.XTwDJ36s1LGlYSXVBQ0syD7ApWgyAKx4E9JTZdwfQi8/img.gif?width=980" id="c0643" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e8229690bbfb932be9a36319b8065f6a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>Money is the root of all evil. The actual verse reads "the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil."</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BlackBox-/" target="_blank">BlackBox-</a></p><p>I like the actual verse much more. I always thought money and wealth itself isn't inherently bad, but the desire/love for it can be.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/alaweseman/" target="_blank">alaweseman</a></p>Unlucky.
<p>"The race is not (always) to the swift".</p><p>The full quote is: "the race is not to the swift, not the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."</p><p>The point isn't so much that persistence is sometimes enough to overcome skill, but rather that sometimes everyone is unlucky.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/dataphile/" target="_blank">dataphile</a></p>Richard III
<p>"Now is the winter of our discontent."</p><p>Actual quote: "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York."</p><p>The "now" modifies "made", not "is". Richard III is describing a good thing, that the "seasons are changing" for him and things are looking up. Basically the complete opposite of what you get by stopping half way through the quote.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/tjdelgado/" target="_blank">tjdelgado</a></p>If wrong, to be set right.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5Mzk1MS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTgyMTkyMn0.MNIxtmVFiZSrY75qJhrI4YBB9kD9smrcsYBlXWiq-qk/img.gif?width=980" id="e612c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9e18eb8d746f1353777fdc893d14df4e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>"My country, right or wrong."</p><p>People use it to justify blind patriotism and ignoring the bad things that their country does but forget the rest of the quote: "if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/adeon/" target="_blank">adeon</a></p>Still true.
<p>"History repeats itself. First as tragedy, then as farce."</p><p>People often forget the second part!</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Joekerr99/" target="_blank">Joekerr99</a></p>Nietzsche
<p>"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"</p><p>-Nietzsche</p><p>The full quote is not nearly as cut and dry as the first sentence. Much more thoughtful than celebratory.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/liederbach/" target="_blank">liederbach</a></p>Bootstraps.
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA5Mzk2MC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjQwMDgzNX0.dD2gWrlqUWSefKcIvC5HP30N_xlXWX238eA1wrn2zio/img.gif?width=980" id="1147f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9485c17d5dacf0e73af190e620f7863a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Giphy<p>"To pull yourself up by your bootstraps" was initially meant to imply doing the impossible.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Radegast_/" target="_blank">Radegast_</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Radegast_/" target="_blank"></a>Fun fact: the original meaning is also why computers 'boot'.</p><p>In the early days when you turn a computer on, how do you ready it for reading instructions? There are no instructions running to tell it to interpret the code that will tell it how to run code to tell it...etc.. So a program is needed that effectively pulls the computer up by its own bootstraps, without the need for user input and thus bootstrapping became a term, later shortened to boot.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Implausibilibuddy/" target="_blank">Implausibilibuddy</a></p>Rome wasn't built...
<p>Might as well be that person who points this quote out.</p><p>"Rome wasn't built in a day [the forgotten part] but it burned in one."</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/UUDDLRLRSelStar/" target="_blank">UUDDLRLRSelStar</a></p><p>Ah the classic spin on 'It takes years to build trust but only a moment to destroy it.'</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/iknowthisischeesy/" target="_blank">iknowthisischeesy</a></p>Al Capone
<p>Don't mistake my kindness for weakness.</p><p>The full quote:</p><p>"Don't mistake my kindness for weakness. I am kind to everyone, but when someone is unkind to me, weak is not what you are going to remember about me." -- Al Capone</p><p>Not necessarily misused, but I think the full quote is so much more.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ElSatchmo/" target="_blank">ElSatchmo</a></p>You probably take for granted, if your first language is English, that you think in English.
For the most part, if you're working in only one language, you think solely in that language. But if you have more than one language, which one do you think in?
The answer isn't always what you'd expect it to be.
Dream Dream Dream
<p>I'm fluent in English, Vietnamese is my mother tongue, speak a little French. I mainly think in English since I moved to US but my dreams come in Vietnamese still ...</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezg88d0/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezg88d0/" target="_blank"></a>I was roommates with a girl from Germany for a few weeks while on a group tour of South America. She was fluent in English and German. She talked in her sleep and for the first 2 weeks I would wake up in the middle of the night speaking German to no one. I had no idea what she was saying since I didn't speak the language. After 2 weeks I woke up at 3am to her saying my name, then asking in English if we could get breakfast. She actually figured out in her sleep talking state that if she wanted to converse with me, it had to be in English. It was SO weird.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezhtlkd/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>Switcheroo
<p>French when I speak French, English when I speak English. Sometimes English when I speak French. I'm french tho. That's weird.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezg8xfr/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezg8xfr/" target="_blank"></a>I took French for about 4 years and got to the point where I was pretty good at speaking it. Never got to the point of thinking in it, but one semester I decided to take Spanish too, and there were quite a few times where I would end up writing in French or responding in French if I wasn't paying attention</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezh7v5i/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p><p><br></p>Invasive Speech
<p>I know a guy who has been living in Japan for well over a decade as an English teacher and translator. There are a couple occasions where I will be talking to him in English only for him to slightly bork his English with Japanese grammar since outside of work, he never speaks English</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezh7b40/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p><p><br></p>Multithought
<p>I can think in them all. When I'm speaking a language, I think in that language even if I'm not 100% fluent.</p><p>When I'm not speaking, I generally think in one of two languages I'm a native speaker in. I don't consciously control it. Sometimes I'm surrounded by one language and my brain randomly starts thinking in the other but usually I'll think in the language I last used.</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezg87re/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>Triumvirate
<p>First language: Danish</p><p>Second language: English</p><p>Third language: German</p><p>It switches between danish and english.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezgfbcu/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>Svedka
<p>My first language is Swedish but I'm fluent in English and pretty much only speak English at home. (I can also understand Danish and Norwegian and speak a bit of French).</p><p>I mostly think and dream in English unless I've been speaking/reading a lot of Swedish or if I'm doing stuff where my vocabulary is lacking in English.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezgds2f/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>Phonically
<p>I started off thinking in English and then translating Spanish into English in my head. It took a lot of effort.</p><p>The weirdest thing was when I started knowing words in Spanish that I didn't know in English.</p><p>And then it was weird again when I started understanding Spanish words and sentences without having to consciously translate them into English first. It was like I would hear someone say something in Spanish and the understanding of the whole meaning of the sentence would pop into my head the same way as when someone said something in English.</p><p>I learned English much much earlier in life, so that's my default, but if I'm hearing Spanish or listening to Spanish music or media(or even sometimes when I'm not), there are a lot of times when I think in Spanish, too.</p><p>And honestly, I kind of prefer thinking in Spanish, but I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's that the music is better?</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezg9y8n/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>Genius
<p>While I was in seminary at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary there was a professor there who was very skilled in languages.</p><p>For example, he was planning a trip to Turkey to study something, and someone asked him why he was reading a book in German and he said "The best book on [some specific part of] the Turkish language is written in German."</p><p>There was a story that might have been urban legend, but one day he was walking across the quad and the [school] president stopped him and said</p><p>"Dr. Gentry, how are things going?"</p><p>"I'm disappointed."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"Because I know 9 languages, but can only think in 5 of them."</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezgbevd/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>None In Particular
<p>I speak Portuguese English Spanish and German. In my house multiple languages were spoken in a mix at all times. Words in sentence weren't exactly from the same language. When I speak with my family like that. I think in no language in particular and it's second nature.</p><p>When just speaking a single language at a time, I typically think in that language</p><p>When it comes to counting it's mostly german</p><p><span></span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezgk5c5/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a><span></span></p>Nothing And Everything
<p>I consider myself to be fairly fluent in English. My thoughts partially switched to it when I was around seventeen years old (I had been speaking a little English since I was three, but I started "seriously" studying the language only when I turned sixteen).</p><p>Currently, my inner monologue is both in English and in my native language. When I'm "giving a speech" in my head, discussing some concept with myself, I usually think in English. On the other hand, my inner voice uses my native language for the most of the mundane things, like "My exams are tomorrow, yet here I am, browsing Reddit." Also, on some rare occasions, I hear nothing and just <em>know</em> what I'm thinking about.</p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe/people_who_can_speak_multiple_languages_what/ezgjxow/" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/d126qe...</a></p>Foreign People Reveal Which English Expressions Are Used Worldwide Like 'C'est La Vie'
When Redditor TheNewOneIsWorse asked: "Non-native English speakers of reddit, what are some English language expressions that are commonly used in your country in the way we will use foreign phrases like 'c'est la vie' or 'hasta la vista?'" they probably didn't anticipate the responses they received. Information like this reminds us that we live in an ever more connected world.