Are you multilingual?

[didge 11]

A multilinguist can speak four or more languages: such a tall order, right? Presently, only three percent of the world's population is multilingual. Polyglots are fewer, without a doubt.

[Spade 2]

Oh I thought you can already call yourself a multilingual if you know 3 or above. I think most Swiss people are multilingual. They at least know the language of their region (French/German/Italian) and they have to learn one other language of a different region, plus English, The Swiss I know mostly know about 4 or 5 languages.

 

Though sometimes it’s hard to say when you truly feel like you know a language. I learned Japanese for years, and it was only around the 3rd year that I am confident with saying ”I know Japanese” to others. Languages feel like a never-ending journey to me, but usually a fun one!

[Ogmore 28]

I'm proudly Welsh and so I speak Welsh and English. The Welsh language was dying off among the younger generation supposedly, but it's seen a recent resurgence perhaps due to our snazzy Welsh-language public TV channel S4C. Some people have a natural gift for picking up languages, but that's not me.

 

@Spade What made you select Japanese as the language to learn?

[lymmo 8]

Oh I thought you can already call yourself a multilingual if you know 3 or above. I think most Swiss people are multilingual. They at least know the language of their region (French/German/Italian) and they have to learn one other language of a different region, plus English, The Swiss I know mostly know about 4 or 5 languages.

 

Though sometimes it’s hard to say when you truly feel like you know a language. I learned Japanese for years, and it was only around the 3rd year that I am confident with saying ”I know Japanese” to others. Languages feel like a never-ending journey to me, but usually a fun one!

Wow, it would have been fun to be born Swiss. I can speak a little French and German, so I am nowhere close to being multilingual. I am also curious to know what motivated you to learn Japanese? It looks like a language so hard to grasp!

[Spade 2]

The kanjis in Japanese are indeed quite difficult but you can get used to it and even the locals don’t always know well about the kanji system. Of course getting yourself to speak with the natives help a lot. Learning the grammar only allows you to know about the language, but if you talk with the locals or immense yourself into the culture and learn the language from the way they think, it helps you grasping the essence of the language quicker than you can expect!

[lymmo 8]

The kanjis in Japanese are indeed quite difficult but you can get used to it and even the locals don’t always know well about the kanji system. Of course getting yourself to speak with the natives help a lot. Learning the grammar only allows you to know about the language, but if you talk with the locals or immense yourself into the culture and learn the language from the way they think, it helps you grasping the essence of the language quicker than you can expect!

I was shocked to realize that there are about 2,000 kanji characters. Who even came up with them in the first place? I am even more motivated to learn Japanese; it's never too late anyway, right?