/lit/ - Literature

>not providing sauce
Enjoy your ban.

>>4882371
#not_reading_the_filename_enjoy_your_ban

>you will always have to settle for 3DPD

>>4882484
>what is vr

Waifu age does real

>tfw learning Italian and French incredibly easily
>tfw decide to learn Arabic
>tfw assume it will be as easy as previous languages
Jesus Christ, how wrong I was.

>>4882367
>Is speaking two European languages considered an accomplishment?
If you live in the Anglosphere, it is.
Also, that is the most perfect pic. The dark skin version is even better.

>>4882490
*learned italian and french

>>4882367
Besides my own native language, I speak English and German fluently. I can also communicate in Italian since I lived in Italy for a while, years ago. Oh, and I went to a pretty decent classical high school ("gymnasium") over here, where we studied Latin, too.

That being said, bragging about knowing a language for the sake of knowing a language is retarded. The reason continental Europeans tend to be bilingual as opposed to Anglo folks is not because we're somehow better than them, it's because of circumstances. If you live in an English speaking country, there is simply no reason to know any other language - everyone worth talking to already knows English. While here, in continental Europe, learning foreign languages like this (besides English, that is) is just a relic of the pre-globalized world and for most of people, a complete waste of time.

If you're going to move to a country, then yeah, it would be a good idea to learn its native language, even if you could probably get by with English even there, especially in Europe. Other than that, only other legitimate reason in the modern world that isn't self-masturbatory to learn a language is if you're a weeb and don't want to be bothered to wait for subs for your newest chinese cartoon to come out and you want to watch it raw before rest of /a/ spoils it for you.

>>4882490
>Tfw some non Arab person tries to learn Arabic

Pretty good

>>4882367
>try learning an Asian language next time.

The only one that is bearable is Japanese, the rest sound utterly disgusting and annoying, specially any dialect of Chinese.

>>4882673
>Oh, and I went to a pretty decent classical high school ("gymnasium") over here, where we studied Latin, too.
>no Greek

Gepeupel

>>4883862
Oh god this. Japanese with a deep male voice sounds awesome. For that matter any language in a deep/elderly male voice sounds good.

I'm fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, German and French, and can communicate/ am learning Mandarin. It's definitely harder the more different the language you're learning is from the languages you already know. The system, culture and logic behind is completely different, and for something like Mandarin with a completely different writing system, the gap is definitely wider and it takes more time to acclimate.

>>4883862
I'm N1 in nip-speak still far off fluent but it fucking pisses me off when people ask me why I don't learn some filthy Chinese dialect instead just because more people speak it.

>>4882490

Four years in and I'm still not fluent.

I really enjoy learning it, though. It's been extremely rewarding.

>>4882673
>is just a relic of the pre-globalized world and for most of people

Don't tell me you're one of those who seriously believes everyone will speak English as their first language in the future.

>>4882673
But if you don't learn every major European language, how do you read the entire western canon without having to suffer through filthy translations?

>try to learn Japanese on and off
>grammar and syntax is easy enough but the writing is too retarded
Just switch to latin like a normal damn civilization already nips

>>4882367
>loli aksin for it from a grown up dic
Wait, what are we talking about?

>>4883974
The Japanese writing system is more logical than English. Why doesn't English at least get a phonetic alphabet?

I speak a language that has about 2 million speakers worldwide, suck it.

>>4884187
I'm a slav so I know what you mean. But what does phonetic have to do with thousands of pointlessly complex symbols?

>>4884195
yiddish?

>>4884195
Žižek, is that you ?

I work with someone from Bolivia and he once said "I must be smarter than you because I speak English and Spanish". I of course replied that his English was terrible and the fact he had learnt a language that was necessary for him to function in society wasn't impressive and considering the length of his stay in my country it was embarrassing how bad his English was.

>>4883948
Everyone born in the West in the last 20-30 years already speaks English. This will only continue.

English probably won't be the first language of everyone in the world in the next several hundred years, but by the end of the century, unless something radical happens, everyone will speak it fluently, at least as second language. Most people worth talking to already speak it.

>>4884259
this.
The hiragana's fine, the kanji is just dumb

>>4884399
How would English survive once the west has fallen
Don't pretend western domination isn't on the way out

>>4884421
>Don't pretend western domination isn't on the way out

And this is where I walk out of this thread.

>>4882367

But the problem is not how many languages, or the languages themselves. The problem is to brag about it.

There is also the the perception of others. Some think you brag, only because you speak any of those languages in front of them.

>>4883971
learning a language significantly cuts into your reading time, one must min/max quality and quantity

I used to feel pretty good about being able to read most English literature with no problems (working on ye olde English right now), but let's face it, if I wasn't born in Eastern Europe I would not have much incentive to learn another language.
Still, I certainly don't regret the ride. My passion for the language never died, I still get this exciting feeling when I read things in English for some reason, simply because the perspective of someone outside the language makes everything fascinating. Grammar is weird and messy but damn I love it.

>>4884433
In most cases though, speaking a language that excludes present company, when not neccesariy, is considered rude.

>>4884327
rekt

>>4884427
Explain what it so laughable?

ITT: webs and poorfags.

If you weren't brought up to speak 4+ languages by governesses and private tutors you might as well kill yourself now.

>>4884554

**weebs

>asian language
why.jpg

This board is SFW.

>>4884416
Kanji is much easier to read than hiragana. You clearly know nothing about Japanese if you think hiragana is "fine".

>>4884602
so are that loli whore's buttcheeks

>>4884621
>loli
she's a highschooler, have some manners

>>4883862
Taiwanese and Chinese mandarins are extremely sexy.
Have you ever seen any of WKW or Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movies ?
At least when it's a girl who is speaking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0vJ6W6noGY

/lit/ is a safe for work board

>>4884628
Most of the dialogue in WKWs films are cantonese and I still have nightmares about Charlie Yeung's screeching voice.

One year of practice can grant you the fluency to speak in a different language similar to yours. Although even 5 years sometimes can't be enough to fully comprehend some of the classic works in it.

Why would I need to know an Asian language? I have no interest in going there.

>>4884669
What you say is really irrelevant because "one year of studying" is different from person to person, unless you mean 1 year of actual time used to study.

>>4884694
Why do you need to go somewhere to learn a language? It's 2014, there's no real reason to leave your room anymore.

Keep this bumped to get some nerds fired. They deserive it for browsing 4chan at work.

>>4882490

My college teaches it as a 6 hour course because people couldn't learn it if it was taught as regular coursework.

>>4882490
>French
>Trying to learn Arabic

Doesn't that give you an advantage? A lot of North African countries use both languages, so you can get sources in both languages and compare them, right?

>>4882367
>Is speaking two European languages considered an accomplishment?

In Burger Land: yeah.

In Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, and Canada: no.

>>4884706
Yeah, so why do I need to know Nipponese?

>>4884727
>Canada
A larger percentage of Brits speaks French than Anglo Canadians. Don't pretend Canada is anything other than Left Wing America.

>>4882673
>If you live in an English speaking country, there is simply no reason to know any other language
You realize this is a literature board right? Being able to read certain works in native language is a good enough reason and it's not like learning an other Western language is that hard with a basis like English, a basis that also saves your time since you would be learning English.

Though I agree that bragging about it is retarded. That said, feels nice to be trilingual (Eng/Ger/Rus). Now the question is, to finish learning Spanish or not. It seems full peasant and it's not like there are that many books making it worth. Thinking about starting French too but doubt I have the motivation just yet.

>>4884433
Usually people start talking about it. Kinda like Apple fanboys who bought their new toy. I had an fatass ruining my cigarette time with the talk about all the Slavic languages he learned.

>>4884195
If language is about communication shouldn't someone brag if they speak a language with a lot of speakers, not a little?

>>4884739
lel 2/10

>>4884742
Why would you learn Spanish over French if you're talking about literature?

>>4884777
Well, it was college and something easy was my main priority at that point.

>>4884742
I feel you with Spanish. Just the fact that the vast majority of speakers are poor as shit and not worth talking to really cuts into my motivation.

>>4882367
Where is her ass crack?

>>4884777
Borges > all of french literature

I'm not even a weeb but I'd fuck the shit out of Ritsu.

Also Japanse > Korean > Mandarin > all other Asian languages

> person can hardly speak and write in their native language
> tries to learn a 2nd
> now person can hardly speak and write in two languages
> thinks this is something to brag about
> everybody know they have a small penis

>>4884860
I have an average penis, I'm just insecure about it. Unless you mean some kind of metaphorical penis, that is.

> tfw hundreds of posters on lit spend 50 hours playing duolingo and think they've learnt a 2nd language
> tfw they read books in that 2nd language instead of translations and think they've "read" or "experienced" the book
> tfw language contains an incredible amount of subtly which is going to be completely lost on a speaker who hasn't spent upwards of 5 years conversing daily in that language
> tfw all that subtly is lost and they would have been better off reading a translation because at least they'd get an approximation of it
> tfw if they didn't realize such an obvious fact on their own they're probably deaf to any kind of subtly and likely have assburgers
> tfw they should go back to playing video games

>>4884896
i approve this dude

>>4884819
Korean is shit tier. It's basically just Japanese without the kanji.

>>4884896
>mfw this guy is just jealous and is trying desperately to believe it's not worth it

>>4884896
>first "subtly"
okay maybe it's just a mistake
>2 more times
Clearly you can't speak English. The word you're looking for is 'subtlety' you humongous fucking retard.

>>4885021
> hello what is an autocorrect i am from the year 1973

>>4885046
>autocorrect
The go-to excuse for retards.

>>4885055
> complerning abert spilling mistakaes on teh internert
> not the go-to argument for spineless proles and common herd animals who lack the will to power to look even a relatively benign fact -- that they are perhaps wrong about some trifling matter (in this case the value of translations for a non-native speaker) -- in the face and deal with it.
> as if this all wasn't astounding obvious

you clearly have a problem with "subtly." no wonder you're so petulant.

>>4885130
>all this damage control

>>4885133
> snark
> not the go-to rhetoric for spineless proles and common herd animals who lack the will to power to look even a relatively benign fact -- that they are perhaps wrong about some trifling matter (in this case the value of translations for a non-native speaker) -- in the face and deal with it.
> as if all this empty pomo irony wasn't declared dead on it's feet 10 years ago
> as if this all wasn't astounding obvious

>>4884810

I also knew butterfly was a retarded fucking monoglot mongoloid.

>>4885148
>all this damage control

>>4885160
>thinking any post with the butterfly insignia is actually butterfly herself

>>4882673
>don't want to be bothered to wait for subs for your newest chinese cartoon to come out and you want to watch it raw before rest of /a/ spoils it for you
Why bother, just go to the source.

>>4885160
There was a glut of shitposting anons putting up this kind of nonsense last night.

I'm not well read enough to make such value judgements, but in the event of my being able to judge Borges and "all of French literature" in favour of the former, I should like to think I'd be a little more graceful about it.

>mongoloid.
Fuck you.

>>4884721

Novice Arabic-learner here.

With almost every question I ask my professors, whether about grammar, orthography, or idiom, I'm almost always told about how much of an exception Maghrebi Arabic is.

It's pretty crazy; there are even radical departures from the alphabet, especially with regard to French/Spanish loan-words.

>>4885402
>graceful about it.
There is nothing graceful about you.

I wouldn't learn an Asian language because I'm not interested in Asian culture or Asian people.

>>4885558
I just want to read Mishima in his nip-language.

>>4884860
>>4884896
>>4885021
>>4885046
>>4885055
>>4885130
>>4885133
>>4885148
>>4885160
>>4885164
>>4885402
>>4885542

Jeez... what's with all the bad vibes in this thread?

Take a look at my picture. Her name is Julia. Look into her eyes. See the glint of simple happiness and quiet wisdom therein. Breath deeply.

Now let's all go back to talking about language acquisition.

>>4885542
>Stomps in your begonias

>>4884416
Good luck distinguishing nip homophones, you beginner level kohai faggot.

>>4884728
Jap websites like 2ch and niconico; Jap television and film, both live-action and anime; Jap manga and literature; and Jap video games are all pretty cool things that a fair number of people seem to enjoy. Though culturally a bit bizarre, the Japs have a really good entertainment industry.

Enough with you fucking Europeans acting all self-righteous and smart because you know more than Americans. You know damn well that in America you have to go way farther out to go somewhere where you won't actually have to speak English. On a continent where you can travel about the size of a state to go through three different nations with three different languages, obviously languages will be more stressed in education than in burgerland where English goes over such a giant land area.

WHICH ONE OF THE BUTTERFLIES IS THE REAL SARAH???

>>4885724

Who the fuck is Sarah?

>>4884739
Also Canada is a shit-tier country in every respect and Quebecois French is a fucking retarded dialect.

Canada isn't even "Left-Wing America," because it's significantly worse than America. It's just uniquely, disgustingly Canadian.

>>4885724
are you implying there is more than one?

>>4885756
He's implying that that is my name. Some rumors stick better than others.

>>4885775
You told me it was your name Sarah.

>>4882371
It's K-On dude.

>>4884799
Starts at the tan line, she's arching her back and the "camera" is at a weird angle. What you're thinking is her ass is just the small of her back.

>>4885775
are you a janitor, a girl or both

>>4886238
IE, it's poorly illustrated.

>>4883943
Extremely...enriching.

>>4883917
>worshipping riban like a sucker
>doesn't realise china is glorious central country

fucking laowai, go home and/or stay home

>>4882367
D***! I would f*** the s*** out of that chick. What's her name?

>>4887125
I think it ritsu, from k-on

>>4887117
China is a pathetic, stagnant society of worker drones fetishizing authority.

>>4887125
>D***
>F***
>S***
lel
Underage b&

>>4882367
>Is speaking two European languages considered an accomplishment?

Short answer: if you're an American, yes. If you're a European, no.

Why do I say that?

In Europe, bilingualism is a given, what with the EU having pushed for decades for more fluidity at the borders. It just makes sense for people in Europe to be at least somewhat fluent in another language, even if it is just what's spoken across their nearby border.

In the US? Hell, Americans are oft portrayed as being barely passable at their own brand of English. Given the attempted cultural homogenization of the post-WWII era, there's no imperative for an American to learn another language. Ideally, Spanish and French (the two most widely spoken languages in the States after English) would be more widely taught than they are. Personally, I would encourage colleges to require language courses for all business majors and MBAs, just as a matter of common sense.

>>4887390
I'm in my twenties... I thought this was a work-safe board, so I avoided the words d***, f***, and s***. Sue me.

>not having extensions
>not using google
>not being able to recognize popular chinese cartoons
Embarrassing.

>Not having a language the natives are guaranteed not to speak when abroad
How do you bitch about them?

>>4888542
We bitch about them in English, and we don't give a damn what they think about it because they and their shitty dying culture are both worthless and irrelevant.

>>4883994
shes in high school yo

>>4882673
>Needing a reason to learn anything.

Please fuck off.

europeans are so retarded about this

"i'm bilingual because i can understand spanish and portuguese, you americans are so dumb"

that's like me saying i'm trilingual because i can understand american, english and australian