Just for fun, if you could learn to speak any language or dialect in the world, which one would you choose?
The current top of my list would be Cockney Rhyming slang.
Apparently, it isn’t really a language and it isn’t really a dialect. Whatever it is, I find it absolutely fascinating. It seems like code speaking (although I guess technically, every language is a code).
Plus, something about it just sounds fun. When I hear it or read about it, I want to laugh. Not a poking fun laugh. Rather, an “Isn’t this just amazingly wonderful” laugh. I suppose for me it is the double meanings built into it that fill Cockney Rhyming Slang with inherent humor.
When I read about it or hear it (usually on a movie), I find myself thinking, “I wish I could be that clever!”
The Wikipedia description is here.
For those who prefer a bit more of a reputable source, here is an article from National Geographic. Be forewarned, though, both pages of this article have a picture of Brittney Spears showing way too much skin.
Here is a list of common Cockney Rhyming slang words and their definitions.
Thanks for commenting on my blog.
Just because I’m practical I’d learn Spanish.
I already speak some Indonesian, so I would want to become much much better at that.
second to that, I’d expand my Beccasaurus (I accidentally deleted version one, and have had to start from scratch) and register it as a language to be learnt…. hoo hoo hoo…
Thainamu,
This question is because I’m cursed or blessed with always seeing more than one possibility to almost any statement:
Is the practical appeal of learning Spanish that it would be the language you could use the most? Or that it seems fairly easy to learn? Or something else?
Becca,
Beccasaurus. That’s right up there with Cockney slang in the “I wish I could be THAT clever” category!
Spanish. I could use it the most in my city to build relationships intended to point those to Christ in the Latino community.
gaj
I think it’s great that some of you would learn Spanish. I am very bothered inside when I hear negative things about the threat that the Spanish language is to our country. It’s hard for me to put the words together about why.
I guess I don’t know a lot about the political arguments, but on the personal level, we’re talking about people and relationships, and language is such an important part of who people are and the relationships they have.
Language is not an all or nothing–like we must be an English speaking country or a Spanish speaking country.
When I’m in South Africa, I enjoy watching talk and news shows because one announcer will be speaking in one language and the other will respond in a different language.
Ancient Middle Eastern languages like Hebrew, Ugaritic, Chaldean, etc. I also have a book of Aztec poetry that I thought would be fun to try to study.
Your blog is beautiful, by the way. I’d like to stand on that bridge and be pensive.
Wow, Lingamish, that is a cool series of languages to dream about learning!
Based on your own Lingalinga criteria (“Another thing I was thinking was that Old Testament scholars are cooler than New Testament scholars. Why is that? I think it’s because they know less about Ancient Hebrew so Old Testament scholars have more leeway to make outrageous claims”), I think an Aztec poetry scholar would really get the “Cooler” award!
I want to learn Russian (more than the little I already know) because it was my father’s first language, I heard him speaking it when I was a child, and it would take me back to emotional roots.
I also want to learn Biblical Hebrew since I couldn’t fit it into my coursework at Bible school. I’m glad I could fit in all the Greek courses available.
I don’t know if there’s any language I don’t want to learn because I thoroughly enjoy saying something to people in their own languages. And I enjoy their response, except for the one time I spoke some Korean to people who turned out to be Japanese. Actually, they were nice enough as they corrected me.