The Official Languages Thread

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by jerseydevil
But the US is unique. Even Canada uses the British system - but of course they lived under British rule for a long time and are still tied to Britain. For some reason they just can't let go of those apron strings. I'd rather not follow the crowd.

You're country is so huge .... so many people call it program. That's not unique anymore.

Oh, yah, we Europeans love tradition. And GO Canada.
They even talk French there. Splendid.

I isn't a consonant, is it? Then it's only 6 consonants in a row. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Hush.
Now that is embarrassing. None of us realized before, that it I is no consonant.
What do we learn from that?

[Grey_Wolf]

A Swedish man was standing on his balcony looking out over the sea.

On the balcony of the room next door stood another man. He turned and said:

"Min kone, hon ryger" (My wife is smoking)

The Swedish man thought for a while before answering:

"Det var som tusan. Min är bara lite svett" (By Jove, mine is just a bit sweaty)

[Jonathan]

Originally posted by Lalaith
Hush.
Now that is embarrassing. None of us realized before, that it I is no consonant.
What do we learn from that?

Oops
To my defence I can say you don't really notice an i when it is followed by three f's

[Baby-K]

Lin, here's some Zulu for you to play with.

GREETINGS AND USEFUL PHRASES

Good morning/afternoon/evening = Sawubona (Singular) /Sanibonani (Plural)
Goodbye = Uhambe kahle/Usale kahle
Yes/No = Yebo/Cha
Excuse me = Uxolo
Thank you = Ngiyabonga
Thank you very much = Ngibonga kakhulu
How are you? = Kunjani?
I'm fine, thanks = Ngiyaphila

One minute! = Mana kancane
Good luck! = Ngikufisela inhlanhla
I'm looking for ... = Ngifuna i ...(thing or place)
How do I go to ...? = Kuyiwa kanjani e ...?
Is it far from/near here? = Kukude/kuseduze nalapha?
Can I walk there? = Ngingahamba ngezinyawo ukuya khona?

LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES

Do you speak English? = Uyasikhuluma isiNgisi?
Does anyone speak English? = Ukhona yini lapha okwazi ukukhuluma isiNgisi?
I speak a little English = Ngiyasikhuluma kancane isiNgisi
I don't speak English = Angikwazi ukukhuluma isiNgisi
Can you speak more slowly? = Ngicela ukhulume ungasheshi
Can you please repeat that? = Ngicela uphinde futhi
What does ... mean? = Kusho ukuthini ukuthi ...?

MEETING PEOPLE

What is your name? = Ngubani igama lakho?
My name is ... = Igama lami ngu ... (Ngingu ...)
I'm happy to meet you = Ngiyajabula ukukubona
What work do you do? = Wenza msebenzi muni?
We will be staying for one week = Sizohlala iviki elilodwa

FAMILY

Are you married? = Ushadile?
I'm not married = Angikashadi
I'm married = Ngishadile
How many children do you have? = Zingaki izingane zakho? (Bangaki abantwana bakho?)
I don't have any children = Anginazo izingane (anginabo abantwana)
I have a daughter/son = Ngine ndodakazi/ndodana

Brother = ubhuti
Children = izingane/abantwana
Daughter = indodakazi
Family = umndeni
Father = ubaba
Grandfather = umkhulu
Grandmother = ugogo
Husband = umkhwenyana
Mother = umama
Sister = usisi
Son = indodana
Uncle = umalume
Wife = umakoti

HEALTH

I'm sick = Ngiyagula
I have a pain here = Kubuhlungu lapha
I'm dizzy = Nginesiyezi


TIMES & DATES

Today = Namuhla or Namhlanje
Yesterday = Izolo
Tomorrow = Kusasa
This morning = Namuhla/namhlanje ekuseni
This evening = Namuhla/namhlanje kusihlwa
Yesterday evening = Izolo kusihlwa
This week = Kuleliviki
Last week = Kuleliviki eliphelile
Next week = Evikini elizayo
Now = Manje
Day before yesterday = Phambi kwayizolo
Day after tomorrow = Phambi kwakusasa

AMOUNTS

Small = ncane
Big = nkulu
Many = ningi
Once = kanye

[Baby-K]

Lin - the Afrikaans stuff as promised. I'll include a pronounciation guide to and a couple of common idions and such.

Greeting
Hello - Hallo
Good morning - Goeiemôre
Good afternoon - Goeiemiddag
Good evening - Goeienaand
Good day (sir/madam/ladies and gentlemen/Jan) - Goeiedag (meneer/mevrou/dames en here/Jan)
How are you? - Hoe gaan dit met jou? (More respectful: Hoe gaan dit met u?)
I am fine. - Dit gaan goed met my.
Fine, thank you. - Goed dankie.
Goodbye - Totsiens
Nice to meet you. - Aangename kennis.
Good luck - Voorspoed
Have a safe journey. - Veilige reis.

Expressions
yes - ja
no - nee
please - asseblief
thank you - dankie
help - help
danger - gevaar
emergency - noodgeval
excuse me - verskoon my
I am sorry. - Ek is jammer.
I love you. - Ek is lief vir jou.

Questions / sentences
Do you accept (credit cards/traveler's cheques)? - Aanvaar u (kredietkaarte/reisigerstjeks)?
How much is this? - Hoeveel kos dit?
I want ... - Ek wil ... hê.
I'm looking for ... - Ek is opsoek na ...
What are you doing? - Wat doen jy?
What is that? - Wat is dit daardie?
What is the time? - Hoe laat is dit?
What is this? - Wat is dit?
Where are you going? - Waarheen gaan jy?
Where is ...? - Waar is ...?
(bank - bank / doctor - dokter / dentist - tandarts / garage - motorhawe / hotel - hotel / pharmacy - apteek / police station - polisiestasie / post office - poskantoor / railway station - spoorwegstasie / restaurant - restourant / toilets - toilette / winkel - shop)

Numbers
1 - one - een
2 - two - twee
3 - three - drie
4 - four - vier
5 - five - vyf
6 - six - ses
7 - seven - sewe
8 - eight - agt
9 - nine - nege
10 - ten - tien
11 - eleven - elf
12 - twelve - twaalf
13 - thirteen - dertien
14 - fourteen - veertien
15 - fifteen - vyftien
20 - twenty - twintig
21 - twenty one - een en twintig
22 - twenty two - twee en twintig
50 - fifty - vyftig
100 - hundred -honderd
1000 - thousand - duisend

Computers and Internet terms
(For a more complete list, go to: http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/5897/le06.html)
computer - rekenaar
e-mail - e-pos
e-mail address - e-posadres
Internet - Internet
Internet café - Internetkafee
Internet service provider - Internetdiensverskaffer
website - webwerf
website address - webwerfadres
web page - webblad

Pronounciation:

Example of use in Afrikaans placed in brackets.

a - as u in cup (kap)
aa - as u in cup but longer like ah (daad)
aai - as y in why (laai)
ae - as u in dust but longer like ah, followed by article a (dae)
b - similar to b in English
c - as k in kitten (Calvinis)
c - as s in size (celcius)
ch - guttural sound like ch in loch (chemie)
ch - as k in kitten (chloor)
ch/sj - as sh in shot (China/Sjina)
d - as d in donkey (daar)
d - as t in hat (bed)
e - as ee in deer (edel)
e - as e in hen (ken)
e - as e in angel (bevat)
ê - as ai in hair (hê)
ee - as ee in deer (een)
eë/ië - as ea in fear, pronounced as two sounds (leër/skiër)
eeu - as ew in few (leeu)
ei - as ay in play (seil)
eu - as ee in deer with lips pouted (deur)
eu - as ew in few (euforie)
f - similar to f in English
g - gutteral sound like ch in loch (geld)
gh - as g in golf (gholf)
h - similar to h in English
i - as e in angel (sit)
ie - as ee in breed (dier)
ie - as i in sick (siek)
j - as y in you (jaar)
kn - as c in cat + n in no (knoop)
ng - as ng in sing (vang)
o - as oo in loot followed by rapid w with pouted lips (bode)
o - as oo in loot, but shorter (euforie)
o - as o in fort but shorter (oggend)
o - as oy in boy (potjie)
ô - as au in cause (môre)
oe - as oo in loot (voer)
oe - as oo in loot, but shorter (voet)
oë - as oe in doer (vermoë)
oei - as ooey in phooey but preceded with rapid w (koei)
oo - as oo in loot followed by rapid w with pouted lips (soom)
ooi - as oi in oil but preceded with rapid w (strooi)
ou - as oa in coat (hout)
p - similar to p in English
r - as r in very, but lightly rolled (duiker)
r - strongly rolled r, almost Scots (rooi)
s - similar to s in English
t - similar to t in English
tj - as ch in chunk (tjank)
u - as i in sick with lips pouted (u)
ui - as ay in play but longer with pouted lips (lui)
uie - as aye in player but longer with pouted lips (beduie)
uu - as ee in breed but with lips pouted (duur)
v - as f in fun (vul)
w - as w in sweep (swem)
w - as v in visit (water)
y - as ay in play (yster)
z - similar to z in English

[Linaewen]

K! You didn't need to go to that much trouble! It's bloody fantastic but that's just too much effort on your part! But Baik Dankie, a lot!

*Reels in shock*

Nurv, do you find it hard learning the Kanji? (Traditional Chinese characters)? I spoke to some Japanese learners, who say it's difficult, and they're only required to learn a couple hundred. Compared to our several thousand or so.
But then we don't have the Hiragana or Katakana, but they're easy apparently.

Oh, Laai, we have a new spelling of your name. Actually, I like this one better.

[Baby-K]

No trouble whatsoever hun.

Here's an example of The Lord's Prayer in Afrikaans (I'm on a roll today)

Onse Vader wat in die hemele is,
laat u Naam geheilig word.
Laat u koninkryk kom.
Laat u wil geskied,
soos in die hemel net so ook op die aarde.
Gee ons vandag ons daaglikse brood,
En vergeef ons ons skulde,
soos ons ook ons skuldenaars vergewe.
En lei ons nie in versoeking nie,
maar verlos ons van die Bose.
Want aan U behoort die koninkryk en die krag
en die heerlikheid tot in ewigheid.
Amen

That's the one I was taught as a child, but there are different versions of it.

LOL, btw Lin - you can't call her 'laai'.....that means drawer

[Linaewen]

You're on a roll? So is my Indonesian friend. She just keeps giving me more and more Indonesian links and stories and stuff. All the better for me, I say.

Nice prayer! I'm glad to say repeated vowels in a row no longer make me nauseous. You know, the pronunciation guide means that I can actually pronounce Afrikaans words somewhat correctly, so you can't make fun of my prounciation of Hoppie Groenewald and all those other Power of One words. Mevrouuuuu!

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Linaewen

Oh, Laai, we have a new spelling of your name. Actually, I like this one better.

Hehehe.

Where is the Soul Mate #1 gone?
Well, actually I don't really mind because ICH LIEBE DEINE NEUE SIGNATUR.
Ich werde alles, alles glauben können, wenn du nicht mehr vor mir stehst!

[Linaewen]

Originally posted by Lalaith
Hehehe.

Where is the Soul Mate #1 gone?
Well, actually I don't really mind because ICH LIEBE DEINE NEUE SIGNATUR.
Ich werde alles, alles glauben können, wenn du nicht mehr vor mir stehst!

You'll see!

See, this is why I love the Germanic languages. I just read what you say without realising I'm reading another language. (I meant, the words in capital letters).

Deine Ketten sind verschweißt, keiner wird dich wiedersehen
Jetzt wo du für immer verreist, werd ich noch mal zu dir gehen!

Radagast! I'm so glad it worked! I can see Hebrew, I can see Hebrew, tra la lally!

[Lalaith]

Sehr gut, Lin, sehr gut. Ich bin stolz auf dich.

Damit musstest du rechnen, nicht nur ich hab es geahnt
Denn du hast nicht den deinen Taten entsprechenden Weg für dich gebahnt

[Grey_Wolf]

We've had quite a scandal with the national Wine & Spirits Inc. in Sweden.

They have been accused of bribery (bestickning in Swedish).

So I thought I make a funny . Bestick means cutlery in Swedish so these people couldn't accused of bestickning. Instead it should called beglasning since they handle liquer.

[Falagar]

I think I heard one of the weirdest songs ever, in Swedish. Jon or Wolf, ever heard of "Som en boll kommer jag tilbaks til dej" (sung with a Finnish accent, I believe)?

[Falagar]

Double post.

[Grey_Wolf]

Originally posted by Falagar
I think I heard one of the weirdest songs ever, in Swedish. Jon or Wolf, ever heard of "Som en boll kommer jag tilbaks til dej" (sung with a Finnish accent, I believe)?

I sure have. When I was a kid.

[Linaewen]

Originally posted by Falagar
I think I heard one of the weirdest songs ever, in Swedish. Jon or Wolf, ever heard of "Som en boll kommer jag tilbaks til dej" (sung with a Finnish accent, I believe)?

If that means what I think it means (without using a dictionary), that is one weird sounding song!

Laai/Drawer, se på min 'underskrift' [?] nu.

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Linaewen

Laai/Drawer, se på min 'underskrift' [?] nu.

It is perfect. Du bist sehr talentiert.

[Linaewen]

It took a while because I awaited help from a native speaker, who said 'Lin und Lai, die Gleichgesinnten!' sounded odd.

Die Deutsch-Hausaufgaben sind so schwer! Du bist zu streng!

[Lalaith]

Die Gleichgesinnten isn't wrong, but yeah, Verwandte Seelen sounds better.

Aber du hast die Hausübung sehr gut gemacht. Nur ein, zwei kleine Fehler. Ich bin sehr stolz auf dich.

[Linaewen]

Ach, you write fast, Laai!

<-- Would love some more interjections now. I keep using 'Ach'.

Har du redan läst min email? Aber es war so lang!

Å, och har du hört sången 'Se på mig' av Johan Johansen? Texterna är vackra.