# Your survival may depend on your language skills



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Recently I started learning some new languages, to expand on some of the languages I already know (no, I am not talking 'bout bad English).

I have always listened to music from around the world, watched "foreign" movies in the original languages and lived "immersion-style" with Asian people (primarily Chinese). Due to all that, I have a fairly good concept of Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese languages as well as Japanese. German / Dutch / Russian is also not too bad.

With the way that the world is changing, I have decided to increase my language skills and am now gaining a stronger base for Japanese, Arabic and Hebrew. To do this, I picked up a language tutor for my Android phone ( http://www.amazon.ca/Jourist-Verlags-GmbH-Language-Coach/dp/B00G6HW8II ) to add another tool to the other language tutors that I have already used. The languages this App supports is: _German, French, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), Italian, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Hindi, Vietnamese, Farsi, Catalan, Romanian and Ukrainian._

So far, I am impressed with what I have gained in Japanese, I am excited to learn some more languages beyond that.

Anyway, just wondering if there are others who also feel that gaining a better understanding of languages will be a good survival skill to have.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

_"Your survival may depend on your language skills"_

Agreed.

When you see a group of strangers which of the following communications would contribute to your survival?

1. Standing in the middle of the road, yelling and waving your hands to get their attention.
2. Flanked by your friends in a semi circle close to cover with all pointing their firearms in the general direction of the strangers.

3. Walking up to the front door, pounding on the door and yelling, "Anyone here?"
4. Observing the house from cover to determine if the house is occupied.

I know you met verbal languages. I am amazed how others can learn different languages so I stick to nonverbal languages.


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## AdmiralD7S (Dec 6, 2012)

There is an iOS app called DuoLingo that is like Rosetta Stone, but absolutely free. I've used it for Spanish, but they have a dozen or two other languages in there as well.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

I can barely speak English and some TexMex. those from here know that TexMex is different from Spanish. I have to agree with you totally about language skills. In Afghanistan one of my best friends did a few tours. The locals did not know he spoke Farsi, Arabic, and Russian as well as English. They thought they were plotting behind his back and he knew exactly what they were doing. Sometimes it is best to hide your skills to take advantage of them. GB


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I love me some TexMex ... 



:congrat:


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I've struggled so much with languages, I think I have a mental block after so much failure. I really _want _to speak multiple languages, though. 

We are trying Rosetta Stone this year for homeschooling, so hopefully I'll learn along with my son...


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

I spoke German while in high school but have forgotten it. I'm picking up some Spanish by watching movies that I've seen several times on Spanish TV channels. When I know what they are saying in English and then I hear the Spanish version, it starts to sink in. Now, when I'm in a restaurant and the next table is speaking Spanish, I'm picking up some of what's said.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

I agree it is useful, especially if you have some prospect of winding up in a foreign country. I've travelled to a dozen or so foreign countries, and if SHTF while I had been there, . . .


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Mom knows German. I always knew when I was in trouble as a kid cuz that's all she spoke. I know enough to start a fight lol


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Seriously tho, we have a spanish-english dictionary, Bub knows ASL pretty good. What languages does everyone recommend?


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> Seriously tho, we have a spanish-english dictionary, Bub knows ASL pretty good. What languages does everyone recommend?


English and Spanish will give you all of North and South America, except for Brazil and Quebec, and most of Europe.

Japan developed as an economic power after WWII and China is doing so now. We see a number of tourists and business people from these countries.

There are certainly strong arguments for many other languages.


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## Ozarker (Jul 29, 2014)

זה תמיד נחמד להזמין אוכל ושתייה, לשאול איפה חדר האמבטיה היא, לבקש הנחיות ולספור את הכסף שלך. כישורי הישרדות בסיסיים.

אנחנו השתמשנו רוזטה בצבא, הייתי ממליץ על זה. 

Then again, you could always use Translate (Hebrew) on your toolbar


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## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

Caribou said:


> English and Spanish will give you all of North and South America, except for Brazil and Quebec, and most of Europe.
> 
> Japan developed as an economic power after WWII and China is doing so now. We see a number of tourists and business people from these countries.
> 
> There are certainly strong arguments for many other languages.


Farsi and grow a beard


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## northstarprepper (Mar 19, 2013)

Very impressed Naekid. I do know some Spanish, but need to hone those skills. With where the U.S. is headed, I think Chinese, French, German, And Russian would be great. Hebrew and Arabic I will leave to others. I am a little tired of the whole Middle East thing right now. I already own a Strong's for Hebrew/English translation of Biblical words, so that would get me by there I think. I will never need Arabic. I would gladly die, rather than converting to Islam. Chinese would be interesting to learn how to speak, but for me, reading that language would be like a cat trying to unwind a ball of string. I could never tell one letter from another.


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## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

لطفا من را بیشتر پیچ 
This translates, "pls screw me some more" in Persian / Farsi

I think learning Chinese would be good since there are 1 million in Panama and a bunch in Mexico.

Problem is communicating with them and them not killing you for your sh*t is a waste of time they want you dead they do not care what women think so if even if they knew what they said the outcome would not change.

time for talk is long over.
​


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

dixiemama said:


> Seriously tho, we have a spanish-english dictionary, Bub knows ASL pretty good. What languages does everyone recommend?


If I was to recommend languages outside of the "North American Standards" to learn (NAS being English, Spanish and French) I would probably suggest _Mandarin Chinese, Japanese_ and _Arabic_. The reasons for those three choices is because of the quantity of people from countries that speak those languages are moving to North America in droves, bringing their languages and cultures with them. If you want to understand what is being said in various public spaces (ie: malls, restaurants, parks, community centers) those would probably be best.

If I was to pick three other languages that would be good to learn, I would use a chart from Wikipedia that shows the top 100 languages organized by the number of people that speak those languages "officially" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers ).

So - striking off English, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, the next top three languages to learn after those would be: *Hindi*, *Portuguese* and then *Bengali*.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

I speak fluent 1911.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

Magus said:


> I speak fluent 1911.


Thanks for the reminder!

I speak fluent 45 Colt.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Magus said:


> I speak fluent 1911.





TheLazyL said:


> Thanks for the reminder!
> 
> I speak fluent 45 Colt.


Sure .. those are good languages to speak - but - what if you hear shouting in some foreign language while you are in the mall. You see someone on the floor and see a gathering crowd.

Do you:


Tell them to shutup and quit yelling
Tell them to speak in english
Run away as fast as your legs can carry your
Shoot first, then ask why there was someone on the floor
Stand and stare at the gathering group

Those are all valid and normal responses by the general population .. but in the back-story to my question, the answer is ...

The person on the floor just collapsed due to diabetic shock.

If there was a chance for you to understand just enough of the foreign language that you could call 911 and be the translator to medical services, would that not be the best choice?


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## nightwing (Jul 26, 2014)

No savvy englis, hey if it works for them it ought to work for me 
equality under the law.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

nightwing said:


> No savvy englis, hey if it works for them it ought to work for me
> equality under the law.


It isn't a legal question. It is a survival question. Consider you are attending the Olympics in Brazil. A family member suffers a heart attack. Now what?


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

For a while we had a neighbour who was an elderly gentleman from Poland. He spoke no English and I spoke no Polish. Each of us knew a few phrases or words in French and German. With some work, a lot of gesturing and many laughs we learned to communicate fairly well.* It is amazing how well it can work if both parties want to communicate regardless of language barriers.* I know how to say I don'r speak, French, German or Spanish in those tongues, that helps give them patience with me.


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## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

I'm thinking this is gonna be the best language skill I can employ.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

NaeKid said:


> Sure .. those are good languages to speak - but - what if you hear shouting in some foreign language while you are in the mall. You see someone on the floor and see a gathering crowd....


I was replying more on the line of TEOTWAWKI not on a normal present day scenario.


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## Ozarker (Jul 29, 2014)

You'll find more bi-lingual folks in other countries than in the US, English is pretty universal. You'll find yourself using you hands to convey ideas in an emergency, most get it, obviously the better you can communicate the better. 

What I mentioned above was that the Rosetta language programs are very good, we used them in the Army. I'll rely on what I know, if I have trouble I can type it and translate it for anyone who can read over a hundred selective languages. If no time, use your hands, you can mime a heart attack pretty easily. Music and gunfire are universal languages.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

I am not one for speaking other Languages.
DW & D Children do NAS, & sign Languages, forget which, maybe ASL.
I am getting better at English, the red on my neck gets in the way a lot.
So the gun & hand signs is the best I can do.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

bugoutbob said:


> For a while we had a neighbour who was an elderly gentleman from Poland. He spoke no English and I spoke no Polish. Each of us knew a few phrases or words in French and German. With some work, a lot of gesturing and many laughs we learned to communicate fairly well.* It is amazing how well it can work if both parties want to communicate regardless of language barriers.* I know how to say I don'r speak, French, German or Spanish in those tongues, that helps give them patience with me.


One of my favorite memories is of being in a tiny town in (the former) Yugoslavia. They didn't speak English, and I didn't speak Serbo-Croatian, but it was amazing how much we could communicate just because we wanted to. 

I'd love to speak Gaelic, although I know of no one else I could speak it with. I'd love to learn some of the Native American languages, too, but again, not particularly practical.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

I speak english, 'street spanish', french, some german. the more languages the better. it has saved my butt more than once, and it was interesting to see the look on a mans face (who had just insulted me in his native language) when I said, "hey (expletive in the same language deleted) I understood that..." It was also amusing to see how quickly he suddently spoke English....
Neither one spoke perfectly, but enough to make it work....and tell if things were getting dangerous.....


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

TheLazyL said:


> I was replying more on the line of TEOTWAWKI not on a normal present day scenario.


But, survival is an everyday occurrence. You might need the language skills to save your life, or, the life of someone you love, or, someone who is in trouble.

To prove my point. Yesterday afternoon there was a bus-crash in BC.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1532771/t...-royal-inland-hospital-expecting-40-patients/



> SOUTH OF MERRITT, BC - Dozens of passengers are in hospital, and five are in critical condition after a tour bus crash on the Coquihalla Highway.
> 
> Around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, RCMP, fire and ambulance officials responded to the crash about 30 kilometers south of Merritt.
> 
> ...


This tour-bus was filled with Asian people who primarily speak Chinese. How easy would it be for them to communicate the pain to first-responders so that they can do proper triage?

Oh, on a personal note. I was in Merritt last week for coffee at Tim Hortons.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

The first few languages you have posted are the most difficult languages to learn.

What I know about learning anything:
1. You need repeated exposure and opportunities to practice frequently. You cannot learn a few words of a language and remember them without speaking them often. 
2. It takes a while to learn enough to hold a conversation about anything and even more to carry on various conversation topics past basic social greetings and needs.
3. Learning several very different languages is even more difficult because of the language structure and roots of the words. Learning the Romance languages (Spanish, French and Italian) or other languages that are related is easier as they have the same root words and many of the words are similar.
4. Learning any of the Asian languages is extremely difficult. The difference in many Asian words is how you pronounce it. There are intonations. The same sounds can have as many as 9 different intonations, depending upon the language being spoken. In China, two different dialects, Cantonese and Mandarin are very different. In English there are different tones, but in Asia, the tones can really change the meaning of the words




5. I have studied Spanish and Chinese (Mandarin). I am not going to focus on new language skills. Language learning is best done by very young children while acquiring speaking skills. The older we get, the more difficult it is to learn new language skills.


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## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

Quite so! I've studied Russian, Japanese, and ASL. For me, the most rewarding time of learning a new language is when you get good enough to start using slang and idioms. That's where the rubber meets the road in any language, because there's so much cultural knowledge wrapped up in them.

The best language teachers will use the true learning style by incorporating the fun stuff from the very beginning. One of my ASL teachers taught the class some dirty jokes. Since I'm a musician, my Japanese tutor used a lot of songs. My Russian tutor did the same thing with nursery rhymes and fairy tales. That's how the brain is wired to pick up languages - why not take advantage of it?

Learning a new language is also great for one's health - A couple years ago I discovered the concept of brain plasticity and I'm fascinated by it. Now I try new things all the time to experiment with how I can turn it to my advantage.

Of the three languages, my favorite was always Russian and one of my very few regrets in moving to my small city is no available classes to brush up on my skills. I do scan through the quarterly catalog at my local community college, and I was thrilled last term to find a beginners class for it! I didn't have the cash last time, but I do now. That's for the reminder.


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## rhrobert (Apr 27, 2009)

I have to learn Mandarin for work, I can converse in German, and we are about to begin Russian language classes. Not because I ever plan on leaving the US, but because of our partners in other countries.

It's more difficult to learn a new language as you get older, so if you're young, get a start on it.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

*How?*



NaeKid said:


> Recently I started learning some new languages, to expand on some of the languages I already know (no, I am not talking 'bout bad English).
> 
> Anyway, just wondering if there are others who also feel that gaining a better understanding of languages will be a good survival skill to have.


I highly recommend learning languages for personal enrichment's sake. Learning languages certainly helps you think about what people are saying when you understand how words work, but am not that sure how they might help you survive. I mean clearly learning the language of your neighbors makes sense but unless you live in a chinese enclave what use will mandarin have, unless you are worried about invasion.

I am coversant in 4 languages and can read two dead languages and get by in Spanish...but if I ever need to put my bug out plan into action I doubt I would use these languages that much.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

If I could learn other languages I'd learn Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Russian. Chinese and Russian would be useful in case there are foreign troops enforcing martial law.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

BillS said:


> If I could learn other languages I'd learn Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Russian. Chinese and Russian would be useful in case there are foreign troops enforcing martial law.


Under that scenario, I will be needing the language of the country I emigrate to.


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## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

I'm not going anywhere, I will die before I need to learn to speak Chinese or Russian in the US.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

hashbrown said:


> I'm not going anywhere, I will die before I need to learn to speak Chinese or Russian in the US.


Well, I already know a bit of Russian, but I'm planning on moving to a free state and living a long life there.


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## Foreverautumn (Oct 25, 2010)

smaj100 said:


> I'm thinking this is gonna be the best language skill I can employ.


[LIBTARD MODE=ON]
You...you sexist/bigot/racist/homophobe! You...you WARMONGER! You...you...(hyperventilating) *HATEEEEEERRRRRR!*vract:
Don't you know that we must learn the ways of ALL THE PEOPLE of the WORLD! We must speak their languages and NEVER EVER our own ('cuz we drown goldfish, you see), and we must all learn Spanish, and open and then abolish our borders, and then sit down around a campfire and sing KUMBAYA, and then Dear Leader will FINALLY be able to bring down the sea levels, and heal the planet, ande then RAINBOWS! And, and UNICORN POO!
[LIBTARD MODE=OFF]

Seriously? I think learning foreign languages, while definitely useful, is also just a tad overrated; while people will (usually) respect you more if you at least attempt to speak their language, there is also such a thing as language snobs (can you say FRENCH, boys and girls?).

I have studied German for years, and I STILL can't follow Deutche Welle or a German WWII newsreel; only one word in five or six will make any sense to me. I've studied Esperanto, and it's the same story there. And I speak just enough French to get my face slapped. So, I;ve done my bit for "God and country," language wise. I have steadfastly refused to learn Spanish; the Mexicans can adjust to us, for a change.


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## M1-thum (Aug 22, 2014)

Learning a second or third language that's common in your region seems natural to me. I speak English, german, and can understand those Dutchy Amish folk. 

Another benefit if you're traveling with another person who also speaks that language you can communicate with a reasonable sense of security.


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## notyermomma (Feb 11, 2014)

Foreverautumn said:


> [LIBTARD MODE=ON]
> NEVER EVER our own ('cuz we drown goldfish, you see), and we must all learn Spanish, and open and then abolish our borders, and then sit down around a campfire and sing KUMBAYA, and then Dear Leader will FINALLY be able to bring down the sea levels,
> [LIBTARD MODE=OFF]


Foreverautumn, you clearly have _no idea_ what liberals think. :scratch If it were a luh-brul conspiracy, why would the DoD court linguists and translators for war zones? Language skills are about improving communication. That's it.


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