Russian, Czech, or Hebrew?

[Iron_Ranger]

To make a long story short, I am choosing between Russian, Czech or Hebrew as a second language and I cant decide the one I want. I have study a little (very little) Russian in the past, but the book wasnt really very good, but this method is suppousedly really good.

German is also a choice...Just cant decide.

I really want to learn Finish, but I have yet to find a book on that. Well, a decent one anyway. Polish would also be pretty cool to learn, but thats not a choice.

[shadowhound]

Russian, definatly russian [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Rokenn]

Well for practical proposes if you live in the Southwest I would say go with Spanish.

[Iron_Ranger]

Originally posted by Rokenn: Well for practical proposes if you live in the Southwest I would say go with Spanish.

Yeah, good point...I never really liked the Spanish language though (no offense intended to those who do). And I dont plan on living in the SW my entire life.

And I dont really think it should mater where you live. If you live in the states English should be a requirment, IMO, so learning Spanish for 'helpful reasons'...I dont know, just sort of goes agaisnt somehting I feel rather strongly about, but I dont want to turn this into a political discuison.

[Yorick]

Russian would be cool, but you'd be learning a new (Cyrillic) alphabet as well. Double the challenge. Be a good language to know though. If you travel in Eastern Europe, Russian or German would take you further than Czech would.

Hebrew would be amazing. For a number of reasons.

Man who knows? Only you. Go with where you think you'd be travelling, and what culture you'd most like to have an affinity with. Language shapes thought, and in learning a language you learn much about a culture.

I knew a Russian girl in Switzerland once. No longer unfortunately. She spoke Russian, English, French, German and something else. Five all up. Amazing if you ask me...

[Iron_Ranger]

Originally posted by Yorick: Russian would be cool, but you'd be learning a new (Cyrillic) alphabet as well. Double the challenge.

Yeah...that has been a bit of a factor..But Hebrew is also a diffrent alphabet too isnt it?

I would definitly like to vist Eastern Eroupe sometime, its always been a place that has intrested me.

I think Hebrew is the strong canidate right now, it will still be a while before I order the books though.

[johnny]

Isn't the Hebrew alphabet kinda like the Greek ?

Anyway, i'd go for Russian too, it just sounds good.

[StigTC]

Well, as much as I hate the German language, I'd say that it is the most practical, since it'll get you by in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and most of eastern Europe.

[Melusine]

Try finding out a little more about each language and choose the one that appeals to you the most intuitively. With some languages there will just be a sort of barrier and with others you will take to them immediately. They all sound great though, I envy you, IR!!
Personally I wouldn't go for Czech for the reason that it's such a small language, but I have sung in Czech before and it's a lovely language. Have sung in Russian too though, and have some Russian friends who taught me a few words. I really like the strange consonant sounds they have - Russian has something that is roughly pronounced 'shtsh' and Czech has a consonant they are really proud of because hardly anyone can pronounce it It sounds something like a rolling 'r' with a 'z' melted together.
In the case of Russian and Hebrew, you'd have to learn a new alphabet, but there are of course similarities between the Cyrillic and Hebrew alphabets and our own so I'm sure you'd manage that. Plus the Hebrew one looks extremely beautiful IMHO. [img]smile.gif[/img]
As for German, don't listen to people who try to tell you it's a "harsh, guttural" language yada yada yada. I've seen several IW members say things to that effect and its just total bollocks, pardon my French. Probably a left-over from the war or something... Actually most consonants in German are soft-sounding. It all depends on how you hear it spoken - possibly all you get on the telly is WW2 films with screaming SS officers or espionage movies with horrible fake German accents. The language of love, French, that most people love so much, could be said to sound nasal. German as spoken by normal Germans can be as beautiful as any language.
Finnish is cool but be prepared for a very difficult learning period: it's an extremely hard to learn language.

Whichever you choose, keep us posted! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 04-24-2003, 04:53 AM: Message edited by: Melusine ]

[Iron_Ranger]

Originally posted by Melusine: As for German, don't listen to people who try to tell you it's a "harsh, guttural" language yada yada yada. I've seen several IW members say things to that effect and its just total bollocks, pardon my French. Probably a left-over from the war or something... Actually most consonants in German are soft-sounding. It all depends on how you hear it spoken - possibly all you get on the telly is WW2 films with screaming SS officers or espionage movies with horrible fake German accents. The language of love, French, that most people love so much, could be said to sound nasal. German as spoken by normal Germans can be as beautiful as any language. Finnish is cool but be prepared for a very difficult learning period: it's an extremely hard to learn language. Whichever you choose, keep us posted! [img]smile.gif[/img]

LOL.

Yeah, my fathers side of the family are germans, and they still carry alot of German heritage and tradition with them, so I hear it alot when I go down to their house for the holidays and stuff. So yeah I have heard it before.

But like I said, its will still be a while before I order them. I will be sure and keep you posted. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 04-24-2003, 05:03 AM: Message edited by: Iron_Ranger ]