You know you're a language nerd when...

[Chekhov]

Eh, I doubt you need to know Spanish or Arabic in Korea. Japanese maybe, if you're a translator or something. What do you use all these old fossils for, anyway?

[Karavinka]

Eh, I doubt you need to know Spanish or Arabic in Korea. Japanese maybe, if you're a translator or something. What do you use all these old fossils for, anyway?

Indeed, French, Japanese, Spanish and German have been the most useless thing I have ever learned, even when I was living, studying and working in Canada.

What do you do with a fossil? You just put it on some shelf and look at it. They're absolutely useless but pretty to look at.

[ich]

When you are sitting in a room full of people and everyone is chatting and you are not really paying attention, you can still pick out someone suddenly say the word "language" out of nowhere from across the room.

[Aurinĭa]

When you are sitting in a room full of people and everyone is chatting and you are not really paying attention, you can still pick out someone suddenly say the word "language" out of nowhere from across the room.

Or any word in a foreign language.

[Jurgen Wullenwever]

I wonder, would a language nerd consider the sounds people use as more important than what they actually intend to say? (I tend to do so. )

[loqu]

I wonder, would a language nerd consider the sounds people use as more important than what they actually intend to say? (I tend to do so. )

TOTALLY. It happens to me all the time, I begin analyzing people's idiolect or dialect and then get distracted, so I end up not really knowing what they said to me. And it's awkward.

[Taunt1]

I watch Euronews on my TV in English, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and Ukrainian. Too bad it doesn't support Turkish and Persian anymore.

Today scolded one guy for telling me that he wants to learn "semitic" languages like Persian, Farsi and Dari. I told him none of them were semitic and that he in fact said something like: I wanna learn French, Quebec French and Français. lol

[Meera]

I watch Euronews on my TV in English, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and Ukrainian. Too bad it doesn't support Turkish and Persian anymore.

Today scolded one guy for telling me that he wants to learn "semitic" languages like Persian, Farsi and Dari. I told him none of them were semitic and that he in fact said something like: I wanna learn French, Quebec French and Français. lol

He doesn't even know that Persian, Farsi and Dari are all the same language. Well sometimes Dari is counted as a different language though

[Kenny]

I wonder, would a language nerd consider the sounds people use as more important than what they actually intend to say? (I tend to do so. )

TOTALLY. It happens to me all the time, I begin analyzing people's idiolect or dialect and then get distracted, so I end up not really knowing what they said to me. And it's awkward.

I'm worse. As a future interpreter, I've been known to completely disregard what people are saying and just translate everything they say in my head...but without actually paying attention to what they were saying as a whole meant. I mean I still have a general idea of what they were saying but I would be lost if they asked me about details.

...when you hate (okay, hate is a strong word, and it's more "envy" than anything else ) seeing foreign people speak awesome English on American TV series, wondering how well you would do if you lived in-country.

[Aurinĭa]

I'm worse. As a future interpreter, I've been known to completely disregard what people are saying and just translate everything they say in my head...but without actually paying attention to what they were saying as a whole meant. I mean I still have a general idea of what they were saying but I would be lost if they asked me about details.

Glad I'm not the only one.


If you often switch your keyboard to make it easier to type special signs and then forget to switch it back. The above sentence actually came out as 'Glqd Ičů not the onlz one? .=' Then again, if it wasn't for that fucking AZERTY, this wouldn't be such a problem.

[Kenny]

Whenever I type something in French I switch back and forth between the Hungarian and French layouts. So every time I have to type out a letter the Hungarian layout doesn't have I switch to AZERTY and then back to QWERTZ right afterwards. (using shortkeys, obviously)

[Aurinĭa]

Usually I switch back immediately, but sometimes I forget to do that, or I switch and my fingers forget I did. Then I still type q's instead of a's.

[md0]

when half of your monthly wage is spent on grammar reference books you buy without thinking twice.

when your life dream is to write a grammar of your native dialect for foreigners, and grammars of foreign languages in your native langue.

[Michael]

when your life dream is to write a grammar of your native dialect for foreigners

I would without a doubt love an introduction to Cypriot colloquialisms.

[loqu]

when your life dream is to write a grammar of your native dialect for foreigners, and grammars of foreign languages in your native langue.

Oh man, I felt so identified with this.

There's so much to write about Andalusian. If only I had the time to do proper research.

[Michael]

when your life dream is to write a grammar of your native dialect for foreigners, and grammars of foreign languages in your native langue.

Oh man, I felt so identified with this.

ME TOO. If only I had the proper motivation and support.

[Ser]

when your life dream is to write a grammar of your native dialect for foreigners, and grammars of foreign languages in your native langue.

Oh man, I felt so identified with this.

There's so much to write about Andalusian. If only I had the time to do proper research.

Salvadoran too. In fact it's even worse, since there's at least an amount of published research on your sort of Andalusian, for Salvadoran there's almost NOTHING.

[johntm]

when your life dream is to write a grammar of your native dialect for foreigners

Maybe not write a grammar, but I do like explaining the ins-and-outs of my dialect of Southern English to people (be it on here, or the yankees that come down here for school).

[razlem]

Pfft. South Carolina isn't the South

I could write a multi-volume encyclopedia about the dialects (and creoles) of Southeast Louisiana.

[Bach]

When you want to learn languages even though you just install floor tiles.