The Karen languages are tonal languages spoken by some three million 'Karen People'. They are of unclear affiliation within the Tibeto-Burman languages. The Karen languages are written using the Burmese script.
It was a cute, but valid question. However, in this case I have several reasons why I'm not learning the Karen language. Keep in mind, that's not to suggest I don't want to. I've had a long history of wanting to learn foreign languages. In grade school, I had several class mates who spoke Spanish and I was always asking them how to say various things. I even had a sign language friend who I tried to glean whatever I could from him. A few things I still remember, but certainly not enough to speak fluently in either language. By the time High School rolled around, I was into German. Not only did I take German as a foreign language course, I bought an English/German dictionary for home so I could continue to study outside of school. But this was during a time in my life where I was going through a lot of family problems (parents divorce) and I spent less and less time concentrating on my studies. Everything suffered, including my German, to a point I was so lost from the class, I had no idea what anyone was saying a few weeks in. From then till today I have made small attempts at trying to learn German again, but to no avail. Sometimes I think my brain is just not wired to learn a new language. That and finding an adequate amount of time for the studies.
When I was younger, I used to dream of having a 'super power' which enabled me to understand every language known to man. How awesome would that be? You could literally speak to anyone! Additionally, there would be the added bonus of listening in on people speaking foreign languages, when they mistakenly think no one can understand them.
Mucho Dank, Mon Ami
Ta èe a kaw pa nyaw di lèh. (What does that mean)? - Karen
To anyone unaware of what the title of this article says I'll spell it out for you.
Mucho (Much) - Spanish
Dank (Thanks) - German
Mon Ami (My Friend) - French
It's a phrase I created to be funny whenever the subject of foreign languages comes up, and/or I want to confuse the person.
My language capabilities are more limited- I may know enough of more than a few languages to get lost safely (and not be found :-) ), but I stick to the two languages I speak well... English and Hebrew [French is passable, but then my German is putrid, and my Russian is atrocious] (but maybe a fourth passable language- money!)
ReplyDeleteYes, just about everyone speaks the language of money.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Brother.... I just can't seem to wrap my head around other languages. I really wish I could. I know someone who speaks Malayalam an Indian language. I would love to converse with her in her native tongue but I'm afraid the printed page is the best I can do. Though her printed language is very interesting to look at.... it's all Greek to me, or should I say Malayalam!
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I want to try and learn Greece, just so I can ultimately tell the teacher, "It's all Greek to me".
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to have the superpower of understanding all languages! That would be awesome!! I do speak Spanish quite well thanks to high school, college, and lots of real life practice. Perhaps I'll add another language to the list someday. :)
ReplyDeleteAlways nice to have at least one additional language under the belt. Uhhh, Klingon doesn't count does it?
ReplyDelete