As someone who speaks Japanese (grew up in Japan), Swedish (dual citizen) and Welsh (my father’s mother tongue) it made me laugh that they were the first three on your list! Hope you’re further along in them all now!
I'm English and I find it almost impossible to learn foreign languages. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because everyone else speaks English so you don't get used to other languages in the way that other people do.
@@ajs41 Most of us need to train languages to learn them, so the first non-native language you learn requires lots of effort. It is not due to lack of talent, it is just the way it is. However, when you learn more than one non-native language, then at a certain point you get the "talent" from your effort.
Pak Dave, kemampuan berbahasa Indonesia anda bagus sekali! Jangan bosan-bosan belajar dan mempromosikan bahasa Indonesia! Salam dari Jakarta, Indonesia! 🇮🇩
1. I grew up with two mother languages, and the culture that comes with trying to apply two world views at every one moment. I'm very happy for that now. But it did give me a lot of stumbling starts. Still, if I'm super-tired, or knocked down by a tummy bug, I struggle to keep my languages apart. They're not majorly different, Swedish and English. But as you are a polyglot, it would be interesting to see a vid about this blessed conundrum. 2. In your opinion, as not speaking Swedish - could you explain this riddle? I've happily travelled a little bit (really, not world tours), but have along the way met many different languages. I share your admiration for wolof. But I've never met anyone who after their first taste of Swedish won't oogle, google and giggle. Comments vary from "WTF?!?" to "Your making it up as you go along." or the more poetic description of "a singing language". Is it the diphtongs? The use of some rare consonant sounds? (Skepp, sjunka, stjärna...) What causes this? Sure my evidence is anecdotal only, but a great many Swedish people (please don't call us a vegetable...) can and will relate to this. 3. The use of dipthongs is a core of the Swedish language. Is that why Swedish students have an easier road to the tonal languages, such as Thai? Again, all evidence is anecdotal. Cheers, mate!
I think one of the distinctive features of Swedish, and Norwegian, is their use of pitch accents or tones. I think it's that intonation strikes speakers of other European languages as unusual. Maybe that does make other tonal languages easier for Swedish speakers. Swedish and Norwegian are more similar to African tonal languages in how the tones work that they are to Thai etc. Interestingly, the Swedish Wikipedia article doesn't mention this feature, but the English version does, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_phonology#Stress_and_pitch As for the exotic consonants, I'm not sure most speakers of other languages would notice them unless they tried to say them.
Вы отлично говорите по-русски! 👍👍👍 Я тоже учу несколько языков, но учить их, не выезжая заграницу, немного сложнее. Очень здорово, что у вас была возможность жить в разных странах и общаться с носителями этих языков👍
Спасибо. Я рад, что вы так думаете. Я согласен, что выучить язык, не выезжая за границу, сложнее. К счастью, в настоящее время это немного проще благодаря технологиям.
Amazing video! I made one that's on my channel at the moment but it's not that well done since I'm not specifically good with technological devices I am learning Irish and Welsh at the moment, doing better in the latter
I once did an intensive weekend Irish course which was wonderful. It’s a beautiful language. I also taught myself a tidy bit of Welsh while on holiday in North Wales once. The Welsh spelling system makes it quite a bit more accessible than Irish. I’d love to hear more about how you are getting on with those languages.
Dave just stumbled on your channel it’s so good! Especially enjoyed the ones about the evolution of accents and slang. PS Your Spanish accent is excellent; but it sounds non-native to my ears when your tongue doesn’t come between the teeth on the letter D.
I think the classical definition has something to do with whether there is mutual intelligibility between speakers. If two people are talking, and they can generally understand each other, then they probably speak dialects of the same language. If not, they speak different languages. Although this does not explain the mutual intelligibility issues between Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian (as I understand it -- see the YTer "NativLang" for a better explanation). Or Spanish and Portuguese. A friend (American) I once knew was spending a summer in Spain and Portugal. She learned Spanish ahead of time. She told this embarrassing story on herself many years later: One day, she was in a place with people from various nations, all mingling and speaking to each other with bits and pieces of various languages. She got on quite well with one particular European woman, and they spoke at length. Then another person joined their little group, and my friend took it upon herself to say, in essence "I'm American and my friend here is Spanish". At which point the "Spanish friend" she had been speaking with interrupted, and with indignation said "Son Portugese!" -- "I'm Portuguese" (NOT Spanish!!)
@@dabeamer42 If Swedish is one of your mother tongues, it's usually very easy to tell where a person grew up. The different dialects are very different. Speakers of very distinct dialects often inherited traits from other languages, such as Skåne (Danish) and Gotland (old gutemål). Other big influences come from Finnish, Norwegian and the languages spoken in Sapmì. My dialect is often uncomprehensible to the rest of Sweden. Does that mean we speak different languages? All can understand written Swedish, though. Mandarin and Kantonese are definetly different languages, though. I propose a loose and unorthodox idea; to classify by speeech rhytm. To me it seems the very biggest obstacle in learning a new language. This idea needs much polishing, subtraction and addition. Still, I find it good food for thought.
I've been really impressed by your videos. Do you offer services or support to those not learning one of the languages you speak? I would like to learn Finnish.
Dave Huxtable, Inc really interesting channel mr Huxtable, your video about Bantu languages was amazing..as a native French and Arabic speaker I can tell your French accent is near native French ( le son è doit être très distinct du é , l’écart diffère entre les 2 d’une région à l’autre , néanmoins le son è pour la plupart des régions il sonne comme dans le mot « fair « au royaume uni ).. and yes Arabic for non Semitic language speakers is a challenge : probably because of its singular pronounciation and probably the humongous mass of vocabulary.. but the logical structure of it’s grammar and morphology is fun to learn if you liked functions in algebra when you where at school..
Your linguistic prowess is aspirational, but beyond get a private teacher/find a patient native and live in the country, you didn't really give any specific advice.
So much talent, extraordinary. Best wishes xxxx
Thank you so much!
Paulus de Boskabouter. 😄. Die zag ik niet aankomen. Mijn complimenten voor uw Nederlands!
Incredible !
Togha na Gaeilge agat, maith an fhear thú fhéin!
This was very inspiring indeed! Looking forward to studying soon.. got a couple notebooks, my library card and buss pass 🤓😎 Soon…
As someone who speaks Japanese (grew up in Japan), Swedish (dual citizen) and Welsh (my father’s mother tongue) it made me laugh that they were the first three on your list! Hope you’re further along in them all now!
I'm English and I find it almost impossible to learn foreign languages. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because everyone else speaks English so you don't get used to other languages in the way that other people do.
@@ajs41 Most of us need to train languages to learn them, so the first non-native language you learn requires lots of effort. It is not due to lack of talent, it is just the way it is. However, when you learn more than one non-native language, then at a certain point you get the "talent" from your effort.
I want to be like you with languages
Go for it! What’s the first step?
¡Muy buen acento! ¡¡¡Un gran vídeo!!!
Spaniard Speaks ¡Gracias!
Your brain is excellent
Thank you. It has its moments!
Pak Dave, kemampuan berbahasa Indonesia anda bagus sekali! Jangan bosan-bosan belajar dan mempromosikan bahasa Indonesia! Salam dari Jakarta, Indonesia! 🇮🇩
Terima kasih! Saya tidak akan pernah bosan belajar dan mempromosikan bahasa.
your welsh pronunciation was really good.
Very enjoyable!
Glad you enjoyed it. This was one of my first videos.
as a both French/English speaker I couldn't tell you weren't French you sound just like un prof de Francis du lycée
That’s good to hear, but pauvres élèves!
1. I grew up with two mother languages, and the culture that comes with trying to apply two world views at every one moment. I'm very happy for that now. But it did give me a lot of stumbling starts. Still, if I'm super-tired, or knocked down by a tummy bug, I struggle to keep my languages apart. They're not majorly different, Swedish and English. But as you are a polyglot, it would be interesting to see a vid about this blessed conundrum.
2. In your opinion, as not speaking Swedish - could you explain this riddle? I've happily travelled a little bit (really, not world tours), but have along the way met many different languages. I share your admiration for wolof. But I've never met anyone who after their first taste of Swedish won't oogle, google and giggle. Comments vary from "WTF?!?" to "Your making it up as you go along." or the more poetic description of "a singing language". Is it the diphtongs? The use of some rare consonant sounds? (Skepp, sjunka, stjärna...) What causes this? Sure my evidence is anecdotal only, but a great many Swedish people (please don't call us a vegetable...) can and will relate to this.
3. The use of dipthongs is a core of the Swedish language. Is that why Swedish students have an easier road to the tonal languages, such as Thai? Again, all evidence is anecdotal.
Cheers, mate!
I think one of the distinctive features of Swedish, and Norwegian, is their use of pitch accents or tones. I think it's that intonation strikes speakers of other European languages as unusual. Maybe that does make other tonal languages easier for Swedish speakers. Swedish and Norwegian are more similar to African tonal languages in how the tones work that they are to Thai etc. Interestingly, the Swedish Wikipedia article doesn't mention this feature, but the English version does, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_phonology#Stress_and_pitch
As for the exotic consonants, I'm not sure most speakers of other languages would notice them unless they tried to say them.
Вы отлично говорите по-русски! 👍👍👍 Я тоже учу несколько языков, но учить их, не выезжая заграницу, немного сложнее. Очень здорово, что у вас была возможность жить в разных странах и общаться с носителями этих языков👍
Спасибо. Я рад, что вы так думаете. Я согласен, что выучить язык, не выезжая за границу, сложнее. К счастью, в настоящее время это немного проще благодаря технологиям.
Amazing video!
I made one that's on my channel at the moment but it's not that well done since I'm not specifically good with technological devices
I am learning Irish and Welsh at the moment, doing better in the latter
I once did an intensive weekend Irish course which was wonderful. It’s a beautiful language. I also taught myself a tidy bit of Welsh while on holiday in North Wales once. The Welsh spelling system makes it quite a bit more accessible than Irish. I’d love to hear more about how you are getting on with those languages.
Dave just stumbled on your channel it’s so good! Especially enjoyed the ones about the evolution of accents and slang. PS Your Spanish accent is excellent; but it sounds non-native to my ears when your tongue doesn’t come between the teeth on the letter D.
Just a wish - can you do a video of how you define language? What is dialect, and what is another language?
Good idea! I'll add it to my list
I think the classical definition has something to do with whether there is mutual intelligibility between speakers. If two people are talking, and they can generally understand each other, then they probably speak dialects of the same language. If not, they speak different languages. Although this does not explain the mutual intelligibility issues between Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian (as I understand it -- see the YTer "NativLang" for a better explanation).
Or Spanish and Portuguese. A friend (American) I once knew was spending a summer in Spain and Portugal. She learned Spanish ahead of time. She told this embarrassing story on herself many years later: One day, she was in a place with people from various nations, all mingling and speaking to each other with bits and pieces of various languages. She got on quite well with one particular European woman, and they spoke at length. Then another person joined their little group, and my friend took it upon herself to say, in essence "I'm American and my friend here is Spanish". At which point the "Spanish friend" she had been speaking with interrupted, and with indignation said "Son Portugese!" -- "I'm Portuguese" (NOT Spanish!!)
@@dabeamer42 If Swedish is one of your mother tongues, it's usually very easy to tell where a person grew up. The different dialects are very different. Speakers of very distinct dialects often inherited traits from other languages, such as Skåne (Danish) and Gotland (old gutemål). Other big influences come from Finnish, Norwegian and the languages spoken in Sapmì.
My dialect is often uncomprehensible to the rest of Sweden. Does that mean we speak different languages?
All can understand written Swedish, though.
Mandarin and Kantonese are definetly different languages, though.
I propose a loose and unorthodox idea; to classify by speeech rhytm. To me it seems the very biggest obstacle in learning a new language.
This idea needs much polishing, subtraction and addition. Still, I find it good food for thought.
a shprakh iz a dyalekt mit an armey un flot
@@BruceHoult It sure is. That's definitely the main distinction in Scandinavia, historically.
Lovely Welsh accent there! 🙂 Da iawn!
¡Madre mía! Go h-iontach ar fhad.
'Oh, so you're not a spy! 😂😂
Absholutely not!
You have really good Russian! Congrats to you and your teacher.
Thank you!
Lieber Dave, ich sende Ihnen entzückte und begeisterte Sprachwissenschaftsgrüße von Deutschlands südwestlichster Straßenbahnhaltestelle. ❤
Unbelievable. But obviously real.
I've been really impressed by your videos. Do you offer services or support to those not learning one of the languages you speak? I would like to learn Finnish.
Oh yes. It’s fun to work with people who are learning languages I don’t speak.
04:18 incrível
Obrigado!
Wow this is amazing! Have you thought about learning a completely different family, Indian languages?
Well, I speak Chinese and am learning Navajo.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages I meant South Asian Indo-Aryan/Dravidian languages like Hindi, Telugu, Sinhalese etc
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Wow! Will you ever talk about your Navajo journey?
Mbona huzungumzi Kiswahili? 🤔
Nitajifunza siku moja
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages hahaha unakizungumza tayari. Hongera!
Kwa kweli hata mimi ningependa kujua ni kwa nini hazungumzi Kiswahili.
Wow, je ne sais pas si tu répètes par coeur, et phonétiquement ou bien si tu parle vraiment Français en tout cas tu n'as presque pas d'accent. Bravo.
Je parle vraiment Français, et tu m'as fait beaucoup de plaisir en me disant que j'arrive encore à le prononcer bien.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Félicitations 💪
«Debe haber tenido» 👎🏻
DEBÍA TENER 👍🏻
Русский неплох, надо сказать
ok,.texte lesen auswendig kann ich auch in 10 unterschiedliche Sprachen ! hahaha ;D
ادائك كان ضعيف فيما يخص النطق بالعربيه أعد تعلمها لانها الافضل وستكون لغة العالم كما كانت من قبل سلام😎
I have sadly never learned it.
Dave Huxtable, Inc really interesting channel mr Huxtable, your video about Bantu languages was amazing..as a native French and Arabic speaker I can tell your French accent is near native French ( le son è doit être très distinct du é , l’écart diffère entre les 2 d’une région à l’autre , néanmoins le son è pour la plupart des régions il sonne comme dans le mot « fair « au royaume uni ).. and yes Arabic for non Semitic language speakers is a challenge : probably because of its singular pronounciation and probably the humongous mass of vocabulary.. but the logical structure of it’s grammar and morphology is fun to learn if you liked functions in algebra when you where at school..
Thankls Jam. I'll work on my è vowels.
Your linguistic prowess is aspirational, but beyond get a private teacher/find a patient native and live in the country, you didn't really give any specific advice.
Super impressive! But please take the time to speak Irish with someone who learned it in the country, you're pronouncing a lot of it completely wrong.