Do you speak Chinese, Japanese or Korean?

hyperpape · Post by **hyperpape** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 8:41 pm

Apropos nothing in particular, I got curious how many of us speak or read a language from one of the big four Go playing countries. Option 5 is meant to excoude the first three, btw.

I don't speak any of the three, but I really would like to learn enough to read the newspaper coverage. One day...

DrStraw · Post by **DrStraw** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:05 pm

I said NONE, but with a lot of patience and a dictionary I could make sense of a Japanese go article. I certainly cannot speak the language but I know a fair amount of the grammar.

Tommie · Post by **Tommie** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:39 am

I voted for SPEAK (Chinese),
can and did easily take a commentary in that language,
but actually 'being able to communicate' seems more honest.

Reading an article, e.g. in WQTD (on the multiple kos) is hard work for me and requires a dictionary (and too much time).
Getting the gist of problem or study books is not difficult.

Ah, and if ever these languages become relevant for Go :lol:

, than I am prepared:
DE (mother tongue), EN (ok), FR (17 years ago on DELF/DALF level, D.A.L.F. = Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française), NL (fluent)

Hushfield · Post by **Hushfield** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 2:45 am

I voted for "speak Japanese", but actually speaking the language would require some getting used to again. I mainly read and write Japanese these days, and I seem to be struggling to keep the same level I was when I graduated in Japanology.

hyperpape · Post by **hyperpape** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 3:41 am

The poll allows for speaking or reading. I suspect there are a lot of people who can do one or the other but not both.

And Dr. Straw, that's an edge case, but I might have said yes. When I first started reading the newspaper in French, I would generate a full notebook page of vocabulary to double check or learn, but I was still reading, even if an article took half an hour or more.

I'm more interested in how many people have put forth the effort for Go (or by coincidence) than how competent they are.

DrStraw · Post by **DrStraw** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:22 am

hyperpape wrote:The poll allows for speaking or reading. I suspect there are a lot of people who can do one or the other but not both.

And Dr. Straw, that's an edge case, but I might have said yes. When I first started reading the newspaper in French, I would generate a full notebook page of vocabulary to double check or learn, but I was still reading, even if an article took half an hour or more.

I'm more interested in how many people have put forth the effort for Go (or by coincidence) than how competent they are.

Then in that case, yes. I have 18 credit hours at junior college in Japanese which I took only because I wanted to read Japanese go books. That is enough for an associates degree if I had had all the other classes in gen ed. But that was 20 years ago and I have forgotten most of it.

kirkmc · Post by **kirkmc** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:07 am

hyperpape wrote:The poll allows for speaking or reading. I suspect there are a lot of people who can do one or the other but not both.

And Dr. Straw, that's an edge case, but I might have said yes. When I first started reading the newspaper in French, I would generate a full notebook page of vocabulary to double check or learn, but I was still reading, even if an article took half an hour or more.

I'm more interested in how many people have put forth the effort for Go (or by coincidence) than how competent they are.

Then the question should be different, along the lines of how many people have sufficient competency in a language to carry on a conversation or read an article in a newspaper. I studied Chinese for a while more than 20 years ago, and do know enough to understand how to find characters in a dictionary, and could probably, like Straw, decipher texts given enough time.

hyperpape · Post by **hyperpape** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:02 am

The original poll said speak/read but the first post stupidly just said speak--I've changed it to match.

mohsart · Post by **mohsart** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:03 pm

Voted None, but I've studied a bit Chinese and have a Chinese girlfriend, so I know a little; not enough yet to hold a conversation or read a newspaper but maybe some time in the future...

/Mats

ketchup · Post by **ketchup** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:13 pm

I've been wanting to learn Korean for a while now. Not only because I enjoy Go, but because a lot of other interests also seem to correspond with the language.

Nikolas73 · Post by **Nikolas73** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:56 pm

I'm not completely fluent in Japanese, but I know enough to get by. Actually, Go was one of the factors in my decision tos tart studying Japanese (Korean was a close second and still something I want to learn one day).

Kirby · Post by **Kirby** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:16 pm

I "know" Japanese and Korean. By "know", I mean that I can communicate with people and read with the help of a dictionary to look up words that I haven't memorized, yet. Since the first of the year, I've been studying each for an hour a piece Monday through Friday.

Dusk Eagle · Post by **Dusk Eagle** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:26 pm

I'm currently enrolled in a Korean 101 class at University, and I have taken a Japanese non-credited course. I can't read or speak either one right now though.

cdybeijing · Post by **cdybeijing** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:04 am

I've been in China four years and I'm still working on it. The closer you are, the further away you seem.

kgsbaduk · Post by **kgsbaduk** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:28 am

The closer you are, the further away you seem.

Sounds like you were talking about Go

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