#also the fact that i just can't keep up with my classmates' level of russian and so can

[arsonist-chicken]

I've got no idea about languages but give me your answers to 6, 18 and 19.

Oh, I almost forgot about this! Feels worth mentioning here that, considering my studies/hopefully future job/job sector, I really don't know that much about languages either, or definitely less than I should but hey 🤷‍♀️

6. If your native language didn’t exist, which one of your languages would you pick in its place?

Well, other than my native language German, I speak English, and vaguely Russian, and very very VERY vaguely Swedish. So I guess out of those, English would be the best choice - you'll very likely find someone who speaks it in most places you go to nowadays, you can easily understand most content on the internet without problems, you'll always find a version of books, tv shows, etc. in your native language, ... Then again, you don't "automatically" have at least one foreign language you'll learn just by existing on the internet, and learning a foreign language DOES have many many advantages.

I'd say logical-wise, job-wise, whatever, I'd pick English, and if not that then Russian, because it's a widely spoken language and growing. Purely interest-wise, I-can-vibe-with-that-wise, fun-to-learn-and-learn-about-wise, I'd go for Swedish.

18. Which language you’ve learned could be considered the hardest?

Oh, Russian for sure! Stupid goddamn grammar, who came up with the concept of two aspects for one and the same verb?? And all the different participles my beloathed, and the conjugation of numbers, pure hell. And not grammar-related and just a personal issue, I cannot for the life of me pronounce a rolled R, but that's not a make-or-break thing for understanding, luckily. But apparently the ь is, which is... idk, I hardly hear the difference mostly.

19. Have you got a favourite language? (you don’t have to be able to speak it)

I mean, English is very handy, you can communicate at least on a basic level with most people you meet, it's a pretty common shared language across the world by now.

But oh, Finnish sounds SO nice! The soft K's, the rolled R's, the double vowels?? I have a voicemail my friend sent me like three years ago still somewhere on my phone where she recites some Finnish poem or something about like, chickens?? I think? Either way, there are VERY many K's in there, she sounds like an angel, it makes me so happy to listen to it! Finnish just generally seems like a very pleasant language, it sounds so soft and nice and cute 🥺 (but learning it? unless I for some reason move to Finland, I will never ever ever even try to learn that, I saw something about the declension of nouns for like five seconds and goddamnit, do I not want to have to deal with that.) (but god, the soft K's and rolled R's.)

And Swedish!! Is such a pleasant language to read and listen to! Like Floragatan? Flower street!! 🌻🌷 Cat? Katt! 🐱 Hedgehog? Igelkott! 🦔 Carrot cake? Morotskaka! 🎂 Eule? UGGLA! 🦉 And it's also easier to learn than other languages when German is your native language because they derive from the same branch of the same language family, so there's just a lot of similarities or words you can guess the meaning of because they sound similar or have certain associations you can connect. Like Old Town? Gamla stan. "Gammelig" ist something old, rotten, in German, there you go. Raccoon? Tvättbjörn = washing bear = literally the same as the German Waschbär! 🦝🦝 Rainbow? Regnbåge = Regenbogen. 🌈🌈 I really, really want to get back into studying Swedish regularly again! Thank you for that question, it really reminded me how much I used to enjoy learning Swedish!

#i had to stop myself before i started rambling about the majority of european languages #i was about to go oh dutch sounds pretty and i have a friend there and albanian and ukrainian and ...... #and then i would have just rambled on forever #this ask makes it sound like i don't like russian #I do! it's just that the pressure of uni classes and 'you really need to learn this language very well if you ever want to get a job' has #kind of taken the fun out of learning it #also the fact that i just can't keep up with my classmates' level of russian and so can #*can't follow the class a lot of the time #it's just frustrating and when you're frustrated long and often enough you'll kind of stop enjoying actually learning it #but thank you so much for the ask! i put it off because i thought it'd just make me upset about university again but instead i #remembered i want to learn swedish again 🥰🥰 #also you can't just say you don't know anything about languages and then reblog a post with a finnish sentences saying you understood that #finnish is HARD to learn #i know you and half the discord server are learning it and you have my deeptest respects i would never #(watch me say that and decide in a few weeks i still want to start the duo course 'just to look at it') #(i will not do it i will not do it i will not do it i am busy enough with russian i will not do it) (she chants as she tries not to #remember how UTTERLY beautiful finnish sounds and how cool it would be to speak it) #asks #chaoslaura #mine #languages #ALSO THE MOOMINS HOW DID I FORGET THE MOOMINS #THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF SWEDISH AND FINNISH #i think and say without knowing anything about them except that they're CUTE and there's an angry red lady causing trouble #because i've never actually read or watched them #it's on my list though #also i have a cup with the ancestor on it i got in helsinki when i visited a friend and he's so CUTE #god i want moomin bedsheets my inner child and current adult seeking happiness would be so excited #but I'm picky about which ones I'd want and they're uuuuh expensive #god now i thought about finland again and about the absolutely best chocolate I ever did eat in my life