Miscellaneous Monday: Are you learning any languages? 💬

[Dave Liao]

@Dreamsuite Mike asked us all "What languages do you speak?"

Some of us speak one language - others, more than one.

Outside of JQL, CQL, AQL, MDX, or any other TLA, what language - or languages! - are you learning, and why?

For me, I've been on a Duolingo kick (+700 days so far).

• 🇪🇸 I was roped into learning Spanish thanks to a friendly group competition. Atlassian's Team '24 Europe conference was also a big reason!
• 🇫🇷 I'm practicing French to keep my mind flexible.
• Tried Klingon, but it's not too practical. Maybe if I started serving on a Klingon battlecruiser?

Hope everyone is having a great November so far!

[Sandra Franchetto]

November is the best month of the year. ❤️

[John Funk]

Thanks @Dave Liao !  I started down the path of learning Arabic, but quickly figured out it would take way more studying and time than I had available. I interact with a LOT of French speakers here, and I took some classes way back in school, but never really learned how to speak it conversationally. I should pick that back up. Thanks for the encouragement!

[Dave Liao]

@John Funk - Ooh! I've got a French friend who's living where you are.

I never asked if there were other Frenchies in the region, is that a thing?

[carolyn french]

Hope you had a good weekend @Dave Liao

As you know, français tout le temps!

Once I saw Stephen Fry perform (part of) Hamlet in Klingon - probably a video of it somewhere...

[Dave Liao]

⚔️ Sad I can't find a video, but I did find a photo of Stephen Fry as a Klingon: https://www.stephenfry.com/2011/02/4d6ae04f2b734/

I also found this, and love it: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/shakespeare-klingon/

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

I am trying to learn some Spanish (Duolingo, of course), but I am dramatically bad at it so far. So I am practicing my well-forgotten Chinese, to give myself fake feeling of accomplishment :D 

[Dave Liao]

@Teodora V _Fun Inc_ - ¡Impresionante! I think.

I might be following one of your coworkers on Duolingo... 🤘🏻🚀🍻

[Stephen_Lugton]

@Dave Liao following a couple of week's in Italy over the summer visiting friends I've also started on Duolingo learning Italian for when we go back next year.  The only problem I find is that Duolingo doesn't like my accent and keeps failing me on the speaking tests 😖

[Dave Liao]

I sympathize! At least you'll be able to read signs...

Duolingo is not impressed with my "Spanish" accent. It's not lispy enough to be from Barcelona, and it's too French to be anything you'd hear in South America. 🤣

[Andy Gladstone]

@Dave Liao I'm feeling pretty in adequate reading this. I have not tried to learn a new language for over (30) years. I actually met my wife during a free period I had in High School after dropping out of Spanish Class! Maybe that's what my mental block on learning languages comes from. But I also know that it would probably be the best exercise for my mental plasticity, so now I'm thinking about trying out Duolingo.

Thanks for the post!

[Dave Liao]

Join up!

I've met quite a few Atlassian Community folks on Duolingo - as many as I've met on Pokemon Go[1]. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[1] Bahaha - https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Watercooler-discussions/Friday-Fun-any-Pok%C3%A9mon-Go-players-out-there/td-p/1624491

[Valerie Knapp]

Thanks @Dave Liao , for this question.

I studied Spanish in high school and again in one of my job roles, alongside the students, when I worked in a secondary school in Bristol, so I have a GCSE in Spanish.

I moved to Italy in 2019 so I learned Italian, which is predominantly the language I work in now and for the past years.

I would be interested to learn another language, also a programming one, but I haven't made it a priority and I think using two every day is enough for now. Maybe a New Year's Resolution for 2025 or beyond.

[Dave Liao]

Don't thank me, thank @Andy Gladstone for encouraging us all to post a Miscellaneous Monday! 😉

If you're using an Atlassian tool that has a language - even a query language - it's pretty nifty to know that language somewhat deeper. For me, I want to know JQL well enough where I get the operators right on date ranges. 🥲

[Amanda Barber]

Today is day 363 of French on Duolingo for me. It was mostly to brush up before I went to France back in May. I took 6 years of French in school, so a lot was just pulling out old knowledge. I feel pretty good when reading print, but when people spoke to me my brain still 🤯...

My husband has been practicing Japanese for the last year as well. He took that in high school. We went to Japan this month and I was grateful for things being printed in English. He enjoyed trying to read the Kanji characters.

[Dave Liao]

@Amanda Barber - congrats!! Just two days away from a year... I think a celebration is warranted? 🗓️🚀

It's so interesting the parts of our brain that we need to process visuals and audio.

Random fact: I can read Cyrillic, which only comes in handy when I'm in a restaurant with menus printed in that script. Of course, there's the challenge of knowing what those pesky words could mean. 😬 At least I understand "vodka" when I hear it...

[Amanda Barber]

Haha, perhaps some French cuisine - a croissant!

[Susan Waldrip]

Love this topic, @Dave Liao -- Takk! I had ~five years of Spanish in middle and high school and loved it. Also have taken a couple of classes in Japanese and American Sign Language which really helped me learn about other cultures and some history of language development, which is fascinating! The Spanish helped me get around Italy even though they're not the same language, and I picked up enough conversational Icelandic while I was in Iceland to order some food, find the bathroom, and thank the servers (alas, I've forgotten most of it by now). It was a lot of fun!

[Dave Liao]

@Susan Waldrip - you reminded me to prioritize a trip to Iceland in 2025! 🙌

ASL is fun, two of my favorite words are "popcorn" and "penguin". And it's tough to get those words confused. 😆🍿🐧

[Susan Waldrip]

I'm reading everyone's posts and remembering more languages! French in kindergarten and German in 3-4 Grades. Ancient history!

[Barbara Szczesniak]

Way back when (about 1990), someone asked me what languages I knew. I said, "Fortran, basic, C, Ada." They looked at me funny, and I said, "Oh, you mean like French or Spanish." 😊 This is when I realized I was a geek.

I did 3 years of Latin and 1 year of Italian in high school. I liked Latin because there was no conversational part; it appealed more to my analytical brain. When I lived in The Netherlands, I picked up Dutch, but I have forgotten most of it now (use it or lose it, I guess). 

[Dave Liao]

@Barbara Szczesniak - oh jeez, I forgot I did a semester of Latin... all I remember is salvete ! 👋

[Fun Man Andy]

The language of EMOJIS !!!! 😎

[Fun Man Andy]

@Dave Liao 🍑 🍋 🎉 📦 💪

[Dave Liao]

🙌🎉🎷 Your response reminds me of this Graham Norton Show clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UztioBpKlRk

[Fun Man Andy]

@Dave Liao HAHAHAHHAHA

[Fun Man Andy]

@Teodora V _Fun Inc_ 

🫠 💀 ⚰️ 🪦 🙏

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

@Fun Man Andy, shhhh, don't tell everyone! 

🤫⚡️💀 ⚰️ ⛰

[Jovin]

Another 700 club member here 👋🏻 On 723 days. I've been on a life long language learning kick, but can only speak basic level in 1 language other than English... a history of my timeline:

• Pre-Primary School: My father attempted to teach me 🇮🇸 Icelandic (his 1st language), but unfortunately learning it in Australia meant there is little-to-no exposure and it just didn't stick
• Grades 3-5: I started learning 🇯🇵 Japanese in school, it was so interesting and lined up well with my watching of Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon and Card Captor Sakura at the time, although, I didn't get far.
• Grades 5-6: I changed schools mid-way through Grade 5 and started learning 🇮🇹 Italian at the new school. Fun fact: there is no state or national second-language standard in Aus!
• Grade 7: I changed schools again and started learning 🇫🇷 French, this stuck relatively easily, but it's only basic memories now!
  • This school I attended taught 2 languages, and alternated each intake year, those joining an "odd year" in the year I joined learned French, the others, learned Indonesian.
• Grade 8 (1st half): Being that "High School" used to start at Grade 8 (20 years ago now!) this was when a new influx of students would arrive, so they split your learning into 1st half and 2nd half of the year so you could taste both they offered and choose in Grade 9. I continued with French for the first half.
• Grade 8 (2nd half): Now was my trial of 🇮🇩 Indonesian, I truly didn't understand at the time how important this 6 months would be.
• Grade 9-10: I chose French to continue at that school, it really has not stuck too deeply!
• Grades 11-12: The last 2 years I moved schools again and this school did not teach 2nd languages.

Following this in University I chose to try learning Japanese again, but gave up due to the tutor fees being too much. Towards the end though (2011-2012) I began to self learn 🇰🇷 Korean. This stuck so well, it was such an intuitive language! Fun fact: I almost moved to Korea to teach english as a second language too!

Then at work I began to learn 🇪🇸 Spanish, as I was meant to go to Chile and help setup a new office, however, that ended up on the back-burner thanks to COVID.

And now, lastly, with my 723 day streak in Duolingo, I'm learning 🇮🇩 Indonesian again, thanks to my lovely wife helping me along and the amazing community of friends and family I have over there ❤️

[Sarp Egemen]

I started learning French 🥖 when I was a kid, and look at the twist of fate: I now live in France.

I learned English 💂🏻‍♂️ much later than French, so my most secure moments were never in English. I hated it in high school because the exams were complicated even for native speakers. However, now I believe I have recovered and formed even stronger bonds with the language.

Now, Ich lerne Deutsch 🥨 for more than a year, but I haven't had much time to practice and dedicate the time required.

[Sherilyn Tasker]

I learn Te Reo Māori, as it's one of the 2 official languages of New Zealand. The other being NZ sign language. English isn't an official language even though it's the most commonly spoken.

Fun fact, New Zealand claims to have the longest place name in the world: 

TaumatawhakatangihangakoauauoTamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

(translates to: "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his kōauau (flute) to his loved one".

[Susan Waldrip]

@Sherilyn Tasker, that is so cool that you learned Te Reo Māori! I bet New Zealand is right in claiming longest place name fame!

[Barbara Szczesniak]

Thanks for the fun fact, @Sherilyn Tasker. I always thought the longest place name was in Wales (Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch)—I even had a fridge magnet that purported this. Apparently, it's only the longest in Europe, but second longest in the world. Nice to learn something new.

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Saya belajar bahasa Indonesia palan palan 🇮🇩

I'm learning it because I'm here for a few months, have been before and I expect will be again many times.

I want to help with nature conservation here because it is 1 of the most naturally beautiful countries in the world but it needs our help. There are absolutely legends in the local community and community engagement is key to bringing about awareness and change and speaking the language is essential.

[Jacqueline Westermayer]

Love this topic, @Dave Liao !!! Languages are one of my passions and I am constantly falling in and out of love with them. LOL.

I speak Portuguese and Spanish. I was pretty good with German at some point however I have gotten a little rusty. Currently, Korean is on my radar for some reason. It just sounds so cool I would love to speak it and visit South Korea at some point :)