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what language is most useful to learn?



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 10th, 2004, 03:55 PM
forgotten field
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Default what language is most useful to learn?

Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland. I speak English, but I am wondering if I
should learn another language to make my trip more memorable. What
language do you think I should learn? I also wonder if you have any
opinion on which country is good to travel in Europe. I don't have a
lot of money, so I would need to stay at the hostels most of the time
during the trip.
Thank you, and have a good day.
  #3  
Old February 10th, 2004, 06:03 PM
Alec
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Default what language is most useful to learn?


"forgotten field" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland. I speak English, but I am wondering if I
should learn another language to make my trip more memorable. What
language do you think I should learn? I also wonder if you have any
opinion on which country is good to travel in Europe. I don't have a
lot of money, so I would need to stay at the hostels most of the time
during the trip.
Thank you, and have a good day.

German and perhaps Russian.
Eastern Europe, except in most popular places like Prague and Krakow, is a
lot cheaper than Western Europe, esp Rumania, Bulgaria, Ukraine.

Alec


  #4  
Old February 10th, 2004, 06:08 PM
Casey
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Default what language is most useful to learn?

Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland.


For people older than 30-40, Russian will probably be the most
common second language. For those under 30, German and
English will be the most common second language. Learn German.


Casey


  #5  
Old February 10th, 2004, 06:22 PM
Keith Willshaw
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Default what language is most useful to learn?


"Alec" wrote in message
...



German and perhaps Russian.
Eastern Europe, except in most popular places like Prague and Krakow, is a
lot cheaper than Western Europe, esp Rumania, Bulgaria, Ukraine.


I wouldnt recommend Russian in the old Warsaw Pact
countries. In many of them they associate the language
with bad memories, true of German too of course but the
memories of Russians are fresher.

I recall in Prague just after the Russian withdrawal a group
of use were walking back to out hotel, got a little lost
and asked a passer by for directions in English. We
were put on the right track. About 100m behind us were
3 Hungarian guys from our group who asked the
same passer by the question Russian. They were pointed
in the exact opposite direction and didnt find their way
back to the hotel for another hour.

Keith


  #6  
Old February 10th, 2004, 06:47 PM
nightjar
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Default what language is most useful to learn?


"forgotten field" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland. I speak English, but I am wondering if I
should learn another language to make my trip more memorable. What
language do you think I should learn?


In those countries, we have found German rather more useful than English,
although I think it would be quite possible to cope with English alone.
However, unless you get quite good at your chosen second language, you may
find it difficult to understand someone who is also speaking it as a second
language. My companion is a native German speaker, but she is also fluent in
English - better than some English I know. Nevertheless, she always has
trouble with accented English.

Colin Bignell



  #7  
Old February 10th, 2004, 06:47 PM
Lennart Petersen
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Default what language is most useful to learn?


"Casey" skrev i meddelandet
link.net...
Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland.


For people older than 30-40, Russian will probably be the most
common second language.

Trying to speak russian in those countries is just rudeness, simply the got
enough of it.

For those under 30, German and
English will be the most common second language. Learn German.

German for many at age 30-40 and above, English for those below


  #8  
Old February 10th, 2004, 07:39 PM
RSL
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Default what language is most useful to learn?

Based upon my personal experience, in the larger hotels and major tourist
venues in central and eastern Europe, there is at least a chance that
someone can communicate with you in English, to some extent. Don't count on
it, though. For Hungary, you should have a phrase book that will enable you
to read signs posted at the venues to enable you to learn which days and
hours they are open. There are amazingly few cognates between Magyar
(Hungarian) language words and the Romance and Germanic languages. You will
probably not be able to guess the meanings of words in Magyar.

Trying to learn to speak any Slavic language is much more challenging than
learning a Romance language or a Germanic language, in my opinion. The
grammar is quite different from what you are acquainted with. With a good
phrase book, however, you can learn to communicate to some extent.

Because of certain historical facts, such as the fact of the former
Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the adjacency of German-speaking countries to
the countries you mentioned, learning some German would be very useful. I
recall that on one of my trips to Russia, I communicated another tourist,
who happened to be Hungarian, in German. It was a language that we shared.
I communicated in German when visiting Budapest and Gyor, both Hungarian
cities.

German-speaking persons travel and tour more than do other Europeans, in
general. Therefore, you can expect that German and English will serve you
better than English and any other single language.

Switzerland may be the most expensive country to travel in, so don't count
on any cheap touring there. Austria provides good value for your money.

If you read English, the Lonely Planet books are good to study before your
trip. I recommend the "Let's Go Europe" book, as well as their other "Let's
Go" books.


"forgotten field" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland. I speak English, but I am wondering if I
should learn another language to make my trip more memorable. What
language do you think I should learn? I also wonder if you have any
opinion on which country is good to travel in Europe. I don't have a
lot of money, so I would need to stay at the hostels most of the time
during the trip.
Thank you, and have a good day.



  #9  
Old February 10th, 2004, 08:04 PM
RSL
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Default what language is most useful to learn?

I am extremely new to this newsgroup, therefore I do not understand the
group culture. However, it seems to me that your reply must have been a
joke, at best. Am I to understand that unhelpful replies are acceptable in
this newsgroup?
"alain K." wrote in message
...
esperanto???????????



"forgotten field" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Hi, I am hoping to travel in the Eastern Europe, such as
Hungary,Slovakia and Poland. I speak English, but I am wondering if I
should learn another language to make my trip more memorable. What
language do you think I should learn? I also wonder if you have any
opinion on which country is good to travel in Europe. I don't have a
lot of money, so I would need to stay at the hostels most of the time
during the trip.
Thank you, and have a good day.




  #10  
Old February 10th, 2004, 08:49 PM
*Tom*
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Default what language is most useful to learn?

I speak English, but I am wondering if I
should learn another language to make my trip more memorable.



In what year do you want to go?

Just learn to speak slow english
Most people you have to talk to in Europe do understand and speak English.

Tom [NL]


 




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