What's your favorite language family?

LAA   Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:19 am GMT
Within the Indo-European branch? I like Latin languages, followed by Germanic, followed by Hellenic, followed by Celtic, followed by Slavic.
SurrogateMother   Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:24 am GMT
I like Slavic then Japanese then Spanish.
LAA   Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:30 am GMT
Well, if I'm truly honest, half of my ancestors are Latin and the other half are Celtic/Teutonic, with my mother being of Spanish extraction, and my father being of Welsh/English w/ French. But as do all those latter groups in America, my father's family is nothing but good old fashioned, all-American, Anglo-Protestants. So, nothing at all remains of French culture in my father's family, and my paternal grandmother, who's from Louisiana, and whose maiden name was "Colbert", actually pronounced her name "Kol-bert", with the "t" pronounced. So I don't identify with the French at all. I see my father as an Anglo-American, and my mother, as a Mexican-American. Thus, I view my heritage as a Hispanophone and Anglophone background.

With this comes somewhat of a bias toward Spanish and English. So, I love both languages. English because I'm an American, and I love the rich vocabulary, and Spanish, because I'm a Mexican-American and I love the beauty of it.

So, my favorite groups are Romance, followed by Germanic. Although a good share of my father's ancestors were Celts, I don't understand a word of Welsh or other Celtic languages, other than some swear words, so I can't really say I am inclined toward those languages.

As long as we're voting on our favorite languages, here is my ranking list:

1A. Spanish
1B. English
2. Italian
3. Brazilian Portuguese
4. French
5. Eu. Portuguese
6. Frisian
7. Dutch
8. German
9. Romanian
10. Welsh
Gringo   Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:54 am GMT
1A. Spanish
1B. English
2. Italian
3. Brazilian Portuguese
4. French
5. Eu. Portuguese
6. Frisian
7. Dutch
8. German
9. Romanian
10. Welsh


What English language you are talking about? American, Australian, British, South African? And what Spanish language you are talking about Eu Spanish, Mexican, Argentinian, Peruan?
JR   Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:46 am GMT
And as for my favorite language family, it would have to be the Romance. After that my favorites are pretty well spread out, from the Germanic, Slavic, and Semitic. I like the Germanic languages because of their roughness, it is unique. I like the Rs in Slavic languages, and the Hs in Semitic languages. I'm also fond of Japanese, because it sounds soft like Romance languages, yet it is nothing like them. And Zulu because of the nice open vowels. My favorite langauges (taking only how they sound into consideration) would have to be

1A - Spanish (I prefer the more neutral Mexican/Colombian variations)
1B - Italian (I slightly prefer the Italian spoken in the north)
2 - French
3 - Hebrew
4 - Japanese
5 - Dutch
6 - Arabic
7 - Russian
9 - Zulu
10 - Sweedish
Best sounding   Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:08 pm GMT
1. English
2. Brazilian Portuguese
3. Italian
4.French
5. Spanish
6. Flemish
7. Estonian
8. Tahitian
9. Dutch
10. Norwegean
My list   Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:22 pm GMT
1. Mexican Spanish
2. AmEnglish
3. EuroSpanish
4. Italian
5. French
6. Romanian
7. AustralianEnglish
8. German
9. Luxemburgian
10.Quebecois
Arturo   Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:34 pm GMT
My contribution:

1.Italian
2.ItalianSwiss
3.Belgian French
4.SouthAfricanEnglish
5.SurinameDutch
6. German
7.Eu.Portuguese
8.Romanian
9.Scottish Gaelic
10.Polish
a.p.a.m.   Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:39 pm GMT
I prefer the Romance languages, especially Italian and French, not necessarily in that order. I'd like to study the Slavic languages, I'm fascinated by them. The only Germanic language that I would like to learn is German. It's an important language. Germany is an important and powerful country.
Andersson   Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:46 pm GMT
My list:

1.Italian
2.Spanish
3.French
4.Brazilian Portuguese
5.Dutch
6.English
7.Finish
8.German
9.Russian
10.Japanese
Lolly   Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:12 pm GMT
''The only Germanic language that I would like to learn is German. It's an important language. ''


Not for us in Americas.
Benjamin   Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:47 pm GMT
A year ago, I would've turned my nose up completely at the thought of learning German, on the grounds that the language, I thought, looked and sounded horrible, and that Germany must not be an interesting place to go.

This year, however, my view has totally changed. German is now my favourite language out of all those which I know to some extent, and I've just come back from spending three fantastic weeks in Deutschland — I want to become German now!

So... I suppose I'd have to say Germanic. But I can't really make a fair judgement, because I don't know any languages from language families other than Germanic and Romance.
LAA   Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:20 am GMT
And our conceptions of languages all depend on who we hear speak it, and the cirumstances and tone in which they speak. For me at least, the most experience I've had with German, at least early on in my life, was in WWII-era movies, where the Germans were portrayed as brutal, evil, harsh Nazi, and Gestappo soliders, screaming and slaughtering innocent people. Naturally, one would not be inclined to learning that language when your only familiarity with it is based on movies which portray it as the language of pure evil and hate.

That being said, I still find German to be a harsh, less melodious language, and defintiely not one of my favorites. I still think of German as more of a masculine, martial language, while I think of Latin languages as being languages of art, culture, cuisine, and romance. So, it may sound silly, but I like to count my push-ups and sit ups in German or Dutch, and I like to speak to my dog in German, (possibly because Rottweilers are Police dogs in Europe, and they are a German breed). If I want to impress a girl and sound exotic, I speak in Spanish, and go for the whole, "Latin", "dirty dancing" thing, or I'll speak in my very limited Italian or French.

A lot of people like to speak in French when they are trying to sound sophisticated.

I have never been to Germany, but it seems a lot like the U.S., as far as mainland European countries go.
LAA   Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:23 am GMT
"So... I suppose I'd have to say Germanic. But I can't really make a fair judgement, because I don't know any languages from language families other than Germanic and Romance. "

I understand completely. As human beings, we tend to prefer things which are less alien to us, because we are more comfortable with what we know. That is only natural. That is why my favorite language groups are Romance and Germanic, while some of my least favorite languages are Chinese and Vietmanese.
Guest   Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:08 am GMT
My favorite language family is absolutely the germanic one - with German as my favorite language! I think it sounds so clear and balanced unlike others.
I wouldn't dare to say it doesn't sound melodious - it does in its own way actually compared to the piercing, noisy and fidgety sound of the romance languages! I agree that this has only to do with the WAY it's spoken in, but most people with a romance language as their mother tongue often speak like that as part of their character. German speakers tend to speak rather slowly and there is this calmness and composure surrounding it I really like. My own mother tongue is Finnish which is actually harder to learn than German ;-)

I really don't want to offend anybody - it's just my opinion among many others....

Auf widersehen.