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posted by mrpg on Monday December 04 2017, @02:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the ¡que-bien! dept.

For English speakers:

Do you want to speak more languages? Sure, as Sally Struthers used to say so often, we all do. But the requirements of attaining proficiency in any foreign tongue, no doubt unlike those correspondence courses pitched by that All in the Family star turned daytime TV icon, can seem frustratingly demanding and unclear. But thanks to the research efforts of the Foreign Service Institute, the center of foreign-language training for the United States government for the past 70 years, you can get a sense of how much time it takes, as a native or native-level English speaker, to master any of a host of languages spoken all across the world.

The map above visualizes the languages of Europe (at least those deemed diplomatically important enough to be taught at the FSI), coloring them according the average time commitment they require of an English speaker. In pink, we have the English-speaking countries. The red countries speak Category I languages, those most closely related to English and thus learnable in 575 to 600 hours of study: the traditional high-school foreign languages of Spanish and French, for instance, or the less commonly taught but just about as easily learnable Portuguese and Italian. If you'd like a little more challenge, why not try your hand at German, whose 750 hours of study puts it in Category II — quite literally, a category of its own?

The map reckons Gaelic, Welsh, Breton, and Basque are off the charts.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @05:42PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @05:42PM (#605149)

    Tell us of your travels, MDC. In which country have you tasted the best cock?

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday December 04 2017, @09:25PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Monday December 04 2017, @09:25PM (#605307) Homepage Journal

    In the gay part of Portland's Paris Adult Theater.

    I celebrated my paycheck by signing up for a six-month membership and a locker at Hawk's PDX.

    But Welbutrin sometimes makes it impossible to get my cookies. A really nice man worked very very hard for almost an hour, but eventually I gave him a hug and said "It's just not going to happen."

    I cut my dose in half starting that evening - I didn't take my evening dose.

    This morning before work I had to work really hard too but I spooged all over the place.

    Next Question?

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]