Ok, Lemmy, let's play a game!
Post how many languages in which you can count to ten, including your native language. If you like, provide which languages. I'm going to make a guess; after you've replied, come back and open the spoiler. If I'm right: upvote; if I'm wrong: downvote!
My guess, and my answer...
My guess is that it's more than the number of languages you speak, read, and/or write.
Do you feel cheated because I didn't pick a number? Vote how you want to, or don't vote! I'm just interested in the count.
I can count to ten in five languages, but I only speak two. I can read a third, and I once was able to converse in a fourth, but have long since lost that skill. I know only some pick-up/borrow words from the 5th, including counting to 10.
- My native language is English
- I lived in Germany for a couple of years; because I never took classes, I can't write in German, but I spoke fluently by the time I left.
- I studied French in college for three years; I can read French, but I've yet to meet a French person who can understand what I'm trying to say, and I have a hard time comprehending it.
- I taught myself Esperanto a couple of decades ago, and used to hang out in Esperanto chat rooms. I haven't kept up.
- I can count to ten in Japanese because I took Aikido classes for a decade or so, and my instructor counted out loud in Japanese, and the various movements are numbered.
I can almost count to ten in Spanish, because I grew up in mid-California and there was a lot of Spanish thrown around. But French interferes, and I start in Spanish and find myself switching to French in the middle, so I'm not sure I could really do it.
Bonus question: do you ever do your counting in a non-native language, just to make it more interesting?
For this question exactly I can claim 6, but beyond counting to 10 I know very little in most of these.
LMFAO I would've never expected someone to reference that song on Lemmy of all places!!! Such a goofy song lol
13? Another commenter said they'd learned counting to 7 in Chinese (Cantonese?) because of a song that cuts off at 7. And both 7 and 13 are significant in US culture, 7 being lucky and 13 unlucky... I wonder if there's a relationship based on immigration and the cultural blending?
13 is an odd number, though. 12 is widely significant, as are 5 and 10, but 7 and 13 are strange picks.
Nah the 13 in the song has nothing to do with the unlucky part. It's just that the song is a goofy ass song lol. The lyrics literally start with "ding dong ding ding dong ding dong". It's basically a woman asking her lover or whatever to come home (not in the ding dong part of course).
She's like, "I waited 1, 2, 3 - 13 days" for you and you didn't come. On the 14th day, I did this, on the 15th I did this, on the 17th I realized we broke up, my heart shattered on the 20th and so on. Many find the song nostalgic (not me, cuz I'm not from that generation). For me it's just another old random annoying-ish Bollywood song.
Also, just to add to my previous comment a little with a live example here:
Kazaxat's (the person whose comment you replied to) parents are Malayali. They're from the south Indian state of Kerala. See how Kazaxat doesn't speak Hindi? Kerala is one of the states resisting Hindi imposition. Also remember how I said that the land of modern India was never under one state? Kerala was one of the lands never under the rule of any state in the Ganga basin.
Also, the actress dancing in the song above is Madhuri Dixit, who is Marathi.
Here's a link to the song if you've suddenly become curious lol. Disclaimer: it's just another silly old Bollywood song. So if u'r not into that, u ain't missing anything.
Ah, yeah. I didn't pick up that they didn't speak Hindi.