Re:Poll: How many (natural) languages are you fluent in?
by mahmud on Wednesday February 09, 2011 @01:34AM
(#2196641)
Doesn't that mean you can speak 6?
No. It's possible to read formal prose in a language without speaking it.
Polite/learned communication, specially in writing, is often contrived and limited, often resembling an archaic form of the language. It's very possible to read formal text in a language, and glean meaning from it based on your expertise in the language family. Though you would be helpless in the street.
No. It's possible to read formal prose in a language without speaking it.
Polite/learned communication, specially in writing, is often contrived and limited, often resembling an archaic form of the language. It's very possible to read formal text in a language, and glean meaning from it based on your expertise in the language family. Though you would be helpless in the street.