languages that i refuse to learn? | multilingual q&a ;-)

long time, no see, friends. i thought i would come back with something lax and a Q&A was the perfect idea i think! i wish i could answer all your many questions, but for now, here are 10 or so :)
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☕️ buy me a coffee (if you are so inclined!)
ko-fi.com/elyssespeaks
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💌 social media:
📷 instagram:
languages: / elyssespeaks
personal: / elyssedavega
🐥 twitter:
/ elyssedavega
🎵 spotify w/ english, german, spanish, and portuguese playlists
open.spotify.com/user/elysse....
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💌 about me
Hellooo! My name is Elysse, I’m a KZbinr and journalist from the USA. I make videos about language, world, and culture, as well as the occasional travel diary. Hope you follow along!
💌 FAQ
How old are you?:
21 years old
What languages do you speak/sign?:
English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, American Sign Language (all at varying levels!)
Where do you live?:
The United States, in the south.

[@jime9525]

I'm from Central America, and I just realized you read more books about my culture than I do. How bad😭

[@elyssespeaks]

Hahaha it's an interesting region! We don't learn much of you guys' history in school, so I take it upon myself to learn. :P don't feel bad

[@amirrichaun]

I couldn’t agree more about the politeness level. You worded it perfectly 😭 I tried learning Masri (Egyptian Arabic) and that’s exactly what it is 💀 If I want to tell someone to leave me alone, I don’t want to literally be saying something like, “God, please guide this person away” 😗

[@elyssespeaks]

💀 that’s so funny?? Omfg Arabic appears to be so deeply rooted in Islam though, I wonder if there are exceptions to that.

[@your.favorite.detective25]

@@elyssespeaks Now Arabic is the language the Quran’s written in so I get where you’re coming from, but there’s a good number of Christian Arabs out there. It also really depends on the people and dialects, kind of like how you say “For God’s sake” in English, there’s the same exact expression in Arabic, it just depends on the way you prefer talking and your personality too🙌

[@amirrichaun]

@@your.favorite.detective25 That’s actually a really good point. Also, I began learning Arabic again 🙈 I found out that my family in New Jersey speaks Arabic and I want to connect with them. I can probably get past the politeness.

[@blank1032]

That last part 💀 I felt that deep inside me w Japanese. When i want to curse it just sounds like a sigh or just too polite

[@pop7058]

I follow you because of your personality. I only speak 3 languages and the reasons I learnt them were and still are outside of my control. I had to leave my country and begin high school in Germany. I like following your content no specially because of the language thematic but because you seem like a genuinely interesting person with a sensible personality and a calm yet decisive way of thinking. You feel like a real human being and not a merely projection. I want to witness your journey, you inspire me. Thank you for taking us along the way.

[@elyssespeaks]

Wow this is easily one of the best comments I've ever gotten!! that's so thoughtful of you, thanks for the support

[@zahiruu3521]

4:26 wow!! Soy de Argentina y hablas súpdr fluido el español, te felicito y te aprecio muchoo 💖

[@elyssespeaks]

Saludos!! 🫂 muchas gracias 💜

[@EscaladaPoliglota]

My second language was Esperanto. Thanks to this language, the world opened up to me: I started to correspond with foreigners, in the time when there was no internet, I traveled around Brazil and Europe without paying for accommodation and it gave me the pleasure of learning other languages.

[@cosmokidd]

A veces siento que no estoy avanzando nada en chino💀gracias elysse por ser una inspiración 🙌

[@nextlifetimebrendan3940]

Lindie es literalmente la reina

[@saorsatk]

Those politeness levels were the very reason why I couldn’t bring myself to learn Japanese for ages. Anyways, I eventually wanted to go and visit Japan and started learning the basics, and I liked the language so much I’m still learning it seven years on. Actually I still do find the politeness levels a bit irksome, doesn’t go well with my worldview, though the pragmatics are not really all that different to tu/vous in French or vos/usted in Spanish

[@DecodingWordswithAndrew]

glad to hear you have an open mind because tastes change over time...I thought for the longest time that I would never touch French yet here I am having studied it for years and loving it! I hope you give Italian another shot, it deserves it! :)

[@reillyswilson]

I'm so excited to see you post! And I wanted to say your hair is looking beautiful

[@elyssespeaks]

Thank you so much!! I'm glad someone's waiting up for me hahaha

[@robertoa.m.3984]

Discovering you're a musician just catapulted you into the spheres for me!...I adore classical music, play the violin and compose.🎉❤😊😅

[@maddanna08]

I feel called out😂 I had Latin as my major in German high school because I just liked it a lot and lots of languages are based on it , for example Italian, Portuguese etc.

[@LenKa5358]

WOW such an honor to appear on your video! 🤌 btw los libros que mencionaste tocan temas muy interesantes, personalmente nunca los he leído pero siempre me han llamado la atención; me gustaría recomendarte uno trata un poco de la historia de México en la época de la conquista, "la ruta de Hernan cortés". Saludos desde México ❤

[@elyssespeaks]

Lo leeré! Lo puse en mi lista. Y por supuesto, tuviste una muy buena pregunta 😁

[@eulalie8806]

thank you for your tips on immersion, I was feeling so lost, ty ;) great content as always♡

[@elyssespeaks]

I’m glad I could help! Sometimes I feel like I’m super repetitive but maybe I phrase it differently enough hahaha. Good luck!

[@miriavtst]

I love Elysse's personality. I am happy that she's back (Brazilian viewer, btw). Do you pretend to visit Brazil in the future?

[@elyssespeaks]

You're so sweet! I'm glad to be back. And I sure hope so, but no solid plans yet hehe

[@CaiqueFerLima]

Oi Miriã!! Só uma dica, pretend não é pretender, é "fingir" kkkkk É um falso cognato!! "to intend" seria o certo

[@miriavtst]

@@CaiqueFerLima ok! obrigada pelo aviso KKKJJKKK

[@kkindzerska]

it was so interesting to hear about your other hobbies!

[@elyssespeaks]

nice to hear, thanks! :D

[@kamroz0502]

Hey Elysse, sorry for the late comment, but honestly i’ve been watching u for the last 3 years and you’ve helped me so much i language learning, i never had interest in language learning but You and the pandemic allowed me to focus on language learning and I focused more on my french and Polish(native) language I have progressed more, I spoke it home but i never really tried to advance my progress but now I read books in polish and watch tv shows

[@elyssespeaks]

a comment is never too late Kamil! i think the pandemic was a language learning miracle for a lot of us 😻 i wish you the best of luck, i’m glad we can progress together :)

[@MarchingBandsFromHome]

Your Spanish is amazing! American growing up speaking Spanish with my mom and family, and no way near to your level. It really matters when you study and use it. 👍🏼

[@jennafloww]

Hi Elyse, Great video! I noticed you dabbled in Italian for a while but in this video ultimately decided not to learn it. Could I ask the reasons you decide not to learn it? I’m learning Mexican Spanish and was thinking of doing Italian also, so it would help me think of whether I should pursue it or not. Love your channel!😊

[@muzziogrey1996]

Gracias por tus vídeos. Quiero tu álbum cuando graves tocando el cello. Muchos tenkius!😁

[@elyssespeaks]

Jajaja algún día! Gracias por el apoyo

[@helenamax7868]

I started following you because I found you and your content very fun and interesting (how long ago, I don't remember). I swear to God that if we went to the same school, we'd be BEST FRIENDS. I'm a language learner, I also used to play cello in high school, I also love trivia and prefer non-fiction over fiction. Girl...every video I watch it gets scarier and scarier. You're awesome (although maybe I'm biased haha)

[@elyssespeaks]

😭 This is so funnyyyy I wish we could've met then! Send me a dm on IG or something let's be friends

[@helenamax7868]

@@elyssespeaks done and done!!!! 😁

[@roukayalimam4163]

Update? Are y’all friends 😭

[@nicovalarte3265]

omg love you French accent! don’t really know if you have one tho, it just sounds so sweet and understandable :)!

[@mirandacolborne8959]

I love the type of books you are interested in!! I study social work (in Canada 🇨🇦🍁) and love learning about Indigenous communities around the world. Also the book you mentioned by Lydia Cacho sounds very interesting. Best wishes from a Canadian polyglot!

[@shaunna7646]

I think one of the reasons why language learners always read Harry Potter is because it is one of the cheapest and most accessible books to buy. I bought the first few books second-hand in German for maybe 3€ each.

[@elyssespeaks]

I should try it! there's a Vox video called "Harry Potter and the Translator's Nightmare" that talks about how difficult it was to translate those books bc of British culture references, made-up words, etc. You should watch it!

[@grafaelmadero6082]

quisiera sonar tan bien en inglés como tú en español

[@andresleon2293]

5:40 yes you are right, at one point in time I didnt want to learn anything else than english, then I also got SOO interested in languages I never imagined I was going to want to learn, like russian or german, or even in languages I hated, such as french and mandarin (I litterally LOVE french now after hating it with all my heart)

[@phgillon2614]

As you are American, I shall mainly converse with you in American/English for this memo to you. Elysse, you indelibly inspired many to learn other languages and to use fun communication! THAT is success in itself! YOU partly inspired me even. NOW... anyone speaking more than one language well enough is more complete as a person as another language opens a different way of acting/thinking/living/solving problems than one. You do speak a few? RESPECT! Even if you continue to speak around up to three of them for fun or to keep it alive in your mind, it is remarkable! And then some... People being polyglots or linguists usually do ONLY that and full time pers se: they do not have a family or/and do not study other courses long time. YOU do study other things so, you have nothing to prove to NO ONE. It is all about BALANCE. I speak English/American too but that is because I spent 12 years plus in the USA & now 20 in the UK. English is cool but now, and I do not speak politically but diplomatically in many ways, because of Trump having been in America four years and many millions of hard Trumpists there still as well as Brexit (athought I dig the latter), English is gonna be replaced in some pourcentage now, within some international deals and commerce by Spanish, Russian, Hindi, French, Portuguese, Russian, Polish and more. Je me trompe rarement dans ces prédictions. Même les langues de la diaspora internationale comme le cantonais et l'hébreu, le grec etc...vont être davantage relancés. While the number of native speakers in the United States is less than that of English speakers, Latin American Spanish is one of the fastest growing languages there: so far, 43,200,000 native speakers and more than 12 millions bilingual, in the country. SO YOU speaking more than one language anyway, however many you wanna keep speaking, is an amazing success already! De todos modos estoy refrescando mi español mexicano (y algo de costarricense) este año; Estoy aprendiendo español mexicano (más algo de costarricense) y lo encuentro muy colorido para expresar emociones y sentimientos, además son más lentos y suaves para hablar que el español europeo, que puede ser una velocidad y pronunciación abrumadoras. Je commence aussi l'hébreu car ses sons sont holistiquement puissants pour écraser le stress et adorer certains de ses aspects culturels et historiques. Anyway, I have a family, a career and more, so I do not plan to learn many languages: to speak up to three or four, well enough, is already a milestone.. SO, be proud of what you achieved and go for your studies now: then, whatever languages you wanna keep and love, will show itself. You do not need to speak many per se... Dis moi bonjour si tu veux; tu peux consulter mon humble petite bio sur ma chaîne KZbin : je suis altruiste dans l'esprit mais surtout visionnaire comme un voyant et je peux te dire : tu peux être fière! Tu as honoré qui tu es en ayant inspiré de nombreuses personnes à découvrir des cultures en apprenant des langues. TU dois maintenant prendre soin de toi et simplement être. Bravo!

[@robertoa.m.3984]

I agree...... except for the Trump part: if America wishes to survive it should reelect Trump.

[@iRosati]

omg classical music nut! I got into opera last year and I love it

[@elyssespeaks]

Opera is a different kind of love. My favorite is Aida I think!

[@avzarathustra6164]

exactly those two are what i think of, exactly

[@amromahir1497]

Hey, about the reading, I would argue that's it's also a major part of communication because texting is a major form communication. What do you think?

[@elyssespeaks]

Ehh maybe major but not necessary. I don’t fumble through a conversation just because I don’t read

[@amromahir1497]

@@elyssespeaks I find that texting helps me a lot. However I did just realize that I learn different types of languages. My first language was chinese, I think reading is too important to skip out on imo

[@renzgonzalez]

Thank you for this video

[@elyssespeaks]

You're so welcome!!!

[@SparklesNJazz]

omg i’ve never found another person who doesn’t love fiction. is there some correlation between loving non-fiction and wanting to learn languages ???? there’s just something more interesting about knowing what’s real and out there existing in the world… like there’s so much knowledge, why waste brain space on the fictional? LOL

[@elyssespeaks]

HAHA this is what i think, i just don’t want people to think i’m bashing their tastes 😅 i feel like i’ve gained access to so much more interesting stuff around the world because i’ve been exposed to it through language learning, i feel like i’m honoring it somehow!

[@AJIN0071981]

Good to know that you are wizard... You are proficient in so many fields and it is good. Congrats...

[@elyssespeaks]

A wizard 🤔 highest compliment!! I promise i am a normal human bwahaha

[@Lijoje]

Boah, Respekt! Die Bücher, die du liest, sind großartig. Ich würde diese Liste ergänzen: „Mexico Profundo“ von Guillermo Buenfil Batalla. Tienes otro suscriptor!

[@munizmateus2549]

Hi Elysse 😊 have a great day

[@leahfriedman3381]

Welcome 🙏

[@leahfriedman3381]

Thanks ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

[@johnnoon9999]

Yooo I was wondering why I relate to the way you speak and then you mentioned youre from Florida (like me)! Well your accent and expressions sound alot like my sister actually. Not as much like me cause I sound a good bit more country. lol

[@elyssespeaks]

Florida for lyfeeeee 😹 and hey are you from the panhandle then?

[@johnnoon9999]

@@elyssespeaks Totally Floridas great. Im from central florida, but we're pretty authentic florida southerners there outside of disney world area, or parts of the cities. I dont meet alot of fellow floridian polyglots. great to find your channel yesterday

[@robertoa.m.3984]

Para Marcelo: toma dos años aprender suficiente alemán para acceder a la U. Aparte haces un año de nivelación académica, simultáneamente al 2o año del idioma. Es factible y vale la pena, pork la educación superior en Alemania es de gran calidad. Así k: adelante!!

[@mishapsmakemagic]

I've been learning Korean on and off, and yes the politeness levels suck, probably one of my least favorite parts of the language. But at least there aren't very many conjugations!

[@TWForeeever]

Lmao “God, probably”. I also love that you’re really into trivia! I’m not, but that’s definitely not a hobby that many people have or talk about

[@robertoa.m.3984]

You'll love Berlin! The greatest City in the world!

[@aucanahuelloscalzo7476]

wow no puedo creer que hayas leido "Las venas abiertas de América Latina", de Eduardo Galeano. Antes me caías super bien, ahora creo que te amo🧡 jajajajja

[@elyssespeaks]

Todavía no lo he acabado! Me cuesta poder leer todo 🥲 tanta lectura para mi uni

[@alberthenrique3175]

Time Brasil !! :D

[@AndresMartinez-iv3lz]

Nice video

[@elyssespeaks]

Glad you enjoyed it!! cute cat :D

[@ChrisJohnsonChannel]

日本語は習得が難しいですが、できます I know, the languages you lean are going to to be Latin American and European languages unless your moving to an Asian county you’re not going to be conversing with people from that part of the world. Like I live in Texas so yo estudio Español más o menos …no idioma japonés..

[@elyssespeaks]

Makes sense makes sense

[@guyWhoLivesOnQuindecim]

I have attempted learning Mandarin and didn't like my teacher at all. Personally, I wouldn't learn Mandarin again. Also, I would never learn Arabic, Japanese, or Korean. They are very hard languages and I have respect for people who are learning or are fluent in those languages.

[@latifahmack8300]

wow, soy de España y si no supiese de donde eres, hubiese pensando que eras latina

[@elyssespeaks]

Jajaja cool! Gracias, probablemente también porque diría "supiera" en vez de "supiese"jejeje

[@leuris_khan2]

Do you have a list of languages that you want to learn??

[@elyssespeaks]

Not a concrete one, no!

[@robertoa.m.3984]

If I'm wrong I apologize.😮😊😅

[@camille517]

Do you ever plan to learn Sign Language ASL or another one btw...?

[@elyssespeaks]

I do know ASL! I took all of the classes at my uni, i haven’t practiced in a long time but i was at an advanced level before i stopped

[@camille517]

@@elyssespeaks wow you are very impressive indeed

[@Simon-ku5fp]

Estos videos siempre son una dosis de motivación. Saludos desde Colombia! Sabes de alguna comunidad interesante de estudiantes de alemán? Personas en redes sociales que se puedan seguir? Gracias

[@elyssespeaks]

Que bueno! Gracias por verlo. Y no sé realmente, puedes checar a quien sigo en mi cuenta de IG @elyssespeaks. Sigo muchas cuentas relacionadas al idioma

[@floraacastro]

you should come to brazil (a piadinha é válida aqui)

[@elyssespeaks]

é mesmo

[@anavm1776]

You sound so Mexican! Greetings from Spain

[@elyssespeaks]

😹 Nice!! That’s the intent. Thanks for watching ~

[@robertoa.m.3984]

Latín and Greek are extremely important as they are the root languages and CULTURES. I take it you don't care much for History?.......whether you like it or not:...es determinante y no te puedes escapar. No se puede vivir solo en el presente e ignorar el pasado.

[@sora1498]

you can still learn languages without speaking latin tho... so tbh the history doesnt really matter unless you are learning languages SPECIFICALLY for the history not just interest in the culture of that specific language.

[@JuanCarlos-ez5yn]

Blessimgs

[@Deluciano]

What do you mean Japanese and Korean have intense politeness? I’m curious

[@elyssespeaks]

Good Q! Within the lang community I assume it's more common knowledge but I forgot to explain. It just means that the verb changes depending on the level of respect you need when talking to a person, like a work superior, and elder, vs. talking to a child, someone your age that you just met, etc. It's super confusing to me!

[@Deluciano]

@@elyssespeaks Ight bet

[@dario6749]

"BECAUSE I LIVE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE" hahahahahahaha excellent answer.

[@purple.9919]

Right!?

[@RemyZombie]

I'm Brazilian and I consider English easier to learn than Spanish.

[@rakanalagili1608]

why wouldn’t you learn Arabic? Not a hate comment just curious:)

[@elyssespeaks]

I dunno, I guess the script is really intimidating + I have a sister who's fluent in it and if I can't be better then her then I refuse to try 😂

[@paulanerruhrpott6188]

Why not Italian? If you already speak spanish it will be easy for you.

[@elyssespeaks]

Thats exactly why I didn’t want to learn it. It’s boring when it’s that similar to something you already know

[@user-fh1iw3yt7v]

i love your neckless

[@stevenpeterson7146]

Do you speak Irish?

[@elyssespeaks]

I do not speak Irish Gaelic!

[@dharmadefender3932]

So what languages ARE you interested in? You basically said you're not interested in most of languages in the world that most people speak. So I don't know what you're learning then.

[@elyssespeaks]

I literally said it in the video, Georgian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Nahuatl. Maybe you're just frustrated I'm not going for mainstream languages as much as I used to? Lol

[@dharmadefender3932]

@@elyssespeaks No. Not really. I watched the video. But I wasn't watching carefully.

[@JuanCarlos-ez5yn]

You are so cute ... Du bist sehr schön Liebe dich ... Kiss ... Hermosa como la rosa

[@thoru4367]

Gosh, you're like learning the easiest languages on earth and show off

[@elyssespeaks]

i never claimed i'm a legend LOL if you feel that way it's probably more of a reflection of your feelings of your own language progress.. people have decided by themselves that they like my videos. obviously you don't so just go somewhere else lmfao no one's forcing u to watch me

[@mazenhossam3698]

do you not prefer to learn arabic as you are Jewish or for another reason ?

[@elyssespeaks]

Why would you say that? That’s the dumbest comment I’ve ever seen. Don’t make dumb assumptions about me based on stereotypes. Don’t want to see you on my channel again

[@elyssespeaks]

You should be ashamed of yourself

[@merial7]

Even if it was the case, why Arabic? It shouldn't be hebrew or Yiddish? I found both beatiful languages, however she is free to choose whatever she learn. I'm brazilian, and with greek and indigeneous ancestors, however I'm learnig greek and Tupi-guarani, just to know more about the cultures, bc I choose to!

[@zolyguy]

“Because I live in the Western Hemisphere.” That’s a bottom tier take. If you just don’t want the challenge of more complex non indo European languages, or don’t have whatever interest in learning them right now. But you said it yourself, you lived in FL and had plenty of Spanish and Portuguese speakers around, There are plenty of speakers of Asian or African languages too. Anyways it’s weird why you gave that response anyway because you contradicted yourself a few seconds later describing other languages you learn. But “it’s because I live in the Western Hemisphere?” Drop that excuse, never say it again. There’s plenty of immigrants around you, as you already know.

[@elyssespeaks]

Great you have an opinion I have mine 🤣🤣🤣 idc

[@zolyguy]

@@elyssespeaks not so much of an “opinion”, just pointing out how the “Western Hemisphere” explanation was contradictory

[@sora1498]

did u actually listen to a word they said?