If you could choose 3 foreign languages to understand books in, what would you choose?
>Russian
>Italian
>French
Also, what translation of a book exceeds the original?
If it was reading only, I would go
>russian
>german
>french
but if the power involved speech I would go
>spanish
>russian
>french
because spanish is much more useful to speak than german
>>7917083
Ancient Greek, Arabic and Russian.
And I think Nabokov's translation of Lolita into Russian is superior to his English original, the first paragraph notwithstanding. That is kind of like cheating I admit, but the question is a bit absurd.
Latin, french, german.
>>7917083
>Also, what translation of a book exceeds the original?
probably any ancient greek translation. the original text, if translated directly, would read something like
>if it were, then it would be. such that it would be, it is. but for this, it must be. if that were true, it would never be.
the original writings require a very high contextual knowledge of the specific subjects to be able to make any sense of it.
y'all non french speakers should just accept The absolute superiority of this language, and go:
>French
>French
>French
>>7917122
I'm sorry, the only words I know in french are "I, Surrender"
>>7917122
the only reason i chose french is because im canadian and it would be an asset, plus the few french philosophers like rousseau
>>7917122
Espece de phantome, va te debrouiller dans les champs des autres phantomes, ou decoulent les visages rances du 20ieme siecle, donnant sens au peurs des ennemis de voltaire, le chien rabattu.
Gaelic, Assyrian, Klingon
>>7917127
Maybe you should leanr "critique laguage for The developement of all kinds of literature"
>>7917138
>Few french philosopher
You're just showing how limited is your knwonledge, or how you just don't give a fuck about relevant philosophie and literature
>>7917155
non vous chatte!
>>7917161
Name 5 French Philosophers who aren't Rousseau, Voltaire, or Diderot.
>>7917171
Abelard, Descartes, Malebranche, Comte, Bergson
>>7917171
camus, descartes, nietzche, sartre
>>7917101
you're a fat, disgusting, pathetic faggot and one day youll choke on your own vomit
>>7917185
>Nietzsche
>French
Okay.
>>7917171
René Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, Auguste Comte, Henri Poincaré, Pierre Duhem.
But you're right: in general, the French really do suck at philosophy.
>>7917190
nietzche, aristotle, flaubert, da vinci
>>7917127
Nice xD
>>7917203
sartre, rodger, klebold, harris
>>7917164
Pussy no you
>>7917213
no u!
latin
german
r'lyehian
>>7917083
Easy. German, French and Spanish. The objectively right answer.
>>7917223
haha epic mate
>>7917171
Men, you got distroyed, and not to forget that I mentioned relevance in philosophy and literature, do I have to tell how signifcant was "Le siecle des Lumieres", how did he made evolve The world itself? And, dont make me start in The influence of general french literature, considering that besides "Il Renacimiento", France is The center of The general european, and later on, global culture
>>7917238
why dont you get your girlfriends hairy armpit out of your mouth and learn fucking english before you post on an english imageboard you retarded surrender monkey faggot
>>7917227
Honestly, I think it would be more like
>Ancient Greco
>German
>French
>Italian
>Latin
You will maybe tell that those aren't 3 laguages, i'll just say you can't make some decitions
already speak English and Spanish fluently, which would be my top 2 choices anyway. past that...
>French
>German
>Chinese (Mandarin)
>>7917238
You still haven't proven that French is superior. It is my opinion that German philosophy is and always will be superior to French. English and German philosophy crushes French philosophy. If I need to prove this. Nietzsche, Marx, Wittgenstein, Kant, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Stirner.
>>7917255
>Chinese (Cantonese)
>>7917251
Lel, I' from spain men, but why don't calm down and surender to my trilengual culture, you ignorant deepshit?
>>7917083
1. Austrian.
2. Russian.
3. Thai.
>>7917255
>Chinese (Traditional)
>>7917083
german + ancient greek and idgaf about the third
already have english and french
>>7917264
Addendum:
>Also, what translation of a book exceeds the original?
I suppose Hobbes translation of Thucydides.
>>7917264
>Thai
thats a weird one. why?
>>7917258
I think is pretty obvious that when I mentioned absolute superiority, I was being ironic, and i'm pretty sure you get that. So let's talk about what my real theses are:
French culture is The most relevant, in therms of literature and philosophie.
Besides that, I recognize The superiority of german philosophie, as well as The superiority of English poetry
>>7917277
would you rather get into a bathtub full of rotting dead rats or a sick persons snot
>>7917258
Nice "proof": you just cited names... To be fair though, so did the French enthusiasts.
>>7917280
>The superiority of English poetry
Disgraceful.
>>7917280
French culture is not the most relevant in terms of literature and philosophy. If we want to speak of relevancy then English authors are the most relevant in literature and Greek philosophy being the most relevant in philosophy.
>>7917284
I think that he's right, thoses names dont came by The own, they're charged with a significant number of great thoughts
>>7917278
Simply my current focus of cultural fascination. Causes are varied, a touch of Somerset Maugham's writings, my need to write what was once known as a "geographic novel" ... the reasons are many.
>>7917258
Here's a better list for Germanophone philosophy:
Leibniz, Kant, Schopenhauer, Frege, Brentano, Mach, Wittgenstein, Popper, Carnap, Hempel, Feyerabend, Cassirer, Reichenbach, Feigl, Schlick, Neurath.
>>7917286
Prove that wrong
>>7917284
Looks to be an airtight proof to me, though you do have to read said thinkers to get it.
>>7917291
Okay, I'll recognize that greek philosophy is most relevant, you can be right, even of it's not that clear.
But i'm sorry you may be thinking that English authors are The most relevant in literature for your English educación, but that can't be true, french authors created and domined by far a larger amount of literal mouvents, that we're of a munch greater relevancr than The rest of european ones
>>7917319
would you rather get into a bathtub full of rotting dead rats or a sick persons snot
>>7917319
I can say that English authors are most relevant based on fact. The best selling books around the world are written by English and/or American authors making them most relevant.
>>7917300
>who are baudelaire, appolinaire, hugo, gautier, verlaine, villon....
>what is the Ditie de Jehanne d'Arc
D'eux deux il en fut ainsi
Comme il en est du chèvrefeuille
Qui au coudrier se prend:
Quand il s'est enlacé et pris
Et tout autour du fût s'est mis,
Ensemble ils peuvent bien durer;
Qui les veut ensuite désunir
Fait tôt le coudrier mourir
Et le chèvrefeuille avec lui.
- Belle amie, ainsi est de nous:
Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous.
>>7917331
>what is the bible
>>7917331
Kek
Literal refering on best seller in /lit/
Men, by that order of thoughs, Paolo Coehllo is The most relevant philosopher, let me tell you something, that doesn't work like that, The most relevant books are not The best selled, The most relevant books are The books that supose a change for The literature of theres contemporanies, and in this case, those books are clairly french books
Is this a thinly veiled "what language should I learn, guys?" thread? OP, are you counting people's first picks to decide what to learn?
>>7917296
All that faggotry and no Fichte
>>7917335
Yes, I can agree with you, there is very interesting poetry in french, but you have to consider that The English is a very rítmical language, and that he has a longuer tradition with The poetry
>>7917346
Well we are discussing relevance in literature not relevance to this site.
>>7917357
Yes, I know, did you read The entire post? Or you're just ignoring The fact that I prove my argument right? So, unless you have somthig else to say, I'll just hace to consider that you adnited it right
Honestly thee ntsdccfnrf.Namibian ymjt
>>7917366
At all, again, did you read my whole post, I made thw point that Relevancr is not related to The numbers of copies sold, and theres is a quick way to prove that, best-selling books from 100 years ago, dont mean shit today, only The books with a significant contento still meaning something 100 years later, and i'm sure it's pretty sure to say that that is a better marker of relevance that The simple nombre of copies sold,
>>7917385
Your point that relevance is not a matter of number of copies sold and distribution of works is not then relevance but a matter of personal opinion.
>>7917366
It's normal to not accept a these agaisnt your own arguments, but you're just playing retarded here
>>7917393
Well, so did ancient greek sold more copies than John Green?
Is it not more relevant so?
>>7917393
Relevance is a matter of The influence The books created in it's time, The progress it supossed, not beacause something is not counted in numbers directly means it's a matter of personal opinion
>>7917385
Many of the books on certain best seller lists are there because they are, in fact, relevant. They continue to be. Catcher in the Rye, Books by JRR Tolkien, Charles Dickens, The Da Vinci Code, Harry Potter, And Then There Were None. All relevant. You can't refute that these are relevant if in fact they are relevant and hold a place in literature in popularity. I don't really like any of these books listed but they are more relevant than most other books.
>>7917400
John Green is not as relevant because it is not as known. John Green is not as known as the Greeks. If he sold more books or not is not then relevant because more people know of the Greeks. Which stands to aid my other argument. Just because the book is a best seller does not mean it has to be relevant but more people around the world will know the name of Plato,Charles Dickens, or JRR Tolkien than the name of Voltaire, Descartes, Abelard, or even Camus. What you are arguing isn't relevancy. You're arguing not for popularity and relevance but for depth and I am having trouble finding a word but knowledge or intelligence might fit.
Arabic, Ancient Greek, and German.
In terms of practicality: French, Russian, and German
Or if I'm dreaming: ancient Greek, Latin, and biblical Hebrew
>>7917413
You just showed that Harry Potter is in you're poor definition of relevancy greatet than Zola, and you know what that shows? That those are you're last words, you dont have any left to say
>>7917413
Why would you even care to discuss The relevance then, if it's a factor with none importance, you just admited that English literature just can sell more, and french one is superior, you just showed my initial point, not to forget that you were holding on to a poor definition of relevance
>>7917431
"your poor definition" you mean the actual definition of the word relevant? Zola is not as relevant as Harry Potter in terms of literature because most people don't know what Zola is but you mention the name Harry Potter and the majority of the people will know who that is. You do know what relevant means right? Emile Zola is relevant to French Literature but Harry Potter is more relevant to literature as a whole. I'm not arguing that Harry Potter is a good book I'm arguing that Harry Potter is more relevant if we go by what relevant means and not what we say it means.
>>7917413
If you have something of substance to say, wich I dumbt, please, make it quick, I'm beggining to feel that these is a total waste of time, i'm not here to discuss The popularity of Harry Potter vs The Greeks
>>7917441
Stop saying poor definition because it is THE definition. I think you forgot what we were originally arguing because we are arguing RELEVANCY. I challenged your argument of RELEVANCY not superiority.
>>7917443
You spoke a lot of philosophie to ignore he fact that any discution is made in The therms that every one determined, and not in The therms that dictates The dictionary, so, yes, your poor definition, you can hold on to that, or you can discuss interesantes matters
>>7917447
You should have been more clear on your initial statement by saying French culture is superior not French culture is more relevant.
>>7917453
Look, You used the poor definition of relevant. You did not make it clear that you meant superior as opposed to relevant. If we are discussing superior cultures then culture superiority is a matter of subjective thought. One culture cannot be objectively superior to another in any literary sense because these are opinions not laid in fact.
>>7917462
You used the word "relevant" when you meant "superior" and you won't accept the fact that you used the wrong terminology.
>>7917460
Cultures in fact are a matter of personal opinión, cause you can't make any clear and excat frotier between diferents cultures, a discution is a matter of personal opinión beacause you can't discuss The facts, beacause, they're facts
>>7917463
Well, you wot accept The fact that here we are not discussing wich one is more inteligente, or argue better, but you're just someone with those preocupations in your head, wich make it just ininterestign to discuss with
>>7917469
We were discussing relevancy and I proved my point of English literature being more relevant than French literature by definition and you said that French literature is superior which is an opinion. A fact is a fact and its a fact that more people today know of Harry Potter than Zola. That is a solid concrete fact. Whether or not Zola is superior to Harry Potter is a matter of opinion.
>>7917475
>>7917469
In terms of relevancy to Literature, Harry Potter would be more relevant.
In terms of relevancy to Superior Literature most would not argue that Zola's works are superior to Harry Potter and I say this with hope and not fact because I would hope people wouldn't say Harry Potter is better than Zola but an entire generation might argue Harry Potter is better.
>>7917477
Is this what you want?
Well, lets not forget that a word has more than just one definition, a let's enjoy how my definition happens to be as right, and munch more interesant in this subject than your's, beacause let me teach you, your arguments about Harry Potter lead to nowhere, so, men if yoy could fucking stop saying stupid ahora, i'm sure that would leave my concience sleeo this night
Thanks
Next time you bring an actual definition to a discution, rembember to consider how many definition it can have, an how común laguage people speaks is natural connected to a lot of analogic figures, and not so munch to a literal-dictonary definition, and that you should be inteligent enough to understand that all
Nos
Shhhhhh
Russian
Japanese
French
I already speak German though.
>>7917503
So, what are you doing this fryday?
Are you free?
>>7917083
>Latin
>Russian
>German
>>7917500
Well lets be honest. Arguing any of this will lead to no where no matter what we argue and my argument on relevancy was about literature as a whole and as a matter of fact Harry Potter is connected with the matter in hand and much more pertinent to literature than Zola is because it helps my argument along that English literature is more relevant than French literature. So I guess you could say Harry Potter is relevant to my argument on the relevancy of English literature.
You're combining both definition, you're saying that Harry Potter is pertinent to how pertinent is The English literature, literally
>>7917512
Sorry, I distroyed you, like, in a anal way, you can cry, you can apply water, but i'm sure you'll never by The same
Nahuatl
Welsh
Mongolian
>>7917537
Are you still on this? You're so biased towards the French, its visible. Whatever makes you feel secure. And before you accuse me of bias know that I prefer French literature to English literature but it is in no way more relevant than English literature.
>>7917280
>The superiority of English poetry
>
I'd pick Japanese, Arabic and Spanish.
thai
welsh
greek
is the right answer
>>7918209
switch welsh with swahili and its golden
Hello everybody! I'm Ivan from Russia and wanna tell you what, you're obliged to learn Russian in order to understand why lots of Russians deem English to be primitive. And if you give it a try you'll see that there is no anything that would resemble you that strict word order of English or absence of diminutives of adjectives. On the contrary, you'll see why americans are so fat and disgusting and perhaps even get reborn by reading in Russian which of course leads you to getting smart PERIOD.
>>7918209
Why thai?
My list:
Cantonese
Ancient Greek
Russian
I already have English, French and Japanese
Gaeilge and Latin would be a close 4th
french
latin
german
>English
..........................................just(
I speak German and English, I'd like Russian, French and Spanish in addition.
Latin
Greek
then either French or Spanish
I've got a question for native english speakers, why do you speak in such a primitive language? Answer fuckers
>>7918270
We evolved this language in thousands of years for optimal meme adaptivity. Memes are the source of all that is positive in the English world. It is the meme that gives the English its essence and structure. Without meme there can be only adjective diminutives and darkness.
>>7917083
>american
>mexican
>anyother
>>7918280
>Without meme there can be only adjective diminutives and darkness.
kek'd, i almost choked on my coffee
>>7917083
Japanese
French
Russian, Czech or Hungarian for my third answer
>>7917083
Latin
Russian
Chinese
If I were fluent in these, I think I would be able to easily (easier at least) learn all the rest I am interested in.
>>7918304
fallacy
>>7917083
chinese french russian
German
Ancient Greek
French
>>7917083
>French
>Polish
>Japanese
I've heard that 100 Years of Solitude exceeds the original. I can read and speak Spanish but I don't have a firm enough grasp of the culture argue otherwise.
>>7918315
Are you saying that if I knew Russian I wouldn't be able to learn Hungarian easier than if I only knew English?
>>7918368
totally different languages
>>7918369
Where are you from? Is Arabic hard to learn?
bump for comfy thread
>>7918408
Not him but Arabic is difficult to learn for a native English speaker. New alphabet, different language family, and an unfamiliar system of pronunciation makes Arabic difficult.
>>7917083
Spanish for Borge, Japanese for Project Itoh and that sci-fi stuff done by some japanese princess back in the 60s, and chinese so I'm ahead of the curve.
>>7918368
>would knowing a Uralic language help me learn a Slavic language
>>7917122
I suspect French literature is overrated, simply because the english language fans of french literature tend to also like the modernists, which are trash.
>>7918619
it's like would studying Chinese help me learn German?
>>7918624
The english fans and their crappy translations in a already shit language are sure a plague.
But French literature is still the best, as long as you don't give to much of an importance to rubbish such as Camus and so on..
>>7918647
what's wrong with your articles, plonker? seems to be too hard for ya
>>7917097
Agreed for the reading part. German gives you access not only to loads of great literature, but numerous based philosophers.
>>7918676
fuck your philosophers, what about gospel? have you ever read it? there's truth in there
>>7917083
>russian
>french
>german for dat goethe and kafka
I'm curious, why nobody mentions Japanese? It has definitely a plenty of good literature as well as original chan for that matter.
>>7918408
Palestinian. Yeah, it's difficult even for some Arabs - especially because of the reasons >>7918590 mentioned. The grammar rules are unfamiliar and complex too. And the language we speak daily is drastically different from the "formal" Arabic language so even if someone studied Arabic, it would be very hard for them to understand a native.
>>7918864
Wow, that's cool. Have you ever stabbed a Jew?
>>7917083
Russian
German
Latin
>>7918738
Japan does have great literature. That's part of the reason I'm learning it. It's also an incredibly aesthetic language.
That being said, I'm terrible at it right now.
まいにちしごとにいきますがねむいですからあしたいきません。
>>7918864
Hey, it's nice knowing I'm not the only Palestinian not floating about on /int/. As for Arabic literature, yes, the scene is very much dead. I do wonder if there is potential for poetry still, my friend published a volume of his work back in early August and he is quite content with his five seconds of fame.
>>7917083
German, Latin and something else, something old texts are written in
>>7917083
>Russian
>French
>German
This is the only correct answer.
>>7917083
I already read in French in addition to English so
>Russian
>Spanish
>Norwegian
