And what about other languages???

Runes, are thecharacters in the ancient alphabet used by actually.....Germanic people. The greatest concentrations of theRunic inscriptions are in England and Scandinavia. It is believed that runes are derived from a northern Etruscan alphabet used among Italic tribes in the Eastern Alps.

A form of runes was used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages as an alternative to the Latin alphabet used by the clergy, and runes survived in occasional use in rural Sweden at least until the 17th century. Runes were also used to augment the Latin alphabet for certain sounds, used in Anglo-Saxon England and modern Iceland.

I'm glad you've done your homework...... :-)

Interesting thing, these runes.BUT please ,Odin, don't sound so condescending , I know you're a god , even an important one;)but have some mercy for the readers...RitaSkita doesn't have to do any homework after a history of arts.

Apparently it worked out well for her and everyone interested because her second post regarding this topic was much more accurate and informative than the first one.

Besides - I put the smiley at the end, didn't I?

Also, don't you know that we gods tend to come as condescending but that is not our true intention; it's rather a consequence of our divine omnipotence.

:-) :-) :-)

Most of our knowledge about runes is, in fact, dervied from Celtic culture. But it seems that each of us was right in a way...

I can agree with the fact that nowadays one foreign language isn't enough. Most people learn two languages...even at school, usually English and German. I've been learning English for a long time but now I want to learn some others. That's why I started learnind German last weekend. I found some radio lessons on the internet. Besides, when I know German grammar a bit I'll start learning Italian because I'm fascinated with Italy and with that language. I think I'll know the basic rules of German until the end of this year. So I hope I'll start learning Italian in January. However, I still learn English, after a long break... I want to improve my vocabulary, that's what I need most. And of course I'm going to pass certificates. Can someone tell me how much time he needed to learn the basic grammar and vocabulary in the foreign language?? No matter which language...I'm just curious.

A real god answered my post...I'm impressed:)

I don`t think that 2 or 3 months are enought to learn the basic grammar and vocabulary. True, there are people who are very talented and can do it faster. I decided to practise the two languages I learn and after I am somewhere about proficienty level I am going to take up a third language. I can`t understand only why almost everyone of my friend hate German... Maybe I am the reason, because I like this language?

Me alegra saber que a alguien de Polonia le gusta el espańol.

me alegra saber que alguien en Polonia considera el español su lengua favorita.

I think knowing english is essential, unless you know a language like greek, finnish or sth. By this unempoyment, which we have in Poland, you have to know at least two foreign languages (one - adv and one at least int). Almost everyone after high school knows english, so to have a chance for a job u have to be better then "everyone". In other way u can learn a not well-known language and look for chance at this field (it's directly from polish, but hope u know what it means:)). I'm learning english n' german. For my escape language I choose spanish...why? 'Cause primo it's easy, secundo it's 4th mostly widespread lang in the world (after en, chin, hindu). Because of NAFTA, which should absorb all the latin america, I think that theese countries' economies will rise in power and then perhaps invest in Poland. Other good way should be chineese. China's economy will surely expand on the hole world in the upcomming years. Russian...I don't know....I don't trust putin, so I can't realise what the condition will be there in the future. The thing with the scandinavian lang-s is so difficult that there are 5 countries and they aren't as big that learning their lang should give a good result.

Hello there, I have been learning Russian language for 9 years and I have got to admit that it is pretty funny language. For some people maybe boring and, what is more, loads of people associate it with KGB and other horrible stuff. For me it is a big challenge to study these confusing and complicated grammar structures, voca etc On the other hand, plenty of words sound familiar(Polish language?) Anyway, I recommend it for people with nerves-of-steel and pretty stubborn since some of the phrases are bizarre;)

I couldn't agree more - English is not enough. In contemporary world making career simply makes us to learn know other languages. Partly, the only one to blame is English itself, as it has become one of the most widely-spread languages it's nothing special to know so we must look for other ways. Personally, I learn English - next year I am going to pass CAE exam, German - I am anxious to pass ZD next year an recently I have taken up French as it has always been my greatest dream to learn this language:) Further plans include also Italian and Spanish, but I guess it'll take time to get things started. Talking about Russian - my mom, who used to be a teacher of this language says i don't feel it;p this declination of everything what's possible just scares me:) And Latin.... it's beautiful and it doesn't matter it's dead language - it helps to understand the culture we grown in and i'm starting it this year - it's compulsory in my school:P kisses :*

Hey, of course there is no career without English, but on the other hand not everyone has to know or use it everyday. I mean, it looks nice in your CV but what does a simple plumber or carpenter need it for? The chances of using it are really small on regular basis..

As far as I am concerned, I decided to take up second studies and starting from the new academic year I'll be studying Latin+Greek+Italian, adding to English which I study now, and to German, Spanish and Gaelic I've been learning for some time for my own satisfaction. I don't feel I will be using these languages every day, but I just have too much free time:p Now, seriously, it's my passion (probably except for German - I've been learning for like 5 years and know nothing, although I strongly desire to pass successfully ZMP next year) :)

Now, I know many people who spend their holidays somewhere in GB although they know squat about the language and culture. They would insist that they can do without knowledge of a language, because they work mainly either with other people of similar level of English or alone. After some time there (e.g. a month) they seem to have forgotten what they had come there for and are quite happy. What did they come to England? To brush up their language..but even after 3 months spent in this way, they still cannot communicate without using their hands..

To Kachna: I have just started learning Latin (on my own) and I found it so similar to Spanish and so .. original that I feel I just love it despite the fact that many many people are trying to discourage me from learning. But while learning Latin I get to know so much about ancient times and modern languages (obviously I am talking about languages based on Latin) that I am glad that I decided to study it simultaneously with English:)

I have learnt russian (5 years), french (4 years), spanish (1 year) and english (12 years). I can communicate (more o less) in those languages. I wanted to go to work in Great Britain, but it turned out that there's a little chance of getting job there even with professional english. Why? Because all I can do is speaking english! Each and every child in GB, each drunkard or homeless knows english at least twice better than I do! So why the hell should anybody want to hire me? I can do nothing - I can't cook, heal, sell nor even pour beer! That's why I think it is better to be a mechanic or a bus driver without knowing languages than an educated polyglot. Knowing languages means nothing! After 12 years of learning english it turned out that I have less chance of getting job than my friend - a cook, who cannot say a word in english. It's not fair!

Dishwasher I agree with you it isn't fair but you can do nothing