Ojalá by Silvio Rodriguez – Lyrics in Spanish and in English

The Internet is mean! Wahhhhh… (photo: )

Every time I stumble across a “Tim Ferriss claims to speak…” post regarding Spanish, Japanese, or whatnot, an orphaned kitten loses a small part of its soul. And then I cry.

Granted, I’m no master hyperpolyglot, but on my best days, I can speak five languages to differing degrees:

– English (unless I’ve had too much wine) – German – Spanish – Mandarin Chinese – Japanese

Below are videos of me speaking each.

German is the language I forget the fastest, which I believe is due to articles and noun cases. Japanese is what I retain best without practice, thanks to length of immersion and a nasty manga habit (e.g. One Piece, Rokudenashi Blues). Spanish is what I use most, and I think it’s improved dramatically since the below video from several years ago.

There are other languages I really enjoy studying. Sadly, I sound like when I speak these: Italian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic (aiming for Levantine), Greek, Turkish, and Norwegian. The last is hardest to learn, as they all speak flawless English.

Forthwith, assorted vintage Tim…

English:

German (for Amazon.de ages ago):

Spanish (For the Spanish publisher of ):

Mandarin Chinese (Dinner placemat doodle; with Kevin Rose, filmed in Beijing):

Practicing Chinese characters during dinner after a long lay-off. Smatterings of Japanese.

from on .

Japanese (Trial by Fire TV pilot from History Channel):

from on .

Watch , the new #1-rated TV show with "the world's best human guinea pig" (Newsweek), Tim Ferriss. It's Mythbusters meets Jackass. Shot and edited by the Emmy-award winning team behind Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and Parts Unknown. .