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Anyone here ever learned a category IV or V language?

Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:44 am
Posted by Ingeniero
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2013
22740 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:44 am


quote:

Category IV – Students usually need around 44 weeks or 1100 class hours to reach S-3/R-3. This is the largest group and contains a wide variety of languages, including Russian, Hindi, Tamil, Thai, Vietnamese, Turkish, Finnish and many more. They are described as “hard languages”.

Category V – It usually takes 88 weeks or 2200 hours to reach S-3/R-3 proficiency in these languages. This small group of “super-hard languages” includes Chinese (Mandarin), Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic.
Posted by TygerLyfe
Member since May 2023
3649 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:54 am to
Yeah.....
Posted by TheIndulger
Member since Sep 2011
19380 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:55 am to
One of my buddies learned Korean in the military. It was great traveling to Seoul with him and seeing the surprised look on the old ladies faces when this white dude started speaking fluent Korean
Posted by T1gerNate
Member since Feb 2020
3026 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:55 am to
I studied mandarin pretty hard for awhile and got to where I was at like a first or second grade reading level and could carry on a very basic conversation. But I realized as I was studying it that soon computers and phones and AI would be able to do real time translations and learning languages was going to become pointless so I gave it up and now forgot almost all of it except like Ni Hao and and shite like that. I will say this though mandarin is a very fun and rewarding language to learn and nerd out on if you’re into that kind of thing.
This post was edited on 3/27/26 at 11:56 am
Posted by Recognizable Poster
United States of America
Member since Mar 2026
70 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:56 am to
I'm fluent in a Category IV language...

Edited to add: I'm also fluent enough in the so-called Category I language of Spanish to survive here in the Great State of Texas...

I enjoy fricking with Spanish speakers when they say some stupid shite around me thinking I'm just a regular gringo who no hablo - they start acting right real quickfast when they realize yo hablo...

I guess that makes me trilingual. Cool story bro Young Recognizable Poster.
This post was edited on 3/27/26 at 6:02 pm
Posted by SallysHuman
Lady Palmetto Bug
Member since Jan 2025
19760 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 11:58 am to
Nope.

My daughter picked up on some Japanese when she spent just under a year in Chiba, though.

I can do pig latin and some ASL... tried to learn french but speaking it was beyond weird.
Posted by BluegrassBelle
RIP Hefty Lefty - 1981-2019
Member since Nov 2010
107592 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:00 pm to
I haven't but a good friend's kid did a Russian immersion program in college and did a summer in Kyiv (pre-current conflict). She's gotten a shite ton of offers from US and international companies/governments for jobs as a result.
Posted by el Gaucho
He/They
Member since Dec 2010
58889 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:01 pm to
I know a guy who’s mom shacked up with a woman after his parents got divorced and he grew up speaking Lebanese
Posted by lsucoonass
shreveport and east texas
Member since Nov 2003
69911 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:01 pm to
Georgian is very hard
Posted by Lush
Nola
Member since Jul 2023
1239 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:02 pm to
It's all Greek to me.
Posted by RichJ
The Land of the CoonAss
Member since Nov 2016
5474 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:04 pm to
I didn’t see a category for “CoonAss”…
Posted by ThePoo
Work
Member since Jan 2007
61547 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:09 pm to
Only other language I learned was Latin, which is not on this list, but I assume it would be a category II similar to German

I tried learning some French for fun, but I quit out of spite when my duolingo app glitched and I lost my streak. frick that dumb bird's face
Posted by Bamafig
Member since Nov 2018
6362 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:36 pm to
People who know two languages are bilingual. Those who know three languages are trilingual. Those knowing only one language are Americans.
Posted by shutterspeed
MS Gulf Coast
Member since May 2007
71954 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:52 pm to
quote:

Georgian is very hard


Nah. Check me out: “Well bless your heart, I’m fixin’ to go down to the store. Do y’all need me to pick up some of them peaches or maybe a sweet tea?”

Posted by LSUGrad9295
Baton Rouge
Member since May 2007
37589 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 12:53 pm to
I have been through a few Category IV and V hurricanes, if that counts.
Posted by OweO
Plaquemine, La
Member since Sep 2009
121650 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 1:04 pm to
I like to think I am at least, in general, not the dumbest dumbass in the world, I can figure shite out, etc... But for some reason learning a different language is one of the more difficult things for me to learn.

I took French in HS and somehow I did just enough to pass. I remember having getting into groups of two and having to pick a movie scene and act it out in French.. I could say it my head in french, but verbally I messed it all up.

I took Spanish one summer in college because someone told me it was an easy A... Because of who was teaching it.. I made a C and had to put more time into it than I first thought.

I can talk in pig Latin.
Posted by Traffic Circle
Down the Rabbit Hole
Member since Nov 2013
4985 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 1:06 pm to
What category is ‘Ebonics?’
Posted by TBoy
Kalamazoo
Member since Dec 2007
28310 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 1:07 pm to
Studied Russian for a few years but never became a fluent speaker. I can still read some, but very limited.
Posted by HuskyPanda
Philly
Member since Feb 2018
2376 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 1:11 pm to
I was a TOPIK 1 Level 2 in Korean. TOPIK is the equivalent of a B1 on the CEFR framework I believe.

Haven't spoken it in years though
Posted by SwaggerCopter
H TINE HOL IT DINE
Member since Dec 2012
27466 posts
Posted on 3/27/26 at 1:13 pm to
This makes me respect Yao Ming so much.
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