Linguistically yours...

So here is my plan for world domination....generated as a result of two very interesting conversations with Cristiane and Alicia.

The Plan: Learn as many languages as possible...or at least one from each continental region.

So lets look at the plan continentally. These are the levels of language proficiency: FP: Full Proficiency, C: Conversational ability, U: Understanding ability

Africa:-

There are an astonishing 1800 languages spoken in Africa. They are grouped into 8 families. But of course I cant possibly learn even 1% of this. So I'm going to focus on the 8 official languages.

French (Between U and C...working towards FP)
English (FP)
Portuguese (Current Project )
Spanish (Future Project)

4 out of 8...good!

Antartica:-

As there are no permanent residents here yet, I dont see a native language evolving anytime in the near future. Unless of course, we figure out a way to build sturdy houses on floating ice.
And find people who are lovers of the intense cold and wind...

Asia:-

Hindi (FP)
Tamil (FP)
Malayalam (C)
Marathi (U)
Urdu (C)
Punjabi (U)
Chinese (Future Project)
Persian/Turkish (Future Future project)

These languages cover most of Asia....including the South eastern and Western/Central regions. Of course, the heavy emphasis is on India here. In South Eastern Asia....English, Tamil, Chinese dialects and Portuguese are prevelant. In Central Asia...chinese dialects are used as well...did not know that! So the problem area is northern asia...Russia. I dont see myself learning Russian in the next 5 years...so I'm gonna assume that English is sufficient.

Australia:-

English (FP minus the funky accent..but I can work with Jasin on that)

Europe:-

There are 20 official languages (23 from Jan1 2007). Each from different roots...germanic..latin..etc. How my plan fares...

French (Between U and C...working towards FP)
English (FP)
Portuguese (Current Project)
Spanish (Future Project)

4 out of 20 is not great...but not bad either. We'll see..maybe there's scope for more...possibly German or Italian.

North America:-

English (FP)
French (Between U and C...working towards FP)
Spanish (Future Project)

South America:-

Portuguese (Current Project)
Spanish (Future Project)

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So as a summary....I'm learning French now. I have also started learning Portuguese. I will start learning Spanish and Chinese within the next couple of years. And then wherever the road takes me. Looks good no?

Meanwhile my own evolved lingo has percolated through the masses. For example:
"Coolness", "Weirdness", "artsy-fartsy", "perfection", "all that jazz", "thingy", "sheesh", "aur bolo"...etc. (I dont claim ownership of all terms...but they are very me.)

Coolness!
~Amrita