A language learners’ forum

Yes, it's very much possible to only learn how to read in my opinion.

tarvos wrote:In the second case - I think those people shouldn't be learning languages, they should be doing something they have more fun doing instead of making up excuses.

Making up excuses for what? Maybe they're having fun just learning how to read. I don't see how that makes them lazy. Learning how to read in another language is already quite the accomplishment in my opinion.

Nobody here ever managed to learn a language for reading only in a totally unrelated language? (Ex Hungarian, Basque or Latvian)

Do Middle Egyptian and Sumerian count? (*work in progress*)

Sure, just ask your nearest classicist.

Teango wrote:Do Middle Egyptian and Sumerian count? (*work in progress*)

They certainly do count!
How is going with it? And what material are you able to retrieve? (both study and reading) I guess that for once we can't count on a Harry Potter translation Nor on a Duolingo/Clozemaster/Assimil/Teach Yourself...

Tristano wrote:

Teango wrote:Do Middle Egyptian and Sumerian count? (*work in progress*)

They certainly do count!
How is going with it? And what material are you able to retrieve? (both study and reading) I guess that for once we can't count on a Harry Potter translation Nor on a Duolingo/Clozemaster/Assimil/Teach Yourself...

Assimil's "L'égyptien hiéroglyphique", Collier and Manley's "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs", and James Allen's "Middle Egyptian" are all excellent textbooks to get the Middle Egyptian party started. After that you can crank up the bass with something more erudite and intimidating, like Gardiner's weighty tome of "Egyptian Grammar". So far I've only read a handful of short stories, including the classic "Tale of Sinuhe", and a hieroglyph edition of Beatrix Potter's "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" which I picked up in the British Museum (shout-out to former study buddy emk!), however I'm several star gates away from being an advanced reader by any definition. At the moment I'm working piecemeal through the "Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day", which is a beautifully illustrated work, although a far cry from the high jinks and contemporary language of Harry Potter. After I'm done with that, I'll probably jump into Allen's companion collection of 8 stories in "Middle Egyptian Literature".

As for Sumerian, this is something I've fallen head over tablet for more recently, although we have flirted on occasion in the past (e.g., Obscure Sumerian Cuneiform). I'm currently reading "Cuneiform", co-written by the wonderfully eccentric and notoriously spirited Irving Finkel, who you may have encountered or seen before in Royal Institution lectures and talks on YouTube. I'm also tempted to buy a copy of Hayes' "A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts" and Bowen and Lewis' "Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian", as Foxvog's free online "Introduction to Sumerian Grammar" is a very grammar-heavy read (even for a graduate linguist!) I know it's not for everyone, but hey, Sumerian is one of the earliest documented languages in the world and its influence throughout recorded history is profound. And as my first degree was in Philosophy and Theology, and the Epic of Gilgamesh also had a huge impact on Ancient Greek epics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey in addition to the Old Testament, I find Sumerian simply spellbinding! - sorry, I couldn't resist the pun (see also: etymology for "fascinating")

Nice man! Your enthousiasm and passion are so contagious that for a moment I contemplated studying Sumerian (although in my case I should probably look for some obscure old germanic barbarian languages). Or I can always restart Icelandic I guess it's much easier to learn to read than Sumerian or Middle Egyptian.