The Great Language Game
January 24, 2014 1:26 PM Subscribe
It's Friday! Time for a game: how many languages can you distinguish and identify?
Stats from around the globe. A list of the 78 languages included.
Stats from around the globe. A list of the 78 languages included.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Double. -- LobsterMitten
600.
posted by Going To Maine at 4:30 PM on January 24
I was thinking, "damn linguist ruining the curve".
posted by stinkfoot at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 4:30 PM on January 24
I was thinking, "damn linguist ruining the curve".
posted by stinkfoot at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
The radio callers ones are terrible and enraging, half the time I can't even understand perfectly normal english on the radio when they're taking callers. ANGRY HISS.
posted by elizardbits at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
That WebGL globe visualization of player stats is freakin' cool.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by MarvinTheCat at 1:38 PM on January 24, 2014
Ugh I can't get higher than 450, dishonor on my cow.
posted by elizardbits at 1:39 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by elizardbits at 1:39 PM on January 24, 2014
550. And I don't believe I have ever heard spoken Assyrian.
posted by minervous at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by minervous at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
400 best score, so far. Fun game. It just got weird when I realized all the samples were saying "Help me, please, help me-eee-ee...."
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 1:40 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
I don't know what I expect Bulgarian to sound like, but it is apparently none of the samples used.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:44 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:44 PM on January 24, 2014
The fuck? I didn't even know Macedonia was a country still, let alone a sovereign nation with a living language..
50. I can be shockingly ignorant on important world affairs. But banal minutiae of any variety, and I'm Trebek behind the podium.
posted by mediocre at 1:46 PM on January 24, 2014
50. I can be shockingly ignorant on important world affairs. But banal minutiae of any variety, and I'm Trebek behind the podium.
posted by mediocre at 1:46 PM on January 24, 2014
500. Amharic really threw me.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:48 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Rock Steady at 1:48 PM on January 24, 2014
I actually got 650 on my second try. The first one failed me on South Efate, a language with a whole 6000 speakers. I think all the time working in the TB clinic helped.
posted by cobaltnine at 1:49 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by cobaltnine at 1:49 PM on January 24, 2014
400 the first try, 650 the second, when I got easy languages like Italian and Cantonese a lot.
posted by aubilenon at 1:49 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by aubilenon at 1:49 PM on January 24, 2014
I did this a while ago when it was posted on my work's CMS thing. I got 950 on my first try with what I think were a lot of lucky guesses. I work with a bunch of linguists though I'm not one by training.
posted by valrus at 1:51 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by valrus at 1:51 PM on January 24, 2014
wooo 650
And wow it is unfair to include two or more closely related languages on the same one.
posted by elizardbits at 1:52 PM on January 24, 2014
And wow it is unfair to include two or more closely related languages on the same one.
posted by elizardbits at 1:52 PM on January 24, 2014
The fuck? I didn't even know Macedonia was a country still, let alone a sovereign nation with a living language..
Presented without comment.
posted by griphus at 1:53 PM on January 24, 2014
Presented without comment.
posted by griphus at 1:53 PM on January 24, 2014
Completely unfair when I have to figure out whether it's Swedish or Icelandic and it's a staticky radio caller who is MUMBLING.
posted by Sara C. at 1:55 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Sara C. at 1:55 PM on January 24, 2014
Ah, sweet justification of my confusion over Macedonia. The rest of my utter disregard for basic knowledge the languages of the world notwithstanding.
posted by mediocre at 1:56 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by mediocre at 1:56 PM on January 24, 2014
I should be better at figuring out Armenian considering the fact that I get more Armenian TV channels than Anglophone ones.
posted by Sara C. at 1:57 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Sara C. at 1:57 PM on January 24, 2014
150 to 850.
The alternatives presented seem to matter much more than what the actual language is
posted by colophon at 1:58 PM on January 24, 2014
The alternatives presented seem to matter much more than what the actual language is
posted by colophon at 1:58 PM on January 24, 2014
Swahili really sounds kinda cool. And a lot different from what I expected...
posted by sour cream at 1:58 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by sour cream at 1:58 PM on January 24, 2014
550. On the one hand Basque is an isolate, so how can I confuse it with anything else. On the other hand, Basque is an isolate, so how the hell am I supposed to guess what it sounds like when I'm pretty sure I haven't heard it before.
I'm pretty sure I only got Armenian because I recently watched Pontypool.
posted by ckape at 1:59 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure I only got Armenian because I recently watched Pontypool.
posted by ckape at 1:59 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ah crap I'm supposed to be finishing a dissertation chapter and I'm so absorbed by this that words fail me and I'll probably go hungry trying to beat 700. I'm absolutely fascinated by this game, especially my whole thought process as I'm listening…realizing I've got a lot of stereotypes up in there and preconceived notions about how languages should sound (and what the people who speak them should sound like). I'm going to learn a lot in the next several (dozen?) hours I think.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:59 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by iamkimiam at 1:59 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
850
Nice game - I have to admit that I guessed Punjabi correctly based on the crappy recording..
posted by bird internet at 1:59 PM on January 24, 2014
Nice game - I have to admit that I guessed Punjabi correctly based on the crappy recording..
posted by bird internet at 1:59 PM on January 24, 2014
Ah, sweet justification of my confusion over Macedonia.
I didn't know anything about it myself until I met a Macedonian guy and he a) was clearly not Greek and b) spoke a language that I could partially understand because it resembled Russian.
posted by griphus at 2:00 PM on January 24, 2014
I didn't know anything about it myself until I met a Macedonian guy and he a) was clearly not Greek and b) spoke a language that I could partially understand because it resembled Russian.
posted by griphus at 2:00 PM on January 24, 2014
Interesting. The less you know about a language, the more screwed you are.
posted by bearwife at 2:04 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by bearwife at 2:04 PM on January 24, 2014
650. I think I can do better though. Listening to lots of music from around the world has finally paid off.
posted by cloeburner at 2:05 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by cloeburner at 2:05 PM on January 24, 2014
I was perfect until it started throwing four choices at me. Then it all went to hell.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:08 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 2:08 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Going To Maine at 1:30 PM on January 24, 2014