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![]() Posts: 647 Joined: 5/8/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I was just wondering how many of us speak more languages than just English, and which languages those are.
I took 6 years of Spanish in school and speak it well enough to sell stereo equipment to people who only speak Spanish, and I can say anything I want... just a little bit slowly. I also picked up on just a tad of Portuguese from all of the Brazilians in Danbury CT where I worked. The Portuguese isn't so alien once you've already learned Spanish - mainly it just has more sounds. I'm starting to teach myself hiragana and some kanji, and hope to some day speak more Japanese than just Jujitsu techniques. I love languages: I wish I knew more. I wish I knew them all.... but let's be realistic. ![]() -------------------- Get me off this Disciplinary Committee so I can play any FF except for FF8!!! |
Post #25639
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Posted: 7th January 2004 02:55
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![]() Posts: 704 Joined: 9/12/2002 ![]() |
yes, i love tonguing with foreign girls!
oh. that;s not what you meant. how misleading. -.- i speak english and spanish about as fluently as fluent can be. i took like 5 years of french before i decided that the language wasn't worth my time as i wouldn't be welcome in their country, and i have been studying japanese for about 5 years too. i guess i know that one the least -- but it's not much like spanish or english. ![]() |
Post #25641
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Posted: 7th January 2004 03:11
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I took 8 years of spanish in grade school, which was just a pointless repeat of the numbers, colors, days of the week, months, family, classroom objects, weather, etc. over and over and over again. I also took 3 year of actual substantiated spanish in high school. I can pretty much read something and get the jist of it. And I can understand speech somewhat, but it's just so hard because people who speak the language slur everything together. I'm taking French 1 right now. Je m'appelle Tidu. Ca va mal.
-------------------- The clouds ran away, opened up the sky And one by one I watched every constellation die And there I was frozen, standing in my backyard Face to face, eye to eye, staring at the last star I should've known, walked all the way home To find that she wasn't here, I'm still all alone -Atmosphere "Always Coming Back Home to You" |
Post #25643
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Posted: 7th January 2004 03:24
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I can speak Korean as a result of my heritage, and Spanish as a result of mandatory foreign language classes.
Not to mention my near-perfect grasp of Engrish. Hot Space Station Justice for all! -------------------- "I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking." ~Dorothy L. Sayers "The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely." ~T.S. Eliot "Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!" ~ Bruce Lee |
Post #25644
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Posted: 7th January 2004 04:13
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![]() Posts: 2,591 Joined: 17/1/2001 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I speak French (Acadian French; that is, Eastern Canadian), because I was put in a french immersion program starting in kindergarden. My mother's family is all French Acadian, though all of my relatives can speak English and French. My father's side is all (Scottish) English.
I can read and write in French at a decent level, though I'm much more comfortable in English. -------------------- I had an old signature. Now I've changed it. |
Post #25647
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Posted: 7th January 2004 04:37
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![]() Posts: 914 Joined: 23/6/2001 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Me speeks Engleesh.
That's about all I speak, unless you count piglatin and knowing about ten words in Japanese, and maybe a total of two in Korean. A few chinese here and there, a handful of French, just enough to squeak by my classes. You know, the usual. -------------------- ..DDR..Maine.. ..Hikaroo-chan no Deviantart.. <Tiddles> And I love how people suggest "Why not call it my great name?????" when their name is clearly the worst thing ever. <Tiddles> "How about ; Mozilla Xplorer & Mozilla Xpress." <Tiddles> How about you die in a fire? |
Post #25651
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Posted: 7th January 2004 05:46
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![]() Posts: 1,706 Joined: 7/4/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I speak English ("duh", anyone?), a wee widdle bit of Spanish, and am learning to speak Klingon. lu`. =)
...bIjatlh `e` yImev! naDevvo` peghoS! *hides* >.>; -------------------- ~Status Report~ * Completed... Dragon's Head * Completed... Soldiers of the Empire: Disciples (release pending) * In Progress/Undecided... Of Love and Betrayal * Planning/Assembly... Where it all Began |
Post #25657
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Posted: 7th January 2004 13:15
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![]() Posts: 1,405 Joined: 17/1/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Wow Zeph! Teach me klingon! Ar!
Basically, since I'm from Poland (saying "I'm a Pole" is sometimes misleading ![]() I usually understand Italian, but I can't make much of a sentence (had three years of italian in gymnasium. I kept on learning it my way until the evil cable operator cut off my italian television.) I can say a handful of words in Japanese (Dare da!? Doko desu?! etc.) A bit of latin (as much as "Asterix and Obelix" comics include). I also speak oak, but oaks don't have much to say. P.S. SEriously! Where can I learn klingon? And how do you say: "Revenge is best served as a cold dish. -old Klingon proverb"? -------------------- "I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway "If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh "We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S Good old CoN |
Post #25659
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Posted: 7th January 2004 13:19
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English is the dominant language, obviously... (even though sometimes i barely get that >_>)... My previous 3 years of high school I took Spanish, but now that I decided against a fourth year, I'm forgetting nearly everything that I've learned. I remember some things, but certainly not anything useful besides "Muy bien", "Yo tengo dos tacos en mi armario", "Me gusta arroz", and other random sayings. When I enter college, I'm hoping to pick up a class that teaches Russian.
-------------------- "When I turn the page The corner bends into the perfect dog ear As if the words knew I'd need them again But at the time, I didn't see it." ~"This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" - Minus the Bear |
Post #25660
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Posted: 7th January 2004 15:01
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![]() Posts: 1,036 Joined: 7/12/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I speak Spanish cuz I lived in Puerto Rico for 4 years. Anything else...
-------------------- Wow. 1,000 posts. I miss you all now that I'm in boarding school! ;_; |
Post #25664
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Posted: 7th January 2004 18:09
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![]() Posts: 2,098 Joined: 21/1/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Proper English, Scots Slang -almost a different language from english!-, and a few words of French
-------------------- "Only the dead have seen the end of their quotes being misattributed to Plato." -George Santayana "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..." -Abraham Lincoln, prior to the discovery of Irony. |
Post #25680
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Posted: 7th January 2004 19:07
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![]() Posts: 777 Joined: 19/7/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Well, I of course speaks French and English. I took a bit of German in Junior High, but I dropped it at High School (with an average of 4.75/20, so I thought it best to drop it
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Post #25684
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Posted: 7th January 2004 19:54
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I took Japanese for three years in high school and a year in college, and got pretty good at it once I was in a college class where we had to speak it all the time. But that was three years ago, and my Japanese ability has been deteriorating every day since then, so I really can't converse in it like I used to be able to, and have forgotten a good majority of the Kanji I used to know. I'm starting to learn sign language now, because I've always been interested in it, and it would make me a much more marketable teacher. It' s pretty easy to pick up, but I've always been good at languages, and I'm a visual learner.
-------------------- Hip-Hop QOTW: "Yeah, where I'ma start it at, look I'ma part of that Downtown Philly where it's realer than a heart attack It wasn't really that ill until the start of crack Now it's a body caught every night on the Almanac" "Game Theory" The Roots |
Post #25695
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Posted: 7th January 2004 20:08
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![]() Posts: 223 Joined: 15/5/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I speak English
![]() ![]() ![]() This post has been edited by tenshi/akuma on 7th January 2004 20:09 -------------------- "I sat alone and I didn't care, I sat two years in the same old chair, I saw three roads but didn't know, Which way to go-go-go" My Coco, stellastarr* |
Post #25696
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Posted: 7th January 2004 20:14
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SM: You can buy the Klingon Dictionary from amazon.com or any other online store. I don't know if they still sell it in book stores anymore, but I don't have one myself.
As for the phrase, "Revenge is a dish best served cold.", I don't have a translation. Sorry! ^^ -------------------- ~Status Report~ * Completed... Dragon's Head * Completed... Soldiers of the Empire: Disciples (release pending) * In Progress/Undecided... Of Love and Betrayal * Planning/Assembly... Where it all Began |
Post #25697
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Posted: 8th January 2004 05:23
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![]() Posts: 362 Joined: 27/7/2001 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I speak English good. Ha ha, I am so funny.
Apart from English, I am half-fluent in everything I've learned. Mandarin that is useless outside of the United States' Asian-American community, 9 years of French, 5 of Latin that with a bit of help from the dictionary and Allen and Greenough grammar book, can still read, and ongoing instruction in Japanese, though at this point I am still speaking "Nihonglish". Ou est le mado? Je suis une puellam. -------------------- "Turd-cookies!...they're hot and soft, though..." Rose leaves, when the rose is dead, Are heaped for the beloved's bed; And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on. Â - Percy Bysshe Shelley |
Post #25732
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Posted: 8th January 2004 05:52
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Languages in the order of most fluent to LEAST fluent
English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Japanese, German, (anything after this is just a few words): Russian, Swahili, Chinese, Taglog, Vietnamese. English I can speak with near fluency (I hope so at least!). Spanish I am conversant in. I suppose it helps being Mexican too. My grammar might not always be correct, but at least my accent is top notch! Portuguese I understand enough that it confuses me (so close and yet so far from Spanish). Italian and French I can comprend enough (at least written) to make out most of the words. Italian more so than French. Japanese and German are two languages that I know some sentences in. Be wary of trying to speak a language that you picked up mostly from anime..... -------------------- kame, tortue, tortuga, schildkröte, tartaruga, turtle "Arthur Dent?" "Yes." "Arthur Philip Dent?" "Yes." "You're a total knee biter." |
Post #25734
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Posted: 8th January 2004 10:56
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![]() Posts: 1,036 Joined: 7/12/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Maybe this is a good place to pose a language question;
Does here speak Mooglese? I've been searching for people that do but haven't found very many. For those that do already, KUPO! KUPOPO, KUPO-KU KUPO KUKUPOKU? THANKUPO! -------------------- Wow. 1,000 posts. I miss you all now that I'm in boarding school! ;_; |
Post #25750
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![]() Posts: 259 Joined: 27/7/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Swedish is my main language. Jag behärskar det väldigt bra, enligt mig själv
![]() I also took some Spanish in high school just for fun, but I never really had any interest in it. I can only say a few words... But right now I'm studying Japanese at the university! It's damn fun. I have only been in the game for about 4 months, but there is more to come! I have learned the basic grammar and about 250 kanji. Nihongo wa muzukashii desu! -------------------- People say I'm a slow learner, but I type fast! |
Post #25789
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Posted: 8th January 2004 21:20
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![]() Posts: 2,397 Joined: 22/3/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I took two semesters of ASL at the local community college, but I'm not any good at it.
I took a year of French in high school, but all i remember is that "poison" means "fish" and "pain" means "bread." Alot of kids I went to high school with speak Spanish as a first language, so whenever they want a private conversation, they'd speak Spanish. With how often that happens, I probably should have picked it up if I weren't the kind of person that ignores what people say when they're not speaking to me. Apparently I'm the only one here that can't speak English. I can type it, but not speak it. -------------------- "I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books." -Brad Meltzer |
Post #25803
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Posted: 9th January 2004 08:27
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![]() Posts: 11 Joined: 9/1/2004 Awards: ![]() ![]() |
I've taken 4 years of Latin in highschool, and another semester so far in college, as well as a college semester of Japanese. I am currently learning Chinese for a JanTerm, and plan on continuing in Japanese and Latin. Euge!
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Post #25869
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Posted: 9th January 2004 13:53
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![]() Posts: 1,265 Joined: 23/3/2001 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I speak english well enough, and I can read in a few other langugages. That's about it, I've just not been around people who are forgein or who's culture demands another tounge. However I speak 1337!
...and yes kupopo moogle. Kupopoupopopo Kupop po kupo popo Kupop kupo kupo! Or in 1337: !Kup0p0up0p0p0 Kup0p p0 kup0 p0p0 Kup0p kup0 kup0i -------------------- At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) |
Post #25882
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Posted: 9th January 2004 21:27
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L0L!! PH34R D4 L337 |\/|00GL3S!!!
Moderator Edit Okay, it was funny for a few seconds, but I don't want to see any more responces like this. Stay on topic, boys and girls. -Elena99 This post has been edited by Elena99 on 9th January 2004 23:15 |
Post #25929
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![]() Posts: 647 Joined: 5/8/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
These responses are so fun to hear! Hey, for the hell of it here are the world's 12 most spoken languages and their number of speakers (in millions).
1. Mandarin (Chinese) 885 2. English 322 3. Spanish 266 4. Bengali 189 5. Hindi 182 6. Portuguese 170 6. Russian 170 (tie) 8. Japanese 125 9. German 98 10. Wu (Shanghai Chinese) 77 11. Javanese 75.5 12. Korean 75 P.S. A question for Del: you say you speak Scots slang, but do you or many people you know speak Scots Gaelic? -------------------- Get me off this Disciplinary Committee so I can play any FF except for FF8!!! |
Post #25946
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Posted: 10th January 2004 02:35
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![]() Posts: 148 Joined: 22/8/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I'm majoring in Linguistics, so naturally languages are of great interest to me...
![]() I'm reasonably fluent in Spanish, although the last time I took any Spanish classes was in high school, so I've probably forgotten some of it by now. Throughout my college years, I've been concentrating on Japanese, and just started my fifth university-level Japanese class, so that's probably the language I'm most comfortable in right now aside from English. I also know a little bit of French (of all the languages I've ever studied, French is my least favorite), and I can understand it when it's written down better than I can when it's spoken. Same with Italian, although I know more French than Italian. What else...oh yeah, I know a few words and phrases in Irish Gaelic, and a few words in Dutch (I'm Dutch on my father's side), and I've studied Latin, but I've forgotten most of what I learned. Next year I'll be done with my requirements for my Linguistics major, so I'll probably take German to fill in some credits before I graduate. Oh yeah, and I also know Rodian! At least, to the extent that I've memorized all nine lines that Greedo had in "Star Wars: A New Hope". ![]() Amusing anecdote: My family and I went to Amsterdam in May of last year to attend a family reunion. One night we were having dinner in a nice restaurant. At a table nearby were a group of men talking and laughing loudly. Now, the language you hear most often in Amsterdam is, of course, Dutch, but most people there speak English as well. So we were listening to the people talking (it was kinda hard not to), and my mom was convinced that they were speaking Dutch because she couldn't understand what they were saying. But I was the one who realized that they WERE speaking English...in heavy Scottish accents. I was the only one at our table who could understand them. ![]() |
Post #25958
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Posted: 10th January 2004 02:48
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![]() Posts: 366 Joined: 1/1/2001 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
english is the dominant language throughout the world, so there's not really a point to knowing more.
BUT i am rather good in french, and i would love to learn finnish, it's one of the two languages left that are germanic based, and it's a really beautiful language. -------------------- IAN CURTIS 18 - 5 - 80 LOVE WILL TEAR US APART |
Post #25962
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Posted: 10th January 2004 06:50
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![]() Posts: 1,591 Joined: 1/1/2001 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I'm fluent in English and French and can carry a conversation in Italian. I can kind of understand Spanish and some Portugese due to my Italian understanding, but I can't speak either. I have a Spanish-learning book that I should probably read. I even have a Russian-learning book, and it was pretty cool. I have a certain understanding of Japanese structure, such as words like "desu", "no", and "ka", and how they fit into a sentence. I know quite a few words and some pronunciation stuff.
-------------------- Lou: There's a couple of guys fighting down at the aquarium, Chief. Wiggum: Do they still sell those frozen bananas? Lou: I think so. Wiggum: Let's roll. |
Post #25984
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Posted: 10th January 2004 13:56
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![]() Posts: 56 Joined: 10/1/2004 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mainly English and Pittsburghuese
"Ah Yinz gown dah'n tah'n ta watch da Stillers n'dat? -------------------- My second daughter, if we have girls, will be named Rikku. I'm not kidding. |
Post #26003
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Posted: 11th January 2004 05:54
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![]() Posts: 2,397 Joined: 22/3/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote (Ejoty @ 9th January 2004 19:12) These responses are so fun to hear! Hey, for the hell of it here are the world's 12 most spoken languages and their number of speakers (in millions). 1. Mandarin (Chinese) 885 2. English 322 3. Spanish 266 4. Bengali 189 5. Hindi 182 6. Portuguese 170 6. Russian 170 (tie) 8. Japanese 125 9. German 98 10. Wu (Shanghai Chinese) 77 11. Javanese 75.5 12. Korean 75 Is that list "As a first language" or "At all"? -------------------- "I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books." -Brad Meltzer |
Post #26092
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Posted: 12th January 2004 22:00
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![]() Posts: 647 Joined: 5/8/2003 Awards: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote (Rocky @ 9th January 2004 21:48) english is the dominant language throughout the world, so there's not really a point to knowing more. BUT i am rather good in french, and i would love to learn finnish, it's one of the two languages left that are germanic based, and it's a really beautiful language. Not to nit-pick, Rocky, but my previous post showed that more than twice as many people speak Mandarin Chinese than speak English, and if you count the other dialects then Chinese has 3 times as many speakers as English, so English isn't really the dominant language then. Also, English, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic all have a Germanic origin. The Finnish language however, has a much stronger link to the very old Ugric language which is not Germanic based, but instead related to Hungarian and some northern Siberian languages. D.P. I'm sorry ![]() Hey, on another note, I taught myself the Cyrillic alphabet this last summer for the heck of it. Yay, now I can pronounce a bunch of Russian words that I don't know the meaning of. ![]() -------------------- Get me off this Disciplinary Committee so I can play any FF except for FF8!!! |
Post #26209
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