Languages

[BiBunny]

So...let's talk about languages.

What is/are your native language(s)? Which other languages do you speak? (Obviously, we all speak English to some degree on this forum.) Are there any that you don't currently speak that you'd like to learn someday?

Please feel free to define "speak" in whatever way you like, by the way, and expand upon it if you wish.

(This thread is in a similar vein to my Which Countries Have You Been To? thread because, well, the likelihood that I'm ever going to be able to leave the South again is practically zero, so I have to live vicariously.)

I'll put my own answers in the next post, so the OP doesn't get too long. Thanks, everybody, in advance for your answers.

 

[BiBunny]

Here are my answers:

English is my native language. I am reasonably fluent in it.

I can speak just enough Spanish that I can probably have a terribly stilted conversation with a Spanish-speaking 3-year-old. That's about it. I can read Spanish somewhat better than I can write it, speak it, or understand it being spoken to me.

I would like to improve my Spanish (which I am working on). Should I become somewhat competent with Spanish, I think Italian would be a good next choice, since they're pretty similar in terms of vocabulary. After that, I'd like to go in a whole new direction and go for Dutch or German, maybe.

In theory, I would also like to learn Russian, but that just seems like such a massive clusterfuck that I don't think I'll ever make it that far.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Your list intrigues me, here's why
English is my first language, and I love her! I grew up reading my grandfather's 19th century book collection, so my vocab is tolerable good
I lived in Spain for a while, so I speak Castilian as they do not call it Spanish ... I find I get better and better at it as the night wears on When I began to dream in Castilian, I knew I had turned the corner. That was a very cool and memorable realization.
My grandparents were German, so I understand it and could speak it with a three year old whose 2nd language was German, but if you talk shit about about me in German and I am within earshot, I will know exactly what you said!! I just won't know how to rip you a new one like I could do in Castilian...
I took a few classes in Russian. I write English in the Cyrillic alphabet, I.e., to the outsider it looks like I am writing in Russian, but I am really just using the Cyrillic characters phonetically to spell out English words. It blows people's minds in a business meeting... I love that Interesting matchup with your list!!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

PS - when I lived in Spain, I had a conversation with an Italian guy.
Me in Castilian, him in Italian, and it worked.
So I think your theory is good

 

[seela]

Native Finnish.

In school I studied English (10 years), German (8 years), Swedish (6 years, it's the second official language here so we all must take it), Spanish (3 years), Russian (2 years) and Latin (1 year). I study Slavic languages at the university. I've also taken classes of German and Spanish at the university to keep the languages at least somewhat in shape.

On top of those I've taken a bunch of beginner classes in several languages, but those are really only good for passive knowledge. I wouldn't be able to hold up my end of a discussion in Yiddish, for example, but I'd understand a great deal.

I'm only really comfortable speaking English, in the sense that I can talk about a wide range of topics at any given time. Polish comes second, but the range of topics is far more limited. For other languages I need a bit of time to switch my brain on, so to speak.

My spoken German and Spanish are good after a couple of days of exposure. I guess my Swedish would be too, but I'm rarely in a completely Swedish-speaking environment. I'm also quite fluent in a weird general Slavic that allows me to be understood by most Slavic speakers, but isn't any one real language.

I'd love to learn Georgian, because I love the grammar and sound of it and the writing's really pretty. But I'm not very good at learning languages on my own without a teacher and/or a support group, so I've never given it a try. So if anyone wants to try learning Georgian, let me know.

BB, don't be afraid of Russian. It isn't that hard, you just hear a lot of scary stories and the Cyrillic alphabet seems to put people off (no reason for that, though, it's easy to learn).

 

[BiBunny]

Your list intrigues me, here's why
English is my first language, and I love her! I grew up reading my grandfather's 19th century book collection, so my vocab is tolerable good
I lived in Spain for a while, so I speak Castilian as they do not call it Spanish ... I find I get better and better at it as the night wears on When I began to dream in Castilian, I knew I had turned the corner. That was a very cool and memorable realization.
My grandparents were German, so I understand it and could speak it with a three year old whose 2nd language was German, but if you talk shit about about me in German and I am within earshot, I will know exactly what you said!! I just won't know how to rip you a new one like I could do in Castilian...
I took a few classes in Russian. I write English in the Cyrillic alphabet, I.e., to the outsider it looks like I am writing in Russian, but I am really just using the Cyrillic characters phonetically to spell out English words. It blows people's minds in a business meeting... I love that Interesting matchup with your list!!

That is pretty cool! It's Mexican Spanish that I studied/am studying again. (Two years in high school, two years in college, and retained very little of it.) It's essentially the same, of course, but there are a handful of differences.

PS - when I lived in Spain, I had a conversation with an Italian guy.
Me in Castilian, him in Italian, and it worked.
So I think your theory is good

Even better.

 

[BiBunny]

Native Finnish.

In school I studied English (10 years), German (8 years), Swedish (6 years, it's the second official language here so we all must take it), Spanish (3 years), Russian (2 years) and Latin (1 year). I study Slavic languages at the university. I've also taken classes of German and Spanish at the university to keep the languages at least somewhat in shape.

On top of those I've taken a bunch of beginner classes in several languages, but those are really only good for passive knowledge. I wouldn't be able to hold up my end of a discussion in Yiddish, for example, but I'd understand a great deal.

I'm only really comfortable speaking English, in the sense that I can talk about a wide range of topics at any given time. Polish comes second, but the range of topics is far more limited. For other languages I need a bit of time to switch my brain on, so to speak.

My spoken German and Spanish are good after a couple of days of exposure. I guess my Swedish would be too, but I'm rarely in a completely Swedish-speaking environment. I'm also quite fluent in a weird general Slavic that allows me to be understood by most Slavic speakers, but isn't any one real language.

I'd love to learn Georgian, because I love the grammar and sound of it and the writing's really pretty. But I'm not very good at learning languages on my own without a teacher and/or a support group, so I've never given it a try. So if anyone wants to try learning Georgian, let me know.

BB, don't be afraid of Russian. It isn't that hard, you just hear a lot of scary stories and the Cyrillic alphabet seems to put people off (no reason for that, though, it's easy to learn).

I was so so so hoping you'd reply.

You have a ton, and that is fantastic. I'm inspired! (And also jealous.) But mostly inspired!

And re: Russian, I actually know the Cyrillic alphabet already. (Don't ask. The moral of the story is that I have too much time on my hands.) Well, mostly. I still get confused on some of the sibilants sometimes. It's the word pronunciations that scare me off more than anything. >.>

(Speaking of alphabets, I also know the Greek alphabet, but that is purely by virtue of having been in a sorority in college. We had to learn the whole thing. )

 

[Curious_in_Cali]

English fluent with just enough years of high school and college French and Spanish to speak a completely useless sort of Frenish. I do love language and hope to be in a situation where I can relearn and practice enough to stay fluent in French or Spanish.

That said, for anyone wanting to learn a new language, there is a phone app called Duolingo that is free and fun to play.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I love Duolingo!
Am learning Portuguese

 

[LWulf]

native Brooklynite

English is my second language, along with smartass.

After that, I can read and write Spanish, though I keep trying to spell that Spankish for some odd reason. I've been teaching myself Portuguese, though I know how to curse in Portuguese ever since listening to my grandmother and grandfather fighting.

I learned some Dutch when I traveled to Amsterdam, it also helped out when I went to Pennsylvania. German is similar, I've learned bits and bobs of that over the years. French is the hardest, but I've passably learned rudimentary terms. Russian likewise, though it's easier for some reason than French. I've taught myself some Latin which was easier to do since I knew Spanish. Yiddish I've learned from some family members and girlfriends.

Funny thing is, there was a idiot I was texting with and wanted me to prove I knew these languages and told me to type it.
...I said "I know how to SPEAK it."
Granted I could passably phonetically try to spell it but most words just don't pan out that way. I should have just gone over to google translate and copy pasted what I was trying to say.

I am linguistically adept at picking up and imitating accents nearly perfectly first time I meet someone. I met this old Irish lady when I was 4, she started talking to me and I perfectly mimicked her accent back to the point she smiled and said "Where do you come from?"
It was heartbreaking when I told her Brooklyn NY

Oh! forgot to mention I tried to teach myself sign language but that's tough without someone to talk to.

 

[BiBunny]

English fluent with just enough years of high school and college French and Spanish to speak a completely useless sort of Frenish. I do love language and hope to be in a situation where I can relearn and practice enough to stay fluent in French or Spanish.

That said, for anyone wanting to learn a new language, there is a phone app called Duolingo that is free and fun to play.

One of my closest friends took French in high school and college. She's only slightly better at French than I am at Spanish, and we have entirely too much fun trying to talk to or text one another in our respective Foreign Language 101 vocabulary.

And also, Duolingo sounds awesome, so thank you for that!

native Brooklynite

English is my second language, along with smartass.

After that, I can read and write Spanish, though I keep trying to spell that Spankish for some odd reason. I've been teaching myself Portuguese, though I know how to curse in Portuguese ever since listening to my grandmother and grandfather fighting.

I learned some Dutch when I traveled to Amsterdam, it also helped out when I went to Pennsylvania. German is similar, I've learned bits and bobs of that over the years. French is the hardest, but I've passably learned rudimentary terms. Russian likewise, though it's easier for some reason than French. I've taught myself some Latin which was easier to do since I knew Spanish. Yiddish I've learned from some family members and girlfriends.

Funny thing is, there was a idiot I was texting with and wanted me to prove I knew these languages and told me to type it.
...I said "I know how to SPEAK it."
Granted I could passably phonetically try to spell it but most words just don't pan out that way. I should have just gone over to google translate and copy pasted what I was trying to say.

I am linguistically adept at picking up and imitating accents nearly perfectly first time I meet someone. I met this old Irish lady when I was 4, she started talking to me and I perfectly mimicked her accent back to the point she smiled and said "Where do you come from?"
It was heartbreaking when I told her Brooklyn NY

Oh! forgot to mention I tried to teach myself sign language but that's tough without someone to talk to.

Oh, don't mention dialects! You'll only get me wound up on one of my other favorite topics. (Yes, I have strange interests. I can't even defend myself on that one.)

That being said, I am also jealous of you and your linguistic abilities.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Until I was five, I'd say that I was completely bilingual Swedish/German. Then I started preschool and Swedish took the upper hand, which makes it my first language now.
I did take classes in German for native speakers all through school and people think I'm a native speaker when talking. I haven't been reading and writing enough to keep the written part up though, so spelling and grammar is not the best.
English is taught in school here, starting when you're 9 years old until graduation at 19. I read a lot in English and movies and shows in English are in the original language with subtitles.
These three are languages I can think in and sometimes dream in.
Danish and Norwegian are close enough to Swedish, that I can understand it well enough to follow any conversation and read most anything.
Icelandic differs a bit more but I can understand a fair bit in writing, spoken language being much harder though.

I learned French for three years, but its not my forte. I did manage to read a book rewiew in French recently though, not understandig everything but getting the gist of it.
I studied Russian for a year and can still read the Cyrillic alphabet. Can't use the language for more then asking the way to the museum type things.
One more vote for giving it a chance Bunny.

Italian, Slovenian, Croatian I can use enough to go shopping, order in a restaurant.
I can understand a fair bit of written Italian but not enough to comfortably read a book. I can manage a bit of sociable talk about the weather and such too.
Spanish and Portuguese are close enough to Italian, so I can undestand a bit of that too and make myself understood for the tourist type things at least.

I'd like to work a bit on my written German and I do work a bit on my Italian and French from time to time.

 

[seela]

with just enough years of high school and college French and Spanish

I hear people mention "high school French/Spanish" pretty often on TV. Do you only learn foreign languages in high school (and upwards) or is it just a phrase? Is it compulsory in high school?

And re: Russian, I actually know the Cyrillic alphabet already. (Don't ask. The moral of the story is that I have too much time on my hands.) Well, mostly. I still get confused on some of the sibilants sometimes. It's the word pronunciations that scare me off more than anything. >.>

Once you get into Russian, the pronunciation is glorious. There are a couple of hard(er) sounds, but all in all I don't think Russian is that difficult to pronounce for an English speaker. The stress can be tricky, though.

 

[LWulf]

Oh, don't mention dialects! You'll only get me wound up on one of my other favorite topics.

Oh, okay I (dialects) wont. Because if there (dialects) is one thing (dialects) I hate more than (dialects) people who don't know (dialects) when to keep their tongue between their (dialects) teeth, is (dialects) people who think they are funny (dialects).
dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects dialects

 

[Sweetdaisymae]

I am a native English speaker, I learned some French and German in school, which I have largely forgotten.

I use Makaton sign language at work.

 

[MeekMe]

I hear people mention "high school French/Spanish" pretty often on TV. Do you only learn foreign languages in high school (and upwards) or is it just a phrase? Is it compulsory in high school?



Once you get into Russian, the pronunciation is glorious. There are a couple of hard(er) sounds, but all in all I don't think Russian is that difficult to pronounce for an English speaker. The stress can be tricky, though.

Our system for learning foreign language sucks here. Where I live you take a couple classes in Jr. High (grades 6-8) and most of the time they offer only Spanish. In High school you're required to take two language classes and usually you can choose between Spanish and another language they may offer. My school offered French and Japanese. I took three years of Japsnese.

I can read and write like a toddler in Japanese. I have been looking for a group to learn more fluent speech, but it is difficult. I can't bring myself to ask my MIL to sit with me each week and just talk. (-｡-;

Surprisingly, I'm better than Mister at vocabulary, but can't hear it very well. When we visited family in Japan he would repeat things for me and I would answer. I couldn't quite grasp what they were saying because I hadn't been in a situation to hear fluent speech. that experience made me more comfortable though. When his Grandmother visits, I can have simple conversation with her.

 

[Netzach]

5 years of middle and HS French, 2 semesters of college Spanish. (and 6 years of middle and HS Latin) My French was conversant at it's best - not fluent, but I could write a paper and read a novel and talk to a native speaker.

My HS was a private prep, and so you could actually customize your studies more like in a college, so I alternated years of history and science (one I'm strong in, the other weaker) so that I could carry two languages full time. The classes were pretty intensive, and even without the last year of French I tested out of compulsory language study in college (I took some French voluntarily, but pretty quickly realized this would not be my major. I took some Spanish because I think it just makes sense for anyone living in the US to at least gain some familiarity with the future.)

I can now *understand* spoken French, but not respond with any grammar or vocabulary. I can apologize with a decent enough accent, for not being able to respond in full, but for understanding.

I can understand about 1/3 of whatever a Spanish speaker might say to me (particularly if they're Mexican, folks from the DR and PR speak so damn fast...) but I can't answer for crap either. My accent is bad and I know it's bad, but could be worse.

I can read a little Spanish and a lot of French, though I'm diving for my dictionary.

It's all in the disuse. If I were immersed in either environment and given a textbook I'd catch up again pretty well.

I've got a great facility with language - until we leave the land of the Roman alphabet, and then I'm slower than the average bear and almost hopeless. It takes a different part of the brain to switch systems like that.

Latin is a funny thing. You never learn to speak it and it's a mystery that anyone ever did - the grammar is insane. I wish I knew more about "street Latin" and had a time machine to learn how Romans actually spoke. Latin is basically an arcane literature class, and the big climax of the process is translating the Aeneid, in part, as a class.

I forgot pretty much everything I ever learned in Latin in the summer between senior year of HS and freshman year of college. I've never found any kind of knowledge to be as use-it-or-lose-it in my life.

 

[MichaelinChina]

6 years of High School German, now learning Mandarin. I know enough to 'get by' in most situations in daily life.

 

[Endless_Night]

Wow. I have multiple science degrees, and reading all these comments makes me feel like a complete moron.

English. English is what I speak. I had a couple of years of French in high school, but I barely got through the class, and it certainly didn't stick. (Oddly though, when I was in France several years back I found I could read the street signs.)

I should speak Spanish. Considering I live in Texas its ridiculous that I can't. I know a few words, but hardly enough to attempt to converse.

Honestly, I just don't seem to have an ear for language. Not only can't I not get the hang of rolling Rs, but half the time I can't make out regional dialects in the US.

On a trip to Scotland there was a tour guide I just could not understand. I finally gave up asking him to repeat himself and just smiled and nodded every time he addressed me. Hopeless!

So sad.

On a different - and clearly unrealistic note - I've always wanted to learn Russian and Latin.

 

[seela]

Our system for learning foreign language sucks here. Where I live you take a couple classes in Jr. High (grades 6-8) and most of the time they offer only Spanish. In High school you're required to take two language classes and usually you can choose between Spanish and another language they may offer. My school offered French and Japanese. I took three years of Japsnese.

So a class = one year? I've been wondering how homeschoolers handle foreign languages, but if the requirement is around 4-6 years, I guess it isn't an impossible feat to homeschool.

Here we have to take one "long" language and one "short" language and one of the languages has to be Swedish (or Finnish if Swedish is your mother tongue), all else is extra. Long is 10 years, short is 6 years. In my high school, on top of the languages I studied, you could take Finnish, Italian and French as a foreign language. And then there was a bunch of native language classes for those whose native language was something else than Finnish.

I don't know much about the US education system, except that it varies a lot from state to state like most things, and the little I've learned, I've learned from TV and movies. I've often thought that I should start a "Seela asks stupid questions about the USA" thread so that I don't hijack other threads with OT questions.

So back to regular programming now.

 

[Miss_raptor]

English is my native language.
In middle school, I took two years of Latin. In high school, I took four years of French. Latin was incredibly useful grammatically. I have only a very fuzzy grasp on French now, sadly.

 

[MeekMe]

So a class = one year? I've been wondering how homeschoolers handle foreign languages, but if the requirement is around 4-6 years, I guess it isn't an impossible feat to homeschool.

Here we have to take one "long" language and one "short" language and one of the languages has to be Swedish (or Finnish if Swedish is your mother tongue), all else is extra. Long is 10 years, short is 6 years. In my high school, on top of the languages I studied, you could take Finnish, Italian and French as a foreign language. And then there was a bunch of native language classes for those whose native language was something else than Finnish.

I don't know much about the US education system, except that it varies a lot from state to state like most things, and the little I've learned, I've learned from TV and movies. I've often thought that I should start a "Seela asks stupid questions about the USA" thread so that I don't hijack other threads with OT questions.

So back to regular programming now.

You don't ask stupid questions. I also like hearing about the topics you tend to bring up. I like the structure of a lot of school systems in other countries. I noticed growing up that as the years went by, we learned more and more based on standardized tests. Teachers over the years stopped anything thoughtful or interesting and instead had to start prepping us for basic tests. It became a matter of memorizing something long enough to pass the test, and after the test you just forget all about what you learned. I lost interest in most studies.

This could also be due to the area I lived in being poor and relying so much on tourism for most income. Our residents tend to vote down taxes that will help schools, the one thing I heard the most was, " why should I pay more in taxes? I don't have kids in school."

I never answered the question fully. I'm a native English speaker. I took a couple of semesters of Spanish in middle school, but was largely uninterested in it. I would like to learn Russian, German, or French. Mostly Russian, a large part of my ancestry is Russian, I think it is interesting.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

... It's Mexican Spanish that I studied/am studying again. (Two years in high school, two years in college, and retained very little of it.) It's essentially the same, of course, but there are a handful of differences....

There are a handful of different words, the whole C&Z pronunciation thing, and some tenses that are not used in "Mexican" Spanish, but I find the main difference to be in the cadence. I live in Texas and can have a hard time understanding Tex-Mex, depending how vato it sounds
I get a lot of compliments on my Spanish. People here are generally not prepared for a weda speaking Castilian

 

[IrisAlthea]

There are a handful of different words, the whole C&Z pronunciation thing, and some tenses that are not used in "Mexican" Spanish, but I find the main difference to be in the cadence. I live in Texas and can have a hard time understanding Tex-Mex, depending how vato it sounds
I get a lot of compliments on my Spanish. People here are generally not prepared for a weda speaking Castilian

The lisping thing is not done in the Americas, right? Or does it depend on where you're from?

 

[LWulf]

I've had the "honor" of having a fractured childhood.

At first, my parents could afford to send me and my sibs to private school. My luck was, being the youngest, although I didn't have the luxury of an elective class of a language, my elders were in German and French classes. They would come home and part of their way of studying was to speak those languages with me. I was in 1st grade at the time.

Later on, for one reason or another, I had to go into the public school system, which, while supposedly "standardized," each school in the US is still very different. Each says the same thing; "Well, whatever classes you took in your last school, is great, but THIS is how we do things HERE." I also lived in different locations for one reason or another.

Edit: To address questions about the US schooling system...
Schools here (at least 45-30 years ago) are standardized in having a standard curriculum, how they implement that curriculum is another matter all together. The private school I at first attended fought the grading system the US uses, by saying the tail shouldn't wag the dog. Their goal was to use a college grading system with the intent to educate students to eventual matriculate into college effortlessly. The only exception that school implemented was to break A into AA (Above Average for 98 to 99) and E (Excellence for 100). I was, on average, an E student. This counted against me when I went into the lackluster public school system which had no interest into looking into anything that wasn't standardized and shoved me into remedial classes. I won't discuss anything further from that point.

I took two years of Spanish in Junior High, got 100 each time but this was not unusual for me at the time. I can't really discuss much more than that regarding the school system here without going into a very heated and lengthy rant.

The problem with learning a language or any other form of knowledge, is that what you don't use, will get forgotten if not used; this applies to anybody. Nobody should feel bad when they say this. I've been seeing a lot of people here repeating this and how they feel abashed that their learned second languages have slipped over the years. I just felt like mentioning that it's a normal thing that shouldn't be ashamed of.

Something I didn't mention earlier, is that I have moved around all over the US. Mostly following work, but also depending which family member I was living with at the time. I mention this because with my ear to pick up languages, I can blend in within a matter of a few conversations and pride myself on speaking like a native where ever I've lived and I've lived in... it's hard to remember, I think about 25-30 states. As far as personality and temperament likewise, I used to blend in easier, when I was younger, but that has been slipping the older I get.

An interesting story about one fellow I went to Spanish class with, was that he was a South American exchange student. I forget which country but he had this interesting was of speaking Spanish with a Ch-Ch-Ch sound. I'm not saying he stuttered but every word seemed to have a Ch intonation. My Spanish teacher told me he was a typical speaker in his country. It was interesting conversing in Spanish with him and, as always, I adopted his accent when speaking with him.