What languages do you speak?

[andygirl]

I love languages. Linguistics is one of my greatest loves; right now I'm studying Mohawk for a course on Native American languages. It's one of the most fascinating languages I've ever looked at- polysynthetic, interesting agent/patient relationship, damn cool in general. I've studied French and Spanish as well as a bit of ASL over the course of my life; I hope to eventually become fluent in all of them.

I also tend to pick up swear words in other languages. Funny, that.

Dopers, what languages do you speak? Why do you speak them? Are you fluent?

[Dragon Phoenix]

Fluent in Dutch (mother tongue), German and English. Working knowledge of French. These three languages are (were?) part of the schooling in Holland and I have been able to extend my knowledge of them by working for a multinational.

Currently trying to learn mandarin (the toughest thing I have ever done), mainly because my wife is Chinese and most of my in-laws do not speak English.

[They Call Me Sneeze]

I studied German for four years in high school, Russian the first two years in college, and have taken for the last two years (which are actually the middle two years) -

Kiswahili!

It is so much fun. The professor is kick-ass awesome, which is probably why I like it so much, but there are so many neat ways to say things in Kiswahili - it is a very poetic language, I think.

The only thing I am actually fluent in, though, is English. (But I'm working on it.)

[zev_steinhardt]

I speak English.

I can read & write Hebrew. I can also hold a conversation if the other person doesn't go too fast.

I can also understand and follow a conversation in Yiddish (although I can't really speak it at all).

Lastly, I can understand ancient Aramaic (as written in the Talmud).

Zev Steinhardt

[andygirl]

Zev, is it common for Orthodox Jews to understand Aramaic?

Another question for everyone- do the older and younger generations in your family speak the same languages? Why or why not?

Much of my heritage is German. A great number of my family came to America just before World War I to escape from the Kaiser. They spoke German and kept many of the customs. This continued until WWII, where the German language (and the pride) were forsaken by my family in light of the atrocities.

I understand that this was fairly common.

[ITR champion]

Raised in English. During 4th grade, I spent a year in France. Learned some French, but not nearly as much as my Dad thought I should. Started taking German in 7th grade and continued for four years. While learning German, I forgot my French. Whenever a new word entered my German vocab, it exited my Frnech, or at least that's what it seems like. I can at least order food in a restaraunt in Germany now.

[Drastic]

Conozco un poco espanol, pero olvide mucho de la lingua, porque tengo no necesitidad por la usa de el.

In other words, after four years in high school and a couple refresher courses of Spanish in college, I speak it sorta half-assed. Missing accent marks and such above, and I'm pretty sure I made up one word entirely. :)

[Timchik]

Raised in English. Took French lessons from grade 4 to grade 12. Learned close to nothing. Went to university in Montreal, learned decent but accented French from living in a French environment.
My major was languages, so by the time I graduated I had fairly advanced German, decent Spanish, and basic Russian.
Now, after living in Moscow for 7 years :eek:, I have fluent Russian, decent German, rusty French, and nearly non-existent Spanish.
Have also dabbled in Mandarin, Czech, and Armenian, to no great effect.
My son, who's nearly two, will probably be fluently bilingual (Russian/English). Lucky bastard.

[Kyla]

The only language I am totally fluent in is English. Neither of my parents speak anything else. I took Spanish for four years in high school, and was pretty good at it (I was even asked to skip a year, and took Spanish 5 in twelfth grade). I intended to continue studying it in college, but I could never fit it into my schedule, so you can imagine what happened. I went to Mexico in February, and constantly felt like the words I needed were on the tip of my tongue, just barely eluding me.

I also speak decent Hebrew, but I fear it is slipping away as well, from disuse. I try to talk to myself in Hebrew, and find myself having to really think about verb conjugations that used to be automatic. Although I had a chat in Hebrew on aforementioned trip to Mexico, and it seemed to come back easily after a couple minutes. My reading and writing is not as good as it ought to be (especially my reading), unfortunately.

[Or'n'ry Oscar]

Originally posted by andygirl
Much of my heritage is German. A great number of my family came to America just before World War I to escape from the Kaiser. They spoke German and kept many of the customs. This continued until WWII, where the German language (and the pride) were forsaken by my family in light of the atrocities.

I understand that this was fairly common.

Andygirl, I find this a bit curious.

First, why would your ancestors have been fleeing the Kaiser prior to WWI? Were they being persecuted? Why? Or did they leave to find better opportunities elsewhere?

Second, it is my impression many who emigrated from European or other countries to the US (or Australia or Brazil or any number of other nations) usually adopted the language of the country to which they had moved because it was what they needed on a daily basis to survive. Moreover, people didn't forsake German because of atrocities. In addition to the point I have just made, I think they did so because Germany was the enemy in the Ist and IInd World Wars. Few, it seems to me, knew of the atrocities of the Third Reich during the war and it was then that the study of German experienced its greatest decline in the US.

To answer the question, though, when recently in Italy, I discovered that my Italian that I had not really spoken at all for 13 years proved quite serviceable. On 3 occassions, I was asked if I was Swiss. I also have German and French. Spanish and Portuguese are understandable to me and I can order a meal or a drink in either. Turkish is the one I'm having difficulties with at the moment. I have never tried an agglutenative language before, and it is proving quite the conundrum.

[JavaMaven1]

Fluent in English

Took a year of Japanese in 9th grade (which I've basically forgotten)
Took three years of German through high school (which is extremely rusty)
Learning Spanish bit by bit now, as not only do I work with mostly Spanish-speakers, but my SO's family is from Latin America, and half of them don't speak English.

[Lsura]

Originally posted by Kyla
I went to Mexico in February, and constantly felt like the words I needed were on the tip of my tongue, just barely eluding me.

That's me with Spanish as well. I took it for 3 years in high school, did well and was able to carry on a conversation. Then I didn't think about it for, oh 11 years.

I work with 2 native speakers, and I'm amazed at the amount I understand when they're speaking. We had a trip to Honduras in January, and I was able to follow conversations-I missed details, but I knew what was going on. Actually speaking was another matter though. I think that's mostly fear, because if I can understand, I know the words.

I also speak German well, but I barely understand it at all. I just haven't been exposed to it much since college, but I think I could survive, though conversations would be slow at first.

My favorite, though, is when I attempt to speak one or the other and a horrid mixture of the two languages comes out.

[flodnak]

German flourished in the US from the time of the earliest colonies until the First World War. Many German speakers were bilingual, but some spoke little or no English. There was an active German-language press, many private German schools, and even bilingual public education in some states. However, WWI changed all that. German speakers abandoned their language for fear of being seen as disloyal; those who didn't were openly harrassed. A few cities even passed ordinances against speaking German on the streets! It's a rather astounding story, but most people have never heard of it...

As for me, I speak English and Norwegian (no big surprises there). I used to speak German and could probably pick it up again. I studied some Russian and can read the Cyrillic alphabet, which sometimes allows me to convince particularly credulous people that I can read Russian. It's easier if they're drunk.

[SPOOFE]

"I am fluent in over six million forms of communication."

(Somebody had to say it! Apparently, I'm a gay, gold robot)

[screech-owl]

Primary language - English

Learn smatterings of words and phrases in Polish, Russian and Italian from the neighbors when I was a tyke (mostly swear words, as I found out later).
Took French in middle and high school.
Took German in college.
Teaching myself Latin.
Fairly fluent in heraldese (Norman French).

Plus the languages I make up when I stub my toe.

[John Corrado]

Five years of French classes.
Three years of Italian classes.
Two years of teaching myself Russian.

End result:

Nada. I am the anti-andy; no matter how hard I try to learn, other languages slip through my brain like water through a sieve.

Hell, some days I'm lucky to remember how to speak English.

[zev_steinhardt]

Originally posted by andygirl
Zev, is it common for Orthodox Jews to understand Aramaic?


If you study the Talmud for a number of years, yes. It is written using the Hebrew alphabet and is similar to Hebrew.

Zev Steinhardt

[Spoons]

English is my first language.

I also speak Russian and French, although those could use some brushing up. I began my study of French early; Russian I studied later, as a teenager. I was one of those who seemed to be able to learn languages fairly easily, so I concentrated on those when I was a university student.

Have I been able to use them in their environments? Well, French got me through France (and other parts of Europe) pretty well years ago. As for Russian, I had some good friends who were originally from Russia, and I was invited along for all the family celebrations (Christmas, Easter, and so on), as well as other times. All the conversation was in Russian, and I found that I could hold my own!

But like I said, nowadays both my French and my Russian could use some brushing up.

Originally posted by screech-owl
Plus the languages I make up when I stub my toe.

Hey, I speak those too! :)

[Suo Na]

Raised unilingual English (no thanks to my father: "I didn't think you'd need to speak Slovak.")

Working knowledge of French, thanks to the Ontario school boards. Fluent with immersion.

I have an instinctive grasp of Italian, which I took in high school and university. I know that with immersion I could become as fluent as one can become as an adult.

I took Latin in high school and German in university. I have a decent Czech vocabulary with no grammar. I have some little knowledge of many other languages from my own studies in linguistics (you can learn a lot by diagramming sentences.)

[gobear]

I am proficient in Korean and Spanish, competent but badly accented in French, and I can buy a beer/order a meal/rent a room/and get directions in Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese), Japanese, Italian, and German. I can read Latin and New Testament Greek (thank you, parochial school!), and I taught myself to read Russian, although I need a dictionary handy.

[dodge_this]

I speak English, Mandarin, and Malay. I'm trying to find someone to teach me Kristang and Peranakan - the respective languages of my Portuguese Eurasian and Straits Chinese forefathers. Apparently they're all going the way of Latin now.

[Bartman]

I speak English natively, portuguese fluently and can read french, spanish and italian with about 75% accuracy. I used to be able to read and write latin fairly well, but living in Brazil for a few years seems to have overwritten those neurons.

[Soda]

My native language is Swedish and I dare say that I'm fluent... ;) No really, I am good with it and I've always been complimented on essays and oral presentations. I have a way with words they tell me.

I'm also fluent in English. I have spent about two and a half years in North America and sometimes I think I speak it better than I write it. Maybe it's because I have nailed the prosody of it. Give me two days in an English speaking environment and most people mistake me for an American. I like it...

I could have been fluent in French. I took six years in school and I've spent 9 months in France, but I was really unhappy when I was there, and I simply didn't feel like immersing myself. So I speak it, but not very well, and since it's been a while, I don't think I'd be too good at it.

I would like to learn Icelandic and Dutch. I don't know why really, because they're not very international, but maybe that's the charm...

[tiny ham]

I took four years of Spanish in high school and never really got the hang of it. I can recognize words and maybe get the gist of a paragraph, but that's about it.

I took Russian in college and I loved it. I think it's a very easy language to get a hold of, reading and speaking it is easy to do because it's almost always phonetic. If you learn the sound of the letter, you can pronounce any word. I think it sounds sexy, too. I took Russian culture courses at the same time, which was beneficial because I could apply what I was learning in the language course.

And now that I'm out of college and always looking for hobbies, I'm trying to teach myself German.

It's hard. I've got about six different textbooks and a big, thick dictionary (oh baby!), but that crazy language is driving me up the wall. If I had $2,000 I'd just throw it at DePaul or something and take a class, but right now I can't afford it.

someday, someday...I will speak German.

I promise.

jarbaby

[Olentzero]

Native language: English.

Studied in classes:
German. Totally forgotten, this was some twenty years ago now.
Russian. Four years at Georgetown, a year in St. Petersburg. Got Russian co-workers so I'm keeping up with it; reading novels on the Metro is fun!
French. Four years in high school. Guess I've held onto it, since I gave directions to the World Bank to a tourist a few weeks ago, after not having spoken a word in well over six years.
Greek. A year at Georgetown. Can still read some, but haven't spoken it in a while. Definitely need to brush up on it again.
Basque. A semester at Georgetown. Can't read it too well, but I remember a large part of the vocabulary.

Have studied independently:
Russian. Did this in high school and in between there and Georgetown.
Italian. A more recent endeavor; I can hold my own briefly but I need more practice.
Swedish. Ask Anniz how I'm doing. :D
Japanese. Got so far as to buy some children's kanji guides along with the basic grammars but haven't gotten anywhere near practical with it. Much more practice needed.
Yiddish. I spent years trying to find a grammar book and located one in a used bookshop. I didn't care that I'd been fired earlier in the day and had no money to spend on such luxuries; I was damned if I was going to let this opportunity slip. I can still read it but gotta brush up on the grammar some more.

[Kayeby]

English - self-explanatory, I think.

Mandarin - I speak this with my parents and their friends.

French - learned for 6 years in High School. The accent isn't bad but the grammar is atrocious.

I can swear in German, Italian, Cantonese and Japanese, and say "I love you" in German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.

Incidentally, while I was in France, I met a woman who spoke 14 languages. Her 20-year old daughter spoke a paltry 10. :)

[Anniz]

Originally posted by Olentzero
Native language: English.
[QUOTE]
Swedish. Ask Anniz how I'm doing. :D


You're doing very good,
especially when I'm thinking of that you learned it by yourself.
I'm impressed by that.:)

Me, native language, Swedish and then I speak English,
not the best, but okay.

[pluto]

Originally posted by Anniz
[QUOTE]You're doing very good

Um, Anniz?*

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.

I'm guessing that I'm one of the few posters who understand Maori. I'm guessing GuanoLad is another. I never got much good at speaking it, but I could read and write pretty well and understand when spoken as long as it wasn't too fast. The best part of it is that most Polynesian languages (Tahitian, Hawaiian, Samoan, etc.) are pretty closely related and learning one gives you a very good start on the others. That's how Captain Cook did it. His translator didn't really know Maori when Cook explored New Zealand but Maori is sufficiently similar to other Polynesian languages that native speakers of each can understand and be understood.

I studied Russian in college, one semester, got an A, can't remember a thing. Except that changing alphabets was much harder for me than changing languages. (I must be a visual learner.) Tried to learn Swedish once (my family heritage) but didn't try for long. (And I have the temerity to criticize Anniz!)

*It should be, "You're doing very well". It's just one of many irregularities in English, and it's a mistake made very often by native English speakers. I think you speak English well, Anniz. I'm just teasing you.

[Spavined Gelding]

Once upon a time, Mrs. G. Was fluent in French and I spoke and read a passible form of German. Our high school foreign language teachers were both Belgian nationals. When we lived overseas, thanks to the American taxpayers, the Germans thought I was French (the green suit confused them ) and the French thought that my wife was Beglian, because of the accent acquired in high school. Now that middle age has crept up (crept past?) on us, we have had a chance to go back to Europe and find that time and non-use has rendered us both nearly inarticulate.

[Sublight]

English, my native language.
Japanese, which I don't speak well enough considering I've been living here for 6 years.
French, which I learned as a child and studied in high school, but have now forgotten.
German, which I barely passed one year of in college.
Esperanto, which I try to study every now and then but always seem to get distracted.

Sometime in the future I'd like to try Korean and/or Mandarin

--sublight.

[Johanna]

Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu.

A bit of Bengali, Chinese, Finnish, Greek, Japanese, Latin, Mongolian, Navajo, Panjabi, Polish, Quechua, Russian, Telugu, Uzbek.

I have been studying Sanskrit for years and have actually made a dent in it!

[Johanna]

P.S. I know Esperanto — it's kind of impossible not to — but I don't count it.

[Anniz]

Originally posted by pluto
Originally posted by Anniz
[QUOTE]You're doing very good

Um, Anniz?*

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.


*It should be, "You're doing very well
Great, one more except Montfort that whants to learn me English.
Just kidding, I think I improve almost every day here in The US.

[KarlGrenze]

Native language: Spanish
Knows well enough: English
Can read or understand part of it: Italian, Portuguese
Can get every other word: French, German, Latin

*sigh* My school does not offer foreign language courses (English is required here), and the process to take them at the Univerity is a hassle(besides, im leaving here). I hope I could take some of those languages at the university I will go to.*sigh*

PD. Drastic: "Conozco un poco espanol, pero olvide mucho de la lingua, porque tengo no necesitidad por la usa de el.

In other words, after four years in high school and a couple refresher courses of Spanish in college, I speak it sorta half-assed. Missing accent marks and such above, and I'm pretty sure I made up one word entirely. "

Yea...lingua, necesitidad...but I find it cool that other high schools offer different language courses, and that you people took them.

[andygirl]

Originally posted by Or'n'ry Oscar
Andygirl, I find this a bit curious.

First, why would your ancestors have been fleeing the Kaiser prior to WWI?

I've been told that for whatever political reason things were a bit sticky. That at the general chase after the American dream thing.


Second, it is my impression many who emigrated from European or other countries to the US (or Australia or Brazil or any number of other nations) usually adopted the language of the country to which they had moved because it was what they needed on a daily basis to survive. [/B]

This is true. However many of them spoke their native tongue at home- this was the case with my family. They stopped speaking German bit by bit over the course of the war, and it came to a complete cease by the end of it.

Sorry it wasn't clear. Didn't figure that you wanted an in-depth elaboration on my family history. ;)

[Amedeus]

Parlo soltanto inglese. È triste. Desidero parlare altri linguaggi.

Il serait grand en effet d'apprendre des langues telles que le Français, l'arabe et le latin.


Eines Tages kenne ich alle diese Weisen zu sprechen, und ich jedoch vermutlich bin nicht glücklich. Ich wünsche mehr und mehr wissen.

But I cannot speak any of these things, I only know english, so im stuck with either english or this place (http://dictionary.com/translate/)

[Orual]

English: 1st language
Spanish: Learned from kindergarden through high school, getting rusty now though.
Ancient Greek and Latin: Learning for my major, clumsy in both, will be fluent before I graduate.
Japanese:I am starting this next semester. I already know a bit, but nothing useful (except the swearing, swear words are always useful :)).

[Geek Mecha]

English is my first language.

I took three years of French in college, and enjoyed it immensely.

Mais c'était il y a de deux ans, et maintenant je parle français comme un touriste américain. :)

[Northern Piper]

First language English, second language French.

As for why/how, it's courtesy the Canadian educational system, originally. I've kept it up because it's an advantage for me in my area of law - I've studied law at anglophone and francophone universities, and have pleaded cases in both languages.

[CBEscapee]

Spanish Have lived most of my life in Mexico. This is my children's first language and lo que hablamos entre nosotros.
English My native language.

Can read and understand Italian and French.

[TV time]

English is my mother language.

Grew up speaking Spanish off and on, so I have a working knowledge of that.

Also speak Woleaian and the related dialects of Trukese and Ulithian. Maybe 1,000 people speak Woleaian. Add another 300 for Ulithian and 4,000 for Trukese.

They are three of the languages of the Carolinian Islands of the Western Pacific. I was in the Peace Corps there for three years, became quite proficent in the language. Hard to find a fellow speaker, however, and since the language isn't a written language, I haven't had much practice in recent years. I am very rusty.

TV

[Coldfire]

Originally posted by Jomo Mojo
Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu. You are shitting me. That's nothing short of amazing!

Dutch is my mother tongue (Dragon Phoenix, I didn't know we were fellow countrymen! I guess that's a compliment to your excellent English. ;)).
I suppose my English is near fluent. I'll leave it to others to comment on that. I'm hardly ever lost for a word, and after 6 years of high school English, 6 years of college lectures and literature in English, two years of working in a 95% Anglo environment, AND almost two years in this nuthouse, I think I've gotten the hang of it sufficiently. ;)
My German is well enough to get by in casual and business conversations, although I do make the odd grammar mistake. I had 5 years of German in high school, and spend a lot of holidays skiing in Austria - since I was usually in Vorarlberg, I made it a point NOT to adapt the local accent. It's quite hidious. My vocabulary is well enough to compensate for my grammar mistakes, and I'm told my accent isn't too "Dutch" either. When you want an example of how NOT to speak German from a Dutch point of view, there's only two words: Rudi Carell. German posters will now be shuddering in their chairs. :D
I'm adequate at French. Six years of high school training, and a lot of summer holidays in the south of France. Enough to hold a casual conversation, but not enough for business purposes. I could if I trained some more. My written French is good, but it DOES take me a lot of time.
I speak enough Spanish to get around ever since I went to Mexico last year. I'm grateful if they know a little English as well, however... Spanish is one language I hope to improve on.

Italian is another language I'd love to learn.

Soda, you'd probably pick up Dutch pretty easily, being Swedish (and DAMN is your English good!). But as you said, the international applications for it are limited.

Great thread, andygirl. I'm a language lover too.

[silent_rob]

I speak English fluently, because it's my native tongue and because I love words and language in general. I also love slang and colloquialisms, and like dashing my speech with a smattering of them.

I also speak French from taking it throughout elementary school and high school. I've also taken a little in university, but the lack of regular use has made my French suffer. I can understand spoken and written French, and can carry on a conversation in...most situations. If I were to be in a discussion in some specialized field, I might feel a little lost. However, everyday conversations are not usually a problem. I wish there were in more situations where I had to speak French on a regular basis.

I've know a little in a few languages; a few phrases here and there in Spanish, Italian, and German. I've learned them from different places (from friends who've taken classes in them, from foreign films, etc.).
I also know some basic Japanese. I tried learning it on my own for a while but became too busy. However, I'm going to work on it this summer and my friend Hidekazu has said he'll help me. :)

[FairyChatMom]

Once upon a time many years ago, I wanted to be a foreign language teacher. I have a pretty good language aptitude, and had I known then what I know now, I'd have pursued a career as a linguist. Unfortunately, all I could see to do with language in 1972 was teach, and in my county, there was a glut of language teachers, so I wound up joining the Navy instead... but I digress.

French - rusty, but I could survive in France

Spanish - rustier, tho I think I could get along and make myself understood in most day-to-day situations

German - I had 2 semesters - did great with the instructor who was a native speaker, developed attitude when the instructor was the smart-ass grad student. But I can still say Ich bin krank and Ich bin mude...

Polish - a few words... when I was a kid, my mom wanted to teach us, but we were too cool to care. Now the native speakers in my family are all dead and my folks remember little... bummer.

Japanese - I learned to introduce myself and say a few phrases, but it was almost 30 years ago.

Farsi - I taught myself to read the numbers, but it's kinda tough to learn a language without hearing it.

I read that the gov't is in need of linguists for mid-eastern languages... if I was younger, I'd be on my way to school in Monterey. Ah well...

[SteveinSpain]

Native language: Bostonian. Don't be retaahted.
Fluent in: Spanish. Un giri pa' ti.

[Francesca]

My two primary languages are English and British Sign Language. Fluent in both, obviously.

Studied Latin for seven years, result: good.
Studied French for seven years, result: passable.
Studied Spanish for two years, result: nada.

I can understand quite a bit of Italian, just by association with the languages i already know.

Where's matt_mcl, our resident linguist? I'm sure i remember him giving a huge long list of languages he knows.

[blanx]

Native Language- English. I do ok.

After many years in H.S. and college, I speak pretty fluent French.

I can read Spanish and Italian- mostly due to taking all that French.

I can speak enough Khmer (Cambodian) to get into serious trouble, but not enough to negotiate for my release from captivity.

[CalMeacham]

Only English, damnit!

My hero, Sir Richard Francis Burton, was fluent in a host of languages, travelked the world, and translated several classics (including the Arabian Nights). I'd like to do a hundredth as well.

It's not for lack of trying.

I studied eight years of Polish in grammar school. The problem was, it amounted to eight years of first-year Polish. I know a handful of words.

I was the last generation of Alter Boys to memorize the Mass in Latin. I was so taken by it that I went out and bought Latin Made Easy in fifth grade and studied on my own. I took two years of Latin in high school, going so far as to translate parts of Menaechmi into English and even having a go at the Epigrams of Martial. Nowadays it's all rusted into immobility.

I took three years of Spanish in high school. I found that this was not enough to help me with directory assistance over the telephone in Spanish. It does enable me to read the billboards in the Spanish-speaking parts of town.

I studied Japanese on my own for a few years. At the end I could speak Japanese at the "Shogun" level -- that is, I knew Japanese as well as if I'd learned it entirely by watching the miniseries "Shogun".

I find that I can fake my way through technical papers in foreign languages if I have a dictionary. I've learned that this is the way most of my professors did it back when "knowing" a foreign language was a prerequisite for your Ph.D., so I'm not unduly impressed by them anymore -- I "know" French as well as my ex-advisor did, by that criterion.

But now that I'm writing about mythology I really wish I knew more foreign languages.

[Trout Mask Replica]

English: My native language.
French: I took four years of it in high school. I can read and write it well enough and I can follow a conversation if the other person doesn't go too quickly, but my pronunciation is horrid.
Latin: Took two years in high school. I can stumble through The Gallic Wars.
Ancient Greek: Two semesters my freshman year in college. I've lost most of it, but I can struggle through the Greek New Testament if I have a grammar and lexicon at my elbow.
Spanish: Sesame Street taught me how to count to ten. Later on I picked up a few phrases from working around Spanish speakers and watching Sabado Gigante. I can also kind of understand written Spanish.
Italian: Food and swear words.
Russian: I can sort of read it because a lot of the letters look like their Greek equivalents, and I also know how to say 'hello', 'thank you', and 'I am an American'.

[Maeglin]

English is my mother tongue. Mastering it is still a daily struggle.

As far as modern languages go, I've studied French for several years, and can read it competently. My listening comprehension and spoken skills are in serious disuse.

I've studied German less, but I can still read it fairly well. Sure, it takes me hours to translate one scholarly article (badly), but I can do it. I cam certainly order a beer, but don't ask me to give directions.

That's it for the moderns. My best language uber alles is definitely Latin. Give me an English text and a Roman author and I can do a passable imitation of his style in a few hours. My prose is, of course, better than my verse. But I have written more than a few correct, if doggerel hexameters.

I'm a little less skilled in Ancient Greek, but I can still translate just about anything. I have trouble with drama, though. I'd rather read Plato than Aeschylus.

My Middle High German and Old English are quite good. With a glossary I can slough through just about anything from the Anglo-Saxon or Mittelhochdeutsch corpus. Same with Old French. I'm working on learning Occitan now, definitely one of the most wonderful languages I have ever studied. Icelandic and Old Norse are on the horizon when I'm done reading through the troubadour poems.

So that's that. I'm probably forgetting something, though.

MR

[Jman]

I am fluent in English (native tongue), and I speak and write moderately competant German. I took 4 years of German in high school, and two semester in college. I can understand a lot more than I can speak, but I can get my speaking ability to improve fairly rapidly if I'm exposed to it in any significant way.

Jman

[GrizzRich]

ASL. That is, I sign.
Well enough so that hearings think that I'm fluent, and just poor enough to give myself away as a hearing to the Deaf.

And a bit of Russian and French.

GrizzWife is fluent in French. She can't get enough of SCOLA on cable when France or Quebec is on.

GrizzSon is still only babbling. (hey, he's only 6 months old... and was two months premature at that!) But I sign to him when I speak to him and I SWEAR that I saw him sign "Dad" to me the other day.

Can you tell?... I'm WAY too proud of him!

[Phallyn]

My mother tongue is English. French is as close to a second language as I have, and I'm fairly proficient at it (however, it should be said that I speak Cajun French, not standard Francais French. What can I say, I'm from Mississippi. Louisianna is right next door).

I know a good bit of German, mostly self taught. A ballroom dance teacher of mine was born and raised in Germany, and that spurred me into learning his native language. I found it surprising simple to learn; German is rather similar to English in some ways.

I took half a year of Spanish and retained just enough to get by, as my middle-school teachers were crap. I also know a few basic phrases, greetings, and swear words (always important!) in Russian, Italian, Japanese, and Croation. My father taught me how to say "goodbye" (didi mow) and "hello" (la da) in Vietnamese, which he learned while in the Armed Forces.

Another friend of mine is the child of two deaf parents, and she gave me an American Sign Language sheet to learn from. I have it pinned on my wall and practice often. I have the most trouble with "g" and "h". Other than that, I'm half-way decent. No where near as good as she is, though.

[Studi]

Fluent in:

English, Engrish, Ebonics.

Nah.

I can speak Latin only very slowly (it's hard to keep track of conjugations and declensions in one's head!), but am very good at writing it.

Studi

[Doobieous]

Puedo hablar el español, pero, no puedo hablar tan bueno como un hispanohablante :).

Anyway, i´ve taken 2 years of spanish in College, which is logical, being a Spanish major. My speaking skills arent as good as my writing and comprehension skills. So, that´s why i plan to study abroad for a semester. I know i can hold enough of a conversation in it though, and native speakers say my accent is very good (in other words, i dont really sound like an American when i speak it).

I´m fluent in English of course.

I did take a summer long intensive course through the Monterey Institute of International studies (they had enough money lying around to pay for me). The course was a Tagalog course. I was able to write simple page long essays at the end, but i´ve lost most of what i learned. I can still understand certain things, however.

Oh and Drastic, here´s how i´d say what you meant to say:

Conozco un poco de español, pero he olvidado mucha de la lengua. No hay la necesidad para mi que usar la lengua.

Trans: I know a little spanish, but i have forgotten much of the language. There is no necesity for me to use the language

(the translation is literal, and since I am not a native speaker, that´s just what ¨feels right¨ to me.....i may have made mistakes, which is why i really need to go overseas :)).

[iampunha]

Moderate fluency in French (came to college with 12 credits in French), and of course English.

And I just discovered that a minor in French would be harder'n I thought.

[Katisha]

English, of course, is my native language. I started studying French when I was five (though I haven't taken a class in a couple of years), so I'm pretty good at it by now. :D And I can read Latin and Old English, though I'm not too good at OE yet. (I've only started studying it this year.)

[Johanna]

Originally posted by Coldfire
[b]Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu.

You are shitting me. That's nothing short of amazing!
Well, I admit to padding the list some . . . Malay and Indonesian are actually the same language! So are Hindi and Urdu. You get two for the price of one. :)

[KarlGrenze]

Conozco un poco de español, pero he olvidado mucha de la lengua. No hay la necesidad para mi que usar la lengua.

Trans: I know a little spanish, but i have forgotten much of the language. There is no necesity for me to use the language

Should be then: No tengo necesidad de usar la lengua. or No hay necesidad para mi de usar la lengua.


May you like and learn on your time abroad. Good to know you like Spanish enought to make it your major. (Sorry, I come from a place where some people think Spanish is useless, but that's for another thread)

[Creaky]

Fluency: English (my native language), and Spanish.

Conversational, Read/Write: French

[matt_mcl]

I speak English, French, Spanish, some Italian, and Esperanto. My next trick will be German, but I will have to drop Italian as it is encroaching on my Spanish. *sigh* Tante lingue, tanto poco di tempo...

[Pammipoo]

I used to know tons of Spanish...3 years later, and my knowledge ahs dwindled to "Hola!". Now, all my closers are Brazilian. Communicating with them is a pain in the butt....anyone who knows Portuguese who's willing to tutor me? :)

[pulykamell]

I grew up learning Polish and English simultaneously, if not the Polish first. However, my Polish is only conversationally fluent (having never formally studied it for too extensive a period of time) -- meaning that I can't discuss the intracacies of business or biology. But I can think and dream in it, and it feels like a mother tongue, which it technically is.

Hungarian -- Been trying to sort of teach myself, ya know, living here and all, but it's been remarkably difficult. I understand much more than I can say, and I know enough to get by with simple conversations.

German -- Learned it out here, figuring it was easier than Hungarian and more useful in the region. It is fairly easy (compared to Hungarian or Polish) but I only studied it in class for 6 months, which got me to a stuttering conversational level. Still can't understand "The Simpsons" in German, which was another motivating factor for learning it. (Plus I was in love with an absolutely lovely southern German girl at the time.)

Croatian/Serbian -- Spent three months doing volunteer work in a split town in Croatia. Easy to pick up since I spoke Polish. Not fluent, but functional. Tested myself a few weeks ago by asking a cab driver in Belgrade directions to a hotel. I understood him. (Woo hoo. I'm always excited when I can communicate successfully in a foreign language I'm unused to.)

French - The language I studied the most, but remember the least. Four years in high school. Enough to get by in France with simple requests and read French photo magazines. Not enough to understand the blizzard of syllables that assaults you in a French film or TV series.

Other Slavic languages They're relatively closely related, so I can understand and make myself understood (with varying levels of difficulty, depending on which language it is) in pretty much any of them. Czech and Slovak are especially easy.

[China Guy]

I took Chinese during university. Don't ask why 'cause I've never had a real good answer, even for myself. I liked it for some godawful reason and it drove me to study about 8 hours a day. I took two years, went to Taiwan, and learned how to speak fluently. Took two more years at University and got a degree in Chinese. While I'm still painfully from California, I've lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China for about 15 years, have settled in Shanghai, my daughter is a dual citizens and I've got no plans to leave. I can and do do business in Mandarin. Can handle basic Shanghaiese, and can swear quite fluently in Cantonese, Taiwanese and Sichuanese.

After 5 years of the Taiwan, HK, China thing, I got sick of it, and did a few years of Japanese and lived in Tokyo. My Japanese isn't that great but I can get by.

Took two pathetic years of French in High School and couldn't say jack when I went to France a few years ago.

[Annie-Xmas]

Took two years of high school French. I can still read and write it, but I have a speech impediment in English and could never really pronounce it.

I have a Swedish sister-in-law, and I've learned a lot of the language from her.

I collect Andrew Lloyd Webber musical cast CDS, and have learned a lot from them. Particularly the German, Swedish and Dutch ones. I can pretty much "decipher" written German, and I'm beginning to understood it when it's spoken. Hardly an expert, but I'd say I've learned about 35-40% of it without any effort.

When I was reading these posts, my brain was going "Japanese? Superstar, CATS, Phantom, Aspects. Hindu? Zindagi. Czech? Superstar, Evita...." Totally obsessed!

[fierra]

English (obviously), French from school, & know, but not speak, Latin & Ancient Greek. I could swear in about 14 languages in my teens, but I think I've forgotten a lot of them now. I had this theory that to speak a language like a native, you had to be able to swear in it...I think I took a short cut with the logic there...;)

[hardygrrl]

Fluent in English and American Sign Language.

Took four years of Spanish back in high school- I can read it and understand it spoken but it takes me a while to put sentences together and speak.

Knowing Spanish I can sometimes make out French and Italian.

I've picked up a little Tagalog and Croatian from friends who are fluent.


Being raised Jewish I know some Hebrew but a lot of Yiddish. When I hear my friends calling someone a putz or a shiksa I LMAO-because I know where they learned those words.

[CBEscapee]

Originally posted by KarlGrenze
Conozco un poco de español, pero he olvidado mucha de la lengua. No hay la necesidad para mi que usar la lengua.

Trans: I know a little spanish, but i have forgotten much of the language. There is no necesity for me to use the language

Should be then: No tengo necesidad de usar la lengua. or No hay necesidad para mi de usar la lengua.


May you like and learn on your time abroad. Good to know you like Spanish enought to make it your major. (Sorry, I come from a place where some people think Spanish is useless, but that's for another thread)

Conozco un poco de español. is incorrect. Should have used the verb saber here. Sé un poco de español.
To express knowledge or ignorance of a fact or information about something, use saber.

Or you could say: Conozco el idioma(o la lengua) de español.
To say that one is or is not acquainted with a person, a place, or an object, use conocer.

The difference between saber and conocer is confusing sometimes. This is where immersion comes in handy. After constantly hearing the language, you'll know what sounds right.

[KarlGrenze]

The difference between saber and conocer is confusing sometimes. This is where immersion comes in handy. After constantly hearing the language, you'll know what sounds right.


Ive' been immersed in Spanish all my life, and I still have errors.(though minor ones). BTW, where where you this morning when I took my AP Spanish test?

(Sample question for the essay part of the English AP test here."Who is your favorite person? Explain why". Sample question for the essay part in the Spanish AP test "¿Qué entiendes por la eficacidad o eficacia de la labor de un profesional auténtico? What you understand by the efficacy of labor on an authentic proffesional? Bad translation of my part, probably, but the Spanish question is written word by word. Incoherence...)

[CBEscapee]

Originally posted by KarlGrenze

"¿Qué entiendes por la eficacidad o eficacia de la labor de un profesional auténtico? What you understand by the efficacy of labor on an authentic proffesional? Bad translation of my part, probably, but the Spanish question is written word by word. Incoherence...)

"¿Qué entiendes por la eficacidad o eficacia de la labor de un profesional auténtico?

I believe this should read "¿Qué entiendes de la eficacia de la labor de un profesional auténtico?"

I would translate it like this "What do you understand about the efficiency of an authentic professionals work."

Translating is always tricky and I really admire those who do it well. Simultaneous translators are my heros!!

[CBEscapee]

Whoops make that read "¿Qué entiendes de la eficiencia de la labor de un profesional auténtico?"

[KarlGrenze]

The question I wrote in Spanish was WORD FOR WORD what was written on my essay sheet. I really think the person who wrote the question was either a bad translator or stupid. I know it does not makes sense, but I had to write a 300 letter essay.

Btw, do u know other languages?

[racinchikki]

I'm fluent in English (I have on occasion translated English into English for other native speakers, for example Chaucer, Shakespeare and British English).

I'm in my fourth year of French and I'm passable at it. I get the different tenses confused sometimes but I have a good conversational level and I'm quite good at reading it.

I know a negligible smattering of Latin that I've picked up from singing stuff in Chorus.

I can say three sentences in Spanish.

La llama es un quadrupedo.
Como estas?
No hablo espanol.

[Michael Ellis]

I speak English (or at least the American version of it).

I have a somewhat reasonable grasp of Spanish, and I know a few words in German (mostly military terms, however, picked up from extensive research on World War Two.)

I've also been meaning to learn Latin, Russian, and possibly Dutch and Old English. Lord only knows why.

[City Gent]

Originally posted by Phallyn
My father taught me how to say "goodbye" (didi mow).. in Vietnamese, which he learned while in the Armed Forces.


Di di mau means "get out of here fast", not "goodbye".

I don't speak Vietnamese, but I do speak English well and French, Japanese, and Italian poorly.

[Gunslinger]

I can curse and/or ask for a beer in Latin, French, German, Spanish, and Russian. That's really all you need to know in a foreign language, isn't it? ;)

[MrDibble]

Fluent in English (mother tongue) and Afrikaans
passable in Fanagalo (patois of South African gold mines)
very rudimentary italian (quante pane, per favore) to be able to eat on foreign trips
latin read/write with dictionary in hand
Am I the only Afrikaans speaker on this board? (Dutch doesn't count, Vlaams is close enough to be intelligeable)

[Doobieous]

Originally posted by KarlGrenze


May you like and learn on your time abroad. Good to know you like Spanish enought to make it your major. (Sorry, I come from a place where some people think Spanish is useless, but that's for another thread)

I've always been interested in it, and seem to have a good deal of proficiency in languages (i was able to write a one page essay in Tagalog after 3 weeks of an intensive Tagalog course). Also, even if I dont become a translator or teacher, it's always good be be bilingual (though i doubt i'd ever approach native speaker status unless I live the rest of my life abroad). But, i think i may go with text translating. Simultaneous translation is a lot of work and takes a lot of skill to be able to do. Something I might not reach.

[Zion]

Se un pocito de espanol, pero...no hay que usarlo...digo, tengo que usarlo, porque mi novia es mexicana, y no sabe ni papas en ingles. Bueno, si sabe algunas palabras, pero, le voy a ensenar mas, muy pronto.

Native language is English, but my Spanish is getting better and better. It's all learned by ear too; i.e. I haven't studied it extensively. (Which is probably why I messed up in my paragraph)

[mongrel_8]

Well I just want to say that I admire all you people who are fluent in more than one language. As for me, I am fluent in English (my mother tongue), and I have taken 3 yearrs of high school Spanish which has helped me marginally. I am also in the process of attempting Irish Gaelic, although I am losing some of my motivation. I also recently purchased one of those cool foreign travel tapes on German and have been listening to it before I go to bed.

[Sagasumono]

Ja, san nin kan gurai de nihongo benkyo shiterukedo amari jozu ja nai desu. Demo, hoteru ne hataraku dattara itsumo tsukaimasu. Soshite,hiragana toka katakana no yomu koto dekirukedo kanji wa skoshi dake desu. Moshi soko ni (Nihon) hikkoshireba tabum dan dan motto jozu naru da to omou desu. Sore de San nen kan mai ni,nihon ni sundeimashita. Sono toki ni AFS no Ryuugakusei desu. :)

(Yes that's sucked. Basically, I've been speaking Japanese for 3 years but still not very good. However I work at a hotel so I usually yuse it. Can also read Hiragana's and katakanas but oly a little Kanji. Probably if I move there,I'll get better. I also lived in Japan 3 years ago as exchange student.)