# What language can you speak? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618 "2004-08-13T00:20:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/41 "2004-08-13T23:03:38Z")
Puedo hablar un poco de espanol. He tomado cinco anos de la lengua. I can speak a little Spanish. I’ve taken five years of the language. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/42 "2004-08-14T01:20:34Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > comprender Mafalda. Ohhh, I LOVE Mafalda! Now you are my favorite doper. I would marry you if I wasn’t married, and you weren’t gay, and we weren’t living so far from each other, and we weren’t perfect strangers. But back to the OP. Español es mi lengua materna, et Je parle un petit peu de français. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/43 "2004-08-14T01:23:34Z")
> [@monica](#): > > He tomado cinco anos de la lengua. Oh Dear God! :eek: Sometimes you REALLY need an eñe. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/44 "2004-08-14T01:29:11Z")
😛 That’s hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/45 "2004-08-14T01:29:29Z")
I speak Korean fairly well, and wish I could type it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![noname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@noname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noname)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/46 "2004-08-14T12:20:06Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > … hopefully will learn some Gujarat as well Um, you mean **Gujarati** , the language of Gujarat. And you can get by with just saying ‘Kem Cho? Maja ma?’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/47 "2004-08-15T10:06:43Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I also speak Catalan, but I’ve always considered that just Spanish with a twist (though I’m sure a native of that area would be more than happy to flame me over that). I’m not a native and this isn’t a flame, but Catalan is a distinct language, most closely related to the language of the Occitan region of France, rather than to Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/48 "2004-08-15T12:29:43Z")
Nederlands is mijn moedertaal (Dutch is my native language) I love to think, speak, write and read English; I can read a newspaper, ask for directions and follow a German or French movie without subtitles, but if it’s a whodunnit I’m going to miss some of the vital clues 🙂 I can understand the local Limburg dialect so well that I have to pay attention to even notice if someone is speaking Limburgs or Dutch. But I can’t speak a word of Limburgs myself; I know enough Latin to scrabble my way around monuments and university paraphernalia. I gladly forgot all the ancient Greek I so reluctantly learned. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/49 "2004-08-15T14:57:39Z")
English is my native langauge I started studying Japanese about 10 years ago, and it’s become my second language. I studied French through most of my youth (my father’s French), but I don’t use it so often now. I studied German for a year in college, with a D average. ganz gut, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/50 "2004-08-15T15:34:34Z")
> [@lambchops](#): > > 'Ku berbahasa Indonesia, wa khalilan min al-arabiya, und nur ein bisschen Deutsch. Aku juga bicara Bahasa, und auch nur ein bisschen Deutsch. Yo hablo muy poquito Espanol, et lego Latinum. Je ne comprends pas Francois. And I speak fluent Texican, Pilgrim! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![smartini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@smartini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartini)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/51 "2004-08-15T18:46:20Z")
I speak English, y un pococita Espanol, und sprechen un bishcen Deutsche…at least enough to shop, Vie fiellen costen das? Alas, not sure if I can spell in anything but English :o ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/52 "2004-08-15T19:10:00Z")
marhaba!! kayf hallikum ya asdaqni? mit’assif, il-arabiyati shwayyi taqlaani!! Sorry, my Arabic is a bit rusty!! Arabic’s a neat language once you get the hang of it. Ma’a s-salaam!!! ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/53 "2004-08-15T19:22:19Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > I’m not a native and this isn’t a flame, but Catalan is a distinct language, most closely related to the language of the Occitan region of France, rather than to Spanish. I know, I know - it’s a separate language. But have you ever heard Catalan? To my ear anyway, sometimes it sounds very much like a Spanish dialect, sort of like the difference between speaking Spanish in Spain and speaking it in Chile or Argentina. All three areas have very different sounds, and, to me, anyway, the difference between speaking Spanish in Argentina and speaking it in Spain is even more vast than the difference between Catalan and Spanish. But that’s just me. I’m sure if I actually lived there as opposed to just stayed for a few months I’d run into far more differences than I have. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/54 "2004-08-15T19:38:09Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I’m sure if I actually lived there as opposed to just stayed for a few months I’d run into far more differences than I have. I found that with French, Spanish, and Italian I could read Catalan very well; then again, I’d have been hard-pressed to tell you that _dilluns tancat_ means “cerrado lunes.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/55 "2004-08-15T20:12:16Z")
Obviously, I speak English. I tez mowiem dobrze po polsku, ale nie calkiem plynnie. Ale dogadam sie. (If I spend enough time there, I can pick up most Slavic languages pretty quickly. Even though I don’t speak Russian, I managed to hold a conversation in “pidgin Slavic” with fellow drinkers in an Uzbek pub. I’m sure the cheap vodka helped my fluency.) Je parle en peu fracais. J’ai etudier pour quatre ans dans l’ecole, mais j’ai obliee beaucoup. Egy kicsit beszelek magyarul…nem tul jol, de sok ertem. Mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut, aber ich spreche ein bisschen und verstehe viel. (My grammar, though is absolutely awful.) Govorim malo hrvatski (i srpski, i bosanski) takodjer. Basically, I speak two languages well enough, and the rest badly. At any rate, it’s good enough not to be completely at a loss most places on the European continent. At least I know what I’m ordering from the menu. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/56 "2004-08-15T20:29:14Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I know, I know - it’s a separate language. But have you ever heard Catalan? To my ear anyway, sometimes it sounds very much like a Spanish dialect. Oh, just wanted to point out that even though I could read Catalan, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it when spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/57 "2004-08-15T20:47:19Z")
Obviously, I speak English. Kutchi muji maji basha ain. Hoon Gujerati pun bool shakte huh. Mein Hindi bhi bolti hun. Aur thodha si Urdu. Ich kann Deutsch, je parle en peu Francais. I can understand most European languages when spoken. I can even speak a smattering of Polish. I understand Arabic. I think that’s the lot. Oh, yeah, I can understand spoken Surinamese as well. ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/58 "2004-08-15T21:17:10Z")
English I speak also. I used to speak French but have lost it since school. I would like to find a French message board to reassociate myself with the language and increase my vocabulary (suggestions?). 010010010110001101100001011011100111001001100101011000010110010001100001011011100110010001110100011110010111000001100101011000100110100101101110011000010111001001111001 (I can read and type binary) ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/59 "2004-08-15T21:18:26Z")
mmmm, the auto formatting broke that up a bit ☹ ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618/60 "2004-08-15T21:44:21Z")
I speak english (or as close as an engineer who grew up in West Virginia is capable of speaking it). I took French all through high school, and some in college, and thought I spoke it fairly well until I went to France. Je ne comprende pas francais, parle englais s’il vous plait? My grandparents came off of the boat from Greece, and spoke Greek around the house. My father didn’t learn English until he went to kindergarden. He never spoke much Greek around the house when I was growing up (mostly because my mother was English, and a Greek marrying a non-Greek was a BIG THING so there was some tension between her and the rest of the Greek clan) but he taught me some. Unfortunately he died when I was young and I never got to learn much. I learned a bit more working in my uncle’s restaurant, but most of those were greek words that you wouldn’t want to say in polite company. Kali Mara = good morning and Kali Spera = good evening - I can’t get in too much trouble saying those. But if you need someone to be called an asshole in greek - I can do that too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-language-can-you-speak/259618.md?page=4)