View Full Version : Languages?
fidgiegirl
9-3-12, 10:20pm
Dunno why, but suddenly interested to know what kind of languages we have represented on the boards.
I am a native speaker of English and a fluent speaker of Spanish.
Would also like to learn French and Portuguese (have a head start as so closely related to Spanish), Swedish (ancestral language on my mom's side) and lately, interestingly and I'm not really sure why, an interest in Arabic.
How 'bout you?
I took Latin & German in high school but not since. I get a refresher on German every time I go to Germany but my trips are always too short to really become fluent.
Native English speaker but that's about it. I took French in high school but that was pretty much replaced when I took Spanish in college. Neither anywhere close to fluent but at least in Spanish I feel like I could perhaps sort of get around to a small degree (get a hotel room, order food, get directions somewhere, etc). Kind of interested in learning German....DH's family is of German descent though his mom only understands it and doesn't speak it. He took that in high school so can sometimes pick up a little in a movie or something. I suppose if I had endless free time I'd also look into some random, uncommon-in-the-US language that DH and I could talk just to each other, like Swahili or Irish, because that would be kind of fun.
Could get by day-to-day with: English, German, French, Spanish, Latin
Could at least find a hotel, order a beer, read simple texts, remove eels from hovercraft: Pennsylvania Dutch/West Central German, Greek, Old English, Japanese
Works-in-progress: Gaelic, Polynesian, Icelandic
Next up: classical Arabic, Hebrew
Native English (American). Intermediate French and Turkish, basic Hebrew and German.
Maxamillion
9-4-12, 1:24am
English speaker here. I know some Cherokee and some Spanish and would like to be fluent in both one day. I took one semester of French in college but don't remember much of it. I studied Russian for a little while on my own as a teenager and when I was a kid, my grandfather tried to teach me some German, but I don't remember much of either of those either. I can say "thank you" in Thai and Russian and maybe French if I remember correctly. I wouldn't mind learning Japanese or Thai one day.
Only enough spanish to get myself into trouble. Took French in High School -- had a reality check when we visited Paris for a few days my Senior Year!
I learned when I served my Church Mission in South Australia -- they use many English words differently than we Yankies! For example the first time I was asked to Nurse a lady's baby or when I pushed myself away from the table after a very wonderful dinner explaining "I am stuffed"...Those words are used completely different in the southern hemisphere! :0!
I've tried to learn some Italian for my trips to Italy with no success at all...even Berlitz and private lessons did no good.
I didn't take any foreign languages in high school, although French is mandatory in Canada now, as we have a large province, Quebec, which is almost entirely French speaking and Canada does have 2 official languages.
Italian completely confused me with its' different endings than an s or es for plurals. Luckily I had an English to Italian dictionary with me as far as ordering meals, etc. but not for conversations...Italians speak their language so quickly I hadn't a clue what they were saying. Later on I was told they were speaking in their own dialect, which only added to my confusion, to say nothing of frustration!
My companion was born in Italy, so I left it up to him to interpret for me, even though he sometimes interpreted conversations in Italian, not English!
American speaker here, took German in high school and college. Original incentive to learning it was that my mom is from Germany and when she and my dad would argue and not want us kids to know what they were talking about, they used German. It was funny seeing my parents' old love letters in German. I've lost most of my vocabulary, but remember a lot of the grammar rules. I have cousins in Germany who've found me on Facebook, and I use google translator a lot when writing to them.
I only know a few words here and there in French and Spanish. I can recognize a number of food/menu items in French, and I can order a beer and ask for the bathroom in Spanish. Priorities. :laff:
English, thru college level of Spanish but unused. Have 8 years to learn Korean! Maybe this thread will be the jumpstart I need. Thanks!
English and rusty German. Gregg44, how true about knowing enough to get you into trouble. lol! When I was traveling in France with a boyfriend a long time ago, we would ask French people "where's the train station?" they would give us a strange look. Found out later, we were saying "Where's the war?" lol! they probably thought....'those danged Americans, always looking for a war'..........
When I was working in Germany, I went to a store to buy some matches. I didn't know the pleural of matches, so I had to just ask for a match. Their pleural endings aren't just an "s". My accent was perfect.......I just didn't know all the words. The clerk jokingly asked "Just one??" and I had to say in German "And another one". haha
I always had to think twice when I would ask for a certain brand of cigarette or I would get something totally different. It was just 2 letters....."HB". But the shortened name for bra was "BH"...........
Miss Cellane
9-4-12, 7:50am
Native English speaker. I studied German and Latin in high school, German, medieval Latin and Old English in college and grad school.
I can read German, Latin, medieval Latin and Old English. I can mostly understand spoken German, but I really can't speak it. Given enough time and a dictionary, I can ask questions and say please and thank you, but that's about it.
Due to a military childhood, I can count to 10 or 20, say hello, goodbye, please, thank you, that's too expensive and a few other phrases in German, Korean, and Turkish. I can also count to 10 in Japanese and Chinese, because when we lived in Korea, those were still sometimes used in marketplaces.
I'd love to go to Germany more--I think if I could get a few months exposure to the language, I'd be able to speak it with some degree of fluency. It's just that I never hear it here in the States, and there's no one to practice with. We lived in Germany until I was 3, and I'm told I was bi-lingual at the time. I don't have much trouble with German grammar, it's just that I have the vocabulary of a 3 year old.
First foreign language was German, which I studied throughout high school and up to third year college level (sufficient to read novels/write simple analytical essays). But I haven't used it since a trip to Berlin in 1990, when Chinese was already starting to take over those pathways, so it is no longer a functional language for me. Sometimes I'll try to listen to German TV programs when I run across them on cable in a hotel -- I can probably still get about 50-60% of most non-technical stuff. It would probably come back quickly if I were immersed in the language again.
Started studying Chinese in college, and am highly proficient -- able to function competently at a professional level. I will never claim to be "fluent" in Chinese, because that is just about an impossible level to obtain. I'm not willing to work hard enough to get much better than I am, so there it is.
I started learning a particular dialect of Tibetan when in grad school. I never got as good in Tibetan as I am in Chinese, as it was easier in most situations to use Chinese as a default. But I did end up using it a lot in my previous job, and was ok with it for awhile -- better at reading and listening than speaking. I don't use it at all now in my current job, nor do I have regular contact with people I can speak it with, so it is fading fast. Like German, it would probably be revivable if I were put back in an immersion context.
I'd like to learn Spanish as it is spoken in so many places and seems very practical and also not so difficult for an English speaker to master. Portugeuse has also interested me for a long time. Mongolian would be nice for personal reasons (DH is an ethnic Mongol), but that is a tough one and would require us living in an immersion environment for some time as well, knowing how I best learn. There could be worse things than living in a yurt for an extended period of time -- would actually be a nice way to spend a few summers! But my current job can't accomodate that. Turkish would also be interesting and very practical for travel in Central Asia -- most of the Turkic languages are very closely related, says DH who studied many of them while in grad school.
lhamo
Started studying Chinese in college, and am highly proficient -- able to function competently at a professional level. I will never claim to be "fluent" in Chinese, because that is just about an impossible level to obtain. I'm not willing to work hard enough to get much better than I am, so there it is.
I wondered if the definition of "fluent" would come up. For me, you ARE fluent in the language: you can function competently at a professional level. That's my yardstick for Spanish. "Bilingual," in my book is "native-like proficiency," which I agree is nearly impossible for individuals who learned additional languages after childhood. But someone who can use the language at that level and can speak it without having to stop and think about the language itself, in my mind, is fluent.
And now I'm depressed writing that, because my own skill HAS slipped . . . maybe by my own definition I am no longer fluent! I DO have to think about more and more vocab in particular. Grammar is still automatic. Boo!
Have any of you gotten a certain foreign language software program that you think is really good? I would really like to brush up on my German and maybe start another language.
Still working to become fluent in my American English. "Combat" Spanish from years in the construction industry is pretty solid, although I'm sure I sound like a sailor when we're on holiday in a Spanish speaking country. French is weak for real conversation, but plenty good enough to get dinner, read a wine label, find a bathroom, buy guitar picks or discuss what pigs Americans are. There are a few key phrases in Japanese bouncing around from when we hosted an exchange student, but no where near enough to count as a known language.
The Rosetta Stone software seems to work pretty well for me. I have Spanish and French versions, but they have just about anything available. I've been thinking about getting the Russian version for a so far unplanned trip I've always wanted to take.
I was a Spanish major in HS and College, and had made plans to study in Guadalajara and then Spain ... and then DH came along, and that ended that. Haven't used it these 50 years since, tho if it isn't spoken too rapidly I can often "get" the jist of the conversation, but can't speak it anymore. Don't know what I actually planned to DO with it -- teach English as a second language, perhaps? I don't know ... I was young ... Sigh ...
Being the ugly American that I am, I don't have any interest in learning languages. I had years of Spanish when in high school (which actually came in very handy for me when my first job was in Southern New Mexico where 50% of the population speaks Spanish) and I took one year of French in college and can read the few keys words I need to read. Recently I spoke to Swiss relatives who spoke German and Italian and when giving them a tour of our city was able to reach back into my brain for "biblioteche" a word that none of us could produce in German or Italian, but the French version was something everyone understood.
That's it. I'm done learning languages, it doesn't come easily to me and it is too damn much like school.
awakenedsoul
9-4-12, 11:42am
I studied Spanish for four years in high school. During my senior year, we were only allowed to speak Spanish-no English! That really worked. I get a lot of compliments on my Spanish, but I know it needs work. It's fun, though.
I worked in Germany as an assistant director in Berlin. I memorized all the songs in German, and worked on the pronunciation with a tape. People told me that my accent was perfect, but I didn't know what I was saying. Mimicking and imitation come easily to me. I spoke enough to run rehearsals, communicate with the pianist, and count the steps. I'd still like to learn German at a language school in Vienna.
Growing up in San Antonio, I absorbed Spanish and can understand and speak enough to get by. Lived in Mexico for a while too and had a boyfriend who did not speak English so I learned pretty quickly there.
Started studying Chinese in college, and am highly proficient
There is a large group of Chinese scholars here today and the women all happened to be in the restroom when I was and they were talking up a storm. My head hurt by the time I left the restroom.
Language has always come easily to me. Once upon a time, I was fluent in Spanish and competent in Italian. Among my ever-shifting majors was Romance Languages, and one term I had four classes in a row: Arabic, Italian, French, and Spanish. By the last hour, my brain was goo. I can read/translate basic French and Portuguese, and I do mean basic. I wish I had studied more--and traveled for practice--while my synapses were still snappy. And I wish, wish, wish I had learned German.
Could get by day-to-day with: English, German, French, Spanish, Latin
Could at least find a hotel, order a beer, read simple texts, remove eels from hovercraft: Pennsylvania Dutch/West Central German, Greek, Old English, Japanese
Works-in-progress: Gaelic, Polynesian, Icelandic
Next up: classical Arabic, Hebrew
My sis is fluent in Egyptian & Iraqi Arabic (as well as several other languages), and is a fabulous one-on-one coach. Her regular career is as a psychotherapist, but she has been known to do language coaching. Are you interested in connecting with an Arabic coach? She lives in Shoreline.
English with just enough French to get myself in trouble.
My oldest son's school is doing Latin and he is loving it.
My other son's school only offers Spanish, he'll probably transfer schools next year and I think he'll have more options.
My sis is fluent in Egyptian & Iraqi Arabic (as well as several other languages), and is a fabulous one-on-one coach. Her regular career is as a psychotherapist, but she has been known to do language coaching. Are you interested in connecting with an Arabic coach? She lives in Shoreline.
Thanks Redfox! I lucked out last year, and made friends with a nice fellow whose wife works with mine, who is Egyptian, and who is more-than-interested in helping out. My daughter made his day when she translated some hieroglyphs on some artwork he had when we were over for dinner the first time, and we were in like Flynn after that :-)
Float On...........I took Latin in school and we used to say "Latin is a dead language and its killing us". haha
I'm glad your son likes it. Its kinda hard to speak Latin though.........
I used to have a German professor in college who was really into undersanding the roots of words. Its really interesting and you can guess what alot of words mean, just from knowing their roots.
Hindi and English, fluent in both. Took French in high school and Italian in college....have hardly used it. I would love to learn Spanish though.
Float On...........I took Latin in school and we used to say "Latin is a dead language and its killing us". haha
I'm glad your son likes it. Its kinda hard to speak Latin though.........
When my wife and I schooled our daughter in Latin, we used the new Cambridge Latin materials, which were wonderful at teaching Latin as a spoke, real language, it was such a nice change from the drill-and-memorization we had been subjected to.
Native: American/British English
Fluent: Spanish (though it's waning, so I've signed up for some advanced conversation classes!)
Intermediate: Portuguese (haven't spoken it since I graduated college)
Basic: Italian, Catalan
Can understand many bits and pieces but can hardly form a sentence: German
My degree was in Spanish with a bit of Portuguese. Never, ever think that they are interchangeable or attempt to steal words from one language to try and communicate in the other... I once asked a Portuguese shop assistant for "penis" instead of "batteries" because I didn't know the right Portuguese word and tried to use the Spanish one...
I was a Spanish major in HS and College, and had made plans to study in Guadalajara and then Spain ... and then DH came along, and that ended that. Haven't used it these 50 years since, tho if it isn't spoken too rapidly I can often "get" the jist of the conversation, but can't speak it anymore. Don't know what I actually planned to DO with it -- teach English as a second language, perhaps? I don't know ... I was young ... Sigh ...
Don't feel despondent! Have you ever thought about taking up Spanish classes again? It's never too late if you've got the motivation for it.
Since living here in Japan both my husband and I have made the effort to learn the language and do
much fairly well.
While my listening/speaking skills are passable, my reading skills are much better.
I have really noticed how much knowing the local language has opened up opportunities for us and
really enriched our experiences here. Wish more effort, much earlier was placed on languages in
the schools in the states.
fidgiegirl
9-4-12, 10:33pm
My degree was in Spanish with a bit of Portuguese. Never, ever think that they are interchangeable or attempt to steal words from one language to try and communicate in the other... I once asked a Portuguese shop assistant for "penis" instead of "batteries" because I didn't know the right Portuguese word and tried to use the Spanish one...
LOL!
fidgiegirl
9-4-12, 10:37pm
Have any of you gotten a certain foreign language software program that you think is really good? I would really like to brush up on my German and maybe start another language.
I don“t have firsthand experience with any programs but I know for myself that I need to have a structure to make forward progress. I am good at self-study assignments, but within a bigger framework such as a course. Lots of people talk about Rosetta Stone but I don't have firsthand experience.
LOL Mira!! Did they give you one?? :laff:
I once asked a Portuguese shop assistant for "penis" instead of "batteries" because I didn't know the right Portuguese word and tried to use the Spanish one...
ROFL mira! Every once in a while you just have to bite your lip and pass even though there are SOOOOO many openings for a reply. This is one.
I am a nativ German, had 6 years of russian in school and don't remember a word. Had english in school, but actually learned the language when I was an au pair in the US. 15 years ago when I returned from the US it was really hard on me, because I loved the english but there was not much use in Germany. Now a days, movies are in original and syncronised, I can buy english books at the bookstore, at amazon when they don't have it in german I can get it in english, the internet ect.. Its much easier today and I get along fine.
Io sono studia conversationale l'italiano.
Mia piacerebbe porta una penna amica.
Addio
fidgiegirl
9-19-12, 6:16pm
Found myself practicing my Spanish in the car on the way home. That's what I always have done. I'm alone and can make as many mistakes as I want and repeat things and analyze the Spanish AM radio. It's great.
LOL Mira!! Did they give you one?? :laff:
Yeah, I guessed the right word in the end (pilhas, where the 'lh' makes a kind of 'y' sound), but the shop assistant did smirk at me... bet he had fun telling his colleagues...
Found myself practicing my Spanish in the car on the way home. That's what I always have done. I'm alone and can make as many mistakes as I want and repeat things and analyze the Spanish AM radio. It's great.
Yes yes yes, I do this when I'm alone too :) Narrating what i'm doing...
IshbelRobertson
9-28-12, 5:45pm
UK English, a passable understanding of French, Latin, Lallans and Doric and a smattering of Scots Gaelic. My Dad's first language was Gaelic, and my grandparents on his side used Gaelic as their main language.
I'm something of a dunce with other languages. Probably just didn't start early enough. :( Had two years of Spanish in high school (freshman and sophomore), but my second year was spent relearning a lot, since the nun who taught us my freshman year had taught us very old-fashioned Spanish and we needed the more modern stuff.
Due to being an Orthodox Christian, I've picked up an odd smattering of phrases in ecclesiastical Greek and Church Slavonic. I've picked up wee bits of Greek and Russian from friends who are either native speakers or fluent.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.