Can you speak another language?

[Swede]

I took French in school for 5 years ,but as they say "use it or lose it" I can't understand it anymore.

[Midnight Rambler]

1. I understand some Spanish

I don't speak much, but I can get the gist of about half of what's said to me. Mostly the stuff my parents used to yell at me when I was a little kid :)

[lenidog]

2. Russian, German, Latin and some Farsi

[Swede]

4. Wow.

My nephew and niece speak German and French. They said learning the third language was easier because they already knew two. Did you have the same experience?

[lenidog]

11. I think it helped a lot

I learned Farsi from the parents and grandparents of a friend of mine. German and Latin was in high school and seemed to be pretty easy. It also helped that I joined the army and was stationed in Germany for several years. Submersion is probably the best way to learn it. While Russian I minored in while in college. I think the most with that was that for the last several semesters of it it was me and the professor only.

[sir_captain]

10. You can *speak* Latin?

Impressive

I took six years worth of the stuff, though I don't think we even spoke a word of it all that time.

[lenidog]

13. Yes I can actually speak Latin

Now why I ever decided to learn it is still a mystery to me. ;) It just seemed cool at the time and the way to possibly learn other languages because it being the root of some. I took two years in HS and a friend of my mom's took it upon herself to tutor. She was a Prof of History specifically Medieval and knew it as well as she would know English. Again as with Russian I think the one on one was the key.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. esyay

igpay atinlay.

[Swede]

6. oolCay

:)

[Tom Kitten]

5. esyay I a ooday

igpay atinlay uentflay!

[Huckebein the Raven]

7. French but far from fluent

[spinbaby]

8. Fluent German

And enough Japanese to get me where I'm going.

[Arkana]

9. Certe.

[saltpoint]

12. Traveler's Spanish and German.

When I was in Berlin I was pleasantly thrilled that most of the natives there spoke far better English than George W. Bush.

(At the same time I was sad that a President Gore or a President Kerry could not be representing us in the White House to our allies... Just after Bush's Iraq assault, one Mexican man told me it was clear that people in the U.S were very aggressive. )

[Aristus]

14. Ja, ich kann eine andere Sprache reden.

Warum haben Sie das gefragt?

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

19. Es war eine gute Frage .

Ich spreche auch Deustche :)

[Aristus]

25. Gut gesagt, liebe Freunde.

B-)

[Left Is Write]

15. No. I just fake it.

I studied Spanish for seven years, but like you say - use it or lose it. I still know enough to get by as far as understanding, but I couldn't carry on a conversation.

[Art_from_Ark]

16. ?????

?????????????:D

[Behind the Aegis]

17. A few

I know several languages, but I don't use them often, so I am very rusty. I am most fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, then some Italian, French, very little German. I am functionally illiterate in Hebrew and Greek. I have taught myself bits and pieces of multiple languages. I wish I was able to have friends with whom I could converse, but alas, sometimes it is difficult to find people who speak proper English! :)

[Heidi]

18. Do you speak "Okie"?

When I moved "abroad," one of my Oklahoma aunts gave me a book, "How to Speak Okie." Now "Okie" is among the many languages with which I struggle. :hi:

[Behind the Aegis]

26. Nope!

I can understand it....sometimes! I am originally from the South, so there are a few things that are similar. But, somethings...well, I just don't get it! :hi:

[Heidi]

27. I'm looking forward to visiting family soon in Oklahoma . . .

can't wait to hear them comment on _my_ accent. :rofl: (I don't have a "southern" accent anymore, but my husband still looks at me oddly when I use phrases like "fixin' dinner.")

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Some things never leave us!

I still have a strong Southern accent, but I soften it in professional settings. I think it is great your are in Switzerland. I bet that is so neat!! I would be running around like a fool trying to see as much as I could and using whatever language I could! I have never been overseas and really would like to go...so color me jealous! :)

[Heidi]

30. It's never too late, BTA.

There are four official languages here: German, French, Romanche and Italian. It's never too late to see the world beyond your immediate borders!

[Behind the Aegis]

31. Unemployed!

I have been out of work for two years! So travel abroad...hell, travel here, is out of the question, unless it is for a J-O-B! I have always wanted to travel abroad. I love foreign languages and culture. My three younger brothers have all traveled overseas (well, one will go this year to set up an AIDS clinic in Kenya). I keep looking for good deals, but the fact is, that a good travel package for one, costs as much as two trips for two people State-side. :( Perhaps, I will soon get to break free, but until then, I watch History International, read foreign websites, talk with natives from other lands, and live thru the travels of others! :)

BTW...do you speak any of the languages of the Swiss? I have never met anyone who knows Romanche (I can read it because of my language training).

[Heidi]

33. My ability to learn languages . . .

isn't as sharp as it was when I was younger. But I read German, speak Swiss-German and some Italian.

I'll send you good vibes for your job search, Behind the Aegis.

[Behind the Aegis]

34. Good vibes!

All good vibes, wishes, etc. are most welcome! Today I was very frustrated as I realized in over 2.5 years I had applied to over 300 jobs! I currently only have tow positions that are still active! I am beyond frustrated! So, good vibes are most appreciated!

My understand is that the "Swiss" accent on Italian, French and German are so strong that native speakers of the language can have a hard time understanding some things. I guess it is similar to how Americans can sometimes have a hard time understanding British and Australian English on occasion. :shrug:

[Heidi]

36. You've got a PM . . .

(Hope you don't mind.)

[Behind the Aegis]

38. So do you!

Didn't mind at all! ;) I like nice wishes!

[MrScorpio]

20. I'm pretty good at murdering German, French, Dutch and Spanish

Believe or not, in Europe I got big props for trying.

I love that place

[hfojvt]

21. I can say "yog ellskar day"

in case I run into any Swedish babes.

[Runcible Spoon]

22. Ja, Deutsch y si, Espanol!

Guten Abend! Que paso?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

23. Well, I wouldn't say I really speak another language;

But I did major in French and minor in Spanish in college. Now, that was 40 years ago! And I hadn't had any real contact with those since then, until 1999. That year, we went to France on a tour. We had a week in Paris on our own, and I discovered, to my amazement and delight, that my French was coming back...I could carry on simple conversations! And don't believe that nonsense about chilly Parisians. I've met more rude New Yorkers...Of course, there were a couple of them in Paris, but by far most people were charming and friendly and helpful...

My Spanish is nearly non-existent, even here in SoCal. I can read the signs and understand the names of towns; that's about it.



:hi:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

24. bengali and some hindi

[ffm172]

29. well, I am German and I speak English (otherwise I couldn't post here)

and I learned Russian, French and Italian. Not that I speak any of those languages anymore. If necessary I try to search for some words in my brain, but mostly come up with nothing :)
I figured I need to live in the country to really learn the language since I am forced to speak it. Learning it at school didn't work for me.

[Huckebein the Raven]

37. That's the best method

[ffm172]

41. just needs time

and I don't have the time anymore to spend at least half a year in a country to learn the language. I wish I had. But working is more important to get some food on the table :)

[Huckebein the Raven]

45. I understand

I find doing simple things like reading the newspaper helps

[ffm172]

46. for that my French and Italian language skills are not good enough

and as a matter of fact, I don't like French too much. Italian yes, but I only took some classes in evening school and mostly we helped each other :)

[Huckebein the Raven]

48. I'd like to learn Italian and German one day

[ffm172]

49. ok, let's start

:)

Hallo, mein Name ist ...
Hy, my name is ....

[Huckebein the Raven]

50. Hallo, mein Name ist Daniel

:D

[ffm172]

51. sehr gut

very good. Wie geht es Dir? Mir geht es gut. How are you? I am fine.

Now all you have to do is pronounce it right :) In German you pronounce most words like they are written.

[Huckebein the Raven]

52. Does the W in German have a "vee" sound ?

[ffm172]

53. yes

pretty good. But then, you speak and read French, which is way more complicated than German

[Huckebein the Raven]

54. I learned a lot listening to Rammstein

:D

[ffm172]

55. another way to learn a language

I remember when I was a nanny and at one point was listening to my music and suddenly had the flash "Oh that is what say are singing". I finally understood the lyrics. :)

[Huckebein the Raven]

58. Are they still popular in Germany ?

[ffm172]

60. yes

I think they just brought out a new single.

http://www.rammstein.com/

[MrScorpio]

42. Your English is excellent, by the way. Much better than my German

Which is how I got by in Germany for four years.

I could get my point across in German, but for more detailed conversation I had to rely on their English.

I think they, at least, appreciated my effort.

[ffm172]

44. thanks

I learned my English while being a nanny in the States and kept speaking and reading it. I really like to talk in English. I know I should teach my bf German but it is just easier to talk English :)

[MrScorpio]

47. I have this fantasy about living in Holland with my wife

Of course, everyone there speaks fluent English, but I'd learn Dutch anyways.

I know you guys plan to come back to the State, but you should get him to learn German so you can have private conversations.

It's cool when you do that

[ffm172]

57. I have to teach him German so he can talk to my grandmas

my mom and brother and aunt ain't no problem.

but you are right. And he is ok with my idea to teach our kids German and English.

[MrScorpio]

43. dupe

dupe

[psychopomp]

32. Fluent in Japanese

Making headway into reading/writing; I plan on taking the level 2 proficiency test again this year (went down in flames three years ago). Level 1 is considered difficult for even native speakers to pass--too many obscure, hardly-used Chinese characters.

[Abelman]

35. A smatter of Ojibwemoiwen

and I'm learning Spanish.

[Allenberg]

39. I can copy International Morse Code at

110 characters a minute if that means anything :D

(I've been in Japan since July 2002, and speak very, so very, little :( )

[psychopomp]

40. Living in Tokyo or Osaka?

It's best to live in a place where you have to use it; if you are living in the countryside, you have no excuse! Since you are living abroad it would be a total waste not to learn the language. It's the chance of a lifetime!

How did you learn Morse code?

[Allenberg]

61. Misawa.

I'm stationed on the Air Force base there. Military trained me to copy morse code.

[Danmel]

56. High school Spanish

Which was 24 years ago so I can say things like "Yo tengo un lapis amarillo" (I have a yellow pencil)!


I am semi conversant in Hebrew, but not fluent in speaking. My reading is much better than my speaking.

You know the old joke:

A person who speaks three languages in trilingual
A person who speaks two languages is bilingual
A person who speaks one language is American

[SKKY]

59. Me han dicho que hablo espanol perfectament...

...pero no me siento fluente.

[imenja]

62. Portugese, and read and understand Spanish

[Kellanved]

63. the usual stuff

German, English and Latin (writing and understanding, speaking takes a few weeks).

Also very poor French and Dutch.

[Redstone]

64. German. Can understand spoken French and Creole,

at least when we're on vacation in Montreal with Mrs R's family and they're yakking away. After a day or two, they can't sneak anything past me anymore. And can read the French newspapers.

Can also read Spanish and Dutch.

Redstone

[LynzM]

65. German here, too

:hi:

I can also speak/read some French (though it gets worse as time goes by.... haven't really used it in ~7 years) and can read some Spanish and a little Italian. Most of that is due to knowing some French and growing up in an area with about 35% Puerto Rican population.

[Redstone]

66. Well, if you ever come over to our house

You and I can yack in rusty German, and you can yack with Mrs R in rusty French.

That should lead to some real interesting misunderstandigs!

Redstone

[LynzM]

68. Nice!

That ought to be.... interesting :D

[chenGOD]

67. Korean and French

My Korean is much better than my French though now, as I almost never speak French.

When we go to England next year, some trips to France are definitely in the cards...