Poll: Language

[CrystalShadow]

I'm natively bilingual, having learned two languages at various points during childhood.

Those being English & Dutch. However, while I can speak it fluently, my Dutch tends to be a bit rusty at times, since I almost never need it for anything.

I can also understand German almost perfectly, though it's still a bit of an effort to say anything. I'd probably speak it near fluently if I was in a situation where I needed to though, so there is that.

I've picked up bits of japanese... And in the past have studied Mandarin, Indonesian and French, but I can't remember much more than a word or two of those...

Japanese is probably near enough to being my 4th language, but there's still some way to go before I could even say I can ask basic questions in any meaningful sense.

I do like languages though. There's something about the way different languages work that gives you an insight into the culture that created them.

 

[The Night Angel]

I speak English and Spanish, and my French is fairly decent, though definitely not fluent. English because that's what we speak in Ireland, and Spanish because I spent a large chunk of my childhood in Spain.

 

[Chasing-The-Light]

I speak English as my mother tongue and Chinese as a second language. I wouldn't say fluently, but I've been taking classes in it for four years. So... that has to account for something.

 

[CleverCover]

I'm native in English and trying to grasp and master Spanish (for family) and Japanese (for the hell of it).

Any tips in learning the languages easier?

 

[trooper6]

American Here.
English and German Fluently (though my written German isn't so hot)
Spanish Fair...but not so great.

 

[LongAndShort]

I'm fluent in English and 'Stralien ('Australian' for the uninitiated), though the latter is more a bastardization of the former so probably doesn't count.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

I can speak fluent English, some Broad Scots (which is pretty much English but shouty and unintelligible).
And I know a few words in French and German.

 

[GLo Jones]

I'm a native English speaker, and I'd say I can speak English (fluently (obviously)), Italian and Korean (both enough to talk about myself and ask questions). I'm currently still learning Korean, hope to be fluent eventually, as I'll be living in Seoul for a fair few years.

Once I'm confident in my Korean, I'll go back to working on my Italian. Though I plan to pick up more languages in time. I'm thinking either Vietnamese, Russian, or Arabic, to begin with. However, Mandarin's warmed on me considerably over the past couple of years.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

They say three or more languages is advanced, two is average, and one is American.

As an American, I am fluent in English (duh) but I know a fair amount of Spanish.

 

[BlackStar42]

English is my mother tongue, and I can speak a little bit of German, but probably not enough to hold a meaningful conversation. Everyone speaks so fast I can't make out what's being said.

 

[saoirse13]

Being Irish I can speak both English and Irish. I can also speak some French, and some Latin. Would love to learn Russian, Chinese and Arabic but have never gotten round to taking any classes.

 

[Garyn Dakari]

I can only fluently speak English, but I can understand a bit of Spanish and German(More German than Spanish though).

 

[Eamar]

English is my first language and I can just about hold a conversation in French. I did a tiny amount of Spanish in school (pretty much forgotten now), and can usually make sense of written German, but I definitely can't speak it. I'm much better at reading other languages than speaking them because...

...*embarrassed* I can read and write Latin more or less fluently, and the way I was taught it helped me understand written language far more than I would otherwise have done (pattern recognition, etymologies etc). I know Latin is dead, but I really like it. I was initially studying Classics at university but changed (long story), but I still love Latin. Unfortunately, Ancient Greek didn't come anything like as naturally to me and I had to constantly put huge amounts of work into it, even after years of study.

So yeah, I'm fluent in my native language (obviously), just about passable in one other useful language and very strong at a dead one. Fantastic

 

[Creator002]

In Australia (where I live and was born) we learn languages in grade 3, our fourth year of school. I started learning German then, but dropped it in high school. Biggest mistake ever, now that I've picked it back up.

English - Fluent, native.
German - Can hold a fair conversation if the other person talks a little slower than normal.

I plan to learn a few more languages after German. I'll probably tackle Italian and/or Spanish next.

 

[Beldaros]

English is my first language and I can just about hold a conversation in French. I did a tiny amount of Spanish in school (pretty much forgotten now), and can usually make sense of written German, but I definitely can't speak it. I'm much better at reading other languages than speaking them because...

...*embarrassed* I can read and write Latin more or less fluently, and the way I was taught it helped me understand written language far more than I would otherwise have done (pattern recognition, etymologies etc). I know Latin is dead, but I really like it. I was initially studying Classics at university but changed (long story), but I still love Latin. Unfortunately, Ancient Greek didn't come anything like as naturally to me and I had to constantly put huge amounts of work into it, even after years of study.

So yeah, I'm fluent in my native language (obviously), just about passable in one other useful language and very strong at a dead one. Fantastic

I think that is fantastic. People being able to speak dead or dying langugaes is a great thing. I know it may not feel great becuase you struggle with other langauges but with latin you have a good head start for the majority of *useful* European languages.

All languages are useful, when we lose one, we lose part of our history.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

I natively speak Dutch and am pretty fluent in English. Furthermore, I understand some German (like most Dutch people) but am pretty terrible at speaking it. I also learned some French in high school but I've forgotten most of that by now.

 

[Kargathia]

I'm not entirely sure how fluent one has to be to say you "speak" a language, so I chose the poll option for "two". Dutch (it being my first language), and English (which I write well, but pronounce badly).

Other than that I'm able to understand written German, French, and Latin. Sort of.

Oh, and as that delightful Facebook option used to state: I speak Sarcasm. Fluently.

 

[Llil]

I can speak Finnish (native), English (fluent) and Swedish (okay). I took a few introductory Russian courses in school, but I never got very far. I can read the cyrillic alphabet and I understand a few words here and there, but that's about it.

Swedish and English are mandatory in Finnish schools, so it's nothing special to be able to speak three languages. Although, Swedish isn't spoken in the part of Finland I live in, so around here a lot of people have forgotten everything they learned in school.

 

[Vkmies]

I speak Finnish and English no problem. So I clicked 2. But I can introduce myself, talk about very simple things very simply and tell them I can't speak their language in Swedish and French. So I guess I could click 4.

 

[Vkmies]

I can speak Finnish (native), English (fluent) and Swedish (okay). I took a few introductory Russian courses in school, but I never got very far. I can read the cyrillic alphabet and I understand a few words here and there, but that's about it.

Swedish and English are mandatory in Finnish schools, so it's nothing special to be able to speak three languages. Although, Swedish isn't spoken in the part of Finland I live in, so around here a lot of people have forgotten everything they learned in school.

Bah, swedish. Humbug. ^_^

Ei eteläsuomessa mitään ruotsia tarvi (onneksi).