How many languages do you speak?

[lilacbutterfly]

Fluent in English, French, Turkish, and studying Arabic - I think languages are so important and wish they’d put more of an emphasis on it at school

 

[Inthefrock]

I would love to be able to speak another language. How do you all do it? School/self taught?

I think it's down to need and accessibility. Most effective way to learn another language is living in that country for a least a year, combined with study. Or having a parent: that has another mother tongue in the county they live in.

 

[birdiefly246]

English is my first language, Swedish my second. As both are germanic languages, it's nothing to boast about. I'm in awe of people that can master different languages outside of their language branches.

I definitely think it is something to boast about even if they have the same roots. It's still two different languages that you can communicate in and now the cultural nuances of. There's more to a language than just words on a paper! Please boast about it you deserve to

 

[FishFlaps]

How did you get fluent in Greek ? Any tips ?


I’ve been trying to learn Greek for years. I’m useless

Marry a Greek, live there and watch American soap operas on tv with Greek subtitles

 

[Dogtanian]

English and some may say that even that's debatable

 

[panda_eyes]

I know a little Finnish and Japanese. Finnish I learnt by doing 2x two week courses whilst on holiday (the lessons were only 8:30 - 12:30 so the afternoon was free) and Japanese at an evening class run by the council. I'd really recommend evening classes once lockdown is over, it's good fun and really breaks up the week. I'm also doing both languages on duolingo to try and keep it fresh - 537 day streak!

 

[LittleMy]

Toddlerese.

 

[neo_wales]

LOL I do live in Greece and watch American shows and series with sub titles, but I just can’t get to grips with it. I might be too old to learn

I lived on Cyprus back in the 80s and Cypriot TV was not good LOL news was in Greek then in English and followed by Murder She Wrote or Bonanza, no wonder the pirate movie business was booming at that time

 

[Noseyoldcow]

I’m trying to learn some Romanian at the moment. We had some Romanian children start at the school I work at and they have been in my bubble during lockdown - they have astounded me with how amazingly they are picking up English so I thought I’d try and pick up some basic Romanian - just doing Duolingo and with a little help from them! I’m actually really enjoying it.

 

[Inthefrock]

English is my first language, Swedish my second. As both are germanic languages, it's nothing to boast about. I'm in awe of people that can master different languages outside of their language branches.

 

[Choupette]

English and French.. definitely not fluent In French yet though. I wish languages were as compulsory in UK education system as core subjects, it’s such a great skill to have.

 

[bubbadabut]

I'm fluent in English and Spanish, but I am a grammar/language/etymology geek and would love to learn more. Having 4 kids put it all on the back-burner.

I would love to be able to speak another language. How do you all do it? School/self taught?

I did very basic Spanish at school but always had a love for languages. As a child I was very interested in looking at foreign words and how they fitted together/resembled ours. As a working adult, I just bought a load of books, did evening classes and eventually paid to attend a language academy in Madrid for 3 months.

It must have worked because I applied for a job at the British Consulate in Madrid and got it (interview was bilingual) and all of the other interviewees were very posh/Oxbridge educated. I am so far away from either of those things but I put in a massive amount of time, effort and expense to learn Spanish simply because I loved the language.

Languages are not for everyone, but I think if you have either a strong desire to learn, or an absolute need to learn for whatever reason, you will succeed.

 

[Caramel Latte]

Before I went on a trip to Spain 2 years ago I did some duolingo, believed I knew enough Spanish.

Then went to the shops and started asking them "Quanto" in the best Spanish accent I could make and stood speechless when the man answered me in Spanish. Understood nothing

Was definitely a beautiful language tho and resembles French a little bit?

I know a little Finnish and Japanese. Finnish I learnt by doing 2x two week courses whilst on holiday (the lessons were only 8:30 - 12:30 so the afternoon was free) and Japanese at an evening class run by the council. I'd really recommend evening classes once lockdown is over, it's good fun and really breaks up the week. I'm also doing both languages on duolingo to try and keep it fresh - 537 day streak!

I had a friend who was learning Japanese and she told me how they taught them about Japanese traditions as well. Definitely interesting

 

[lilacbutterfly]

Random but it would be interesting to know how you learned the languages you speak as some of the combinations seem quite random? To begin I had a South American friend in primary school and was always desperate to learn and finally had the chance at high school, I then have spent lots of time in Spain and then picked up italian as a second language at uni but mainly learned when I moved there (easy to pick up because of spanish )

Apps like duolingo are really good, but the best way I learnt a language which wasn’t spoke at home was through television programmes on Netflix and music x

 

[emm]

Marry a Greek, live there and watch American soap operas on tv with Greek subtitles

100% agree a partner is the best wayto learn (and is why i can argue well in italian but not spanish )

 

[Caramel Latte]

French was my 2nd language in school in my home country, then in year 5 we moved abroad and i had to learn English (i was soo bad, couldn't understand the different accents etc..)

I started to get the courage to present in school in English in like year 8 by that time i had forgotten whatever French i knew.

Then in lockdown I decided to work on my French just for fun and it has been nice really to feel like I'm achieving something.

One language i wish to learn some day is Greek

 

[neo_wales]

Before I went on a trip to Spain 2 years ago I did some duolingo, believed I knew enough Spanish.

Then went to the shops and started asking them "Quanto" in the best Spanish accent I could make and stood speechless when the man answered me in Spanish. Understood nothing

Was definitely a beautiful language tho and resembles French a little bit?

Problem with learning Spanish is there are massive regional differences in the spoken word out there. We took American friends to Spain where we have a holiday home and the wife speaks Spanish...Mexican Spanish and had a heck of a job being understood over there. Many years ago, an army mate of mine was in Paris, walked into a bar and ordered a drink (in French) and the barman replied in English "I went to university in Birmingham, which part are you from"...talk about a knock down lol


I had a friend who was learning Japanese and she told me how they taught them about Japanese traditions as well. Definitely interesting

 

[User_name_100]

Native English. Studied Spanish and German at university. I have an advanced level in both.

 

[User_name_100]

Absolutely. Language lessons, especially, one on one are definitely worth investing in. Then using Apps such as Duolingo as backup. I have been working on my Swedish for 25 years, still haven't completely mastered it, then again do you stop learning with languages including your primary?

Yes I agree. I still learn new words in English that I've never head or seen before. I find language learning really interesting.

 

[Inthefrock]

I definitely think it is something to boast about even if they have the same roots. It's still two different languages that you can communicate in and now the cultural nuances of. There's more to a language than just words on a paper! Please boast about it you deserve to

Thank you. I'm British but live in Sweden, so I had to learn Swedish. If I had stayed in the UK, I doubt if I would become fluent in another language. It is such a shame we are not taught a second language properly.