slo’s FRIDAY 3/21 poll - Speaking A Foreign Language

[slo]

I’m always so impressed how people can speak multiple languages. It takes a lot of time and practice to do this, but it pays off when you can communicate with different people. Will I be impressed with you today? Let me know……

Do you speak a foreign language?
If yes……what language do you speak?
(multiple choice)

*There’s no way I can include every language. Please post what language you speak if it’s not in the choices. Thanks



For Me……I am not impressed with myself, because I speak no foreign languages. I took 3 years of German in HS and 2 years of Spanish in college and all I can do is count to 10. My brain just can’t learn another language. Maybe I’d do better now that I’m older, but we aren’t going anywhere that requires me to know another language, so I have no incentive to learn.

 

[lanejudy]

I can’t carry on a conversation, but I studied both French and Spanish in school and can get by reading signs, menus, etc.

 

[Kitty 34]

Just English. One of my DIL's speak fluent Polish as her family were from Krakow, Poland. My son proposed to her in that town many years ago and learned and spoke his wedding vows in that language for her and her family.

I'm always very impressed with people who can speak other languages.

 

[Meriweather]

Spanish in high school.
I can speak and understand very little......definitely not a conversation

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Took German in high school I can say a few words and I can tell you I don’t speak German in German I can tell you I don’t speak French in French I can tell you I don’t speak Spanish in Spanish I can curse at you in several languages and I can know if you’re cursing at me I can count in a few languages I can say hi I can ask you how you’re doing And a couple of the phrases and that’s about the end of me speaking a foreign language I’ve tried on several occasions to learn it and I have enough trouble with English
I’m very proud that my two kids both each learned a foreign language and speak it fluently and I was extremely impressed with that

 

[PollyannaMom]

We need an option between yes and no.

Je parle un peu français.

I speak a little bit of French, and can read even more, but I'm definitely not what you'd call bilingual. People truly fluent in multiple languages have my deep respect!

 

[Schneewittchen37]

French in middle school, high school and college. I speak it just well enough to seriously annoy Quebecers who will immediately switch to English to get me to stop.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I am kind of in that "in between" because I cannot carry on a conversation in a foreign language easily anyway.

I had like 2 years of college Spanish (and I took it in HS). I can read Spanish very well, if somebody speaks slowly I can understand it pretty well. If I have time to think and formulate what I am going to say, I can say it, or find a way to phrase it using words I know. I can back and forth with common phrases. I have visited Spain, and I could communicate OK if people were slow and patient, it was fine. That was a loooooong time ago. I have forgotten a lot of it because I don't really use it on a regular basis. Nowadays, just jumping into a conversation, absolutely not. I DO understand the structure of it, and that unlocks a bit of recognition of Italian, Portuguese and to a lesser extent French.

I did one class of French in HS... a few words and phrases back and forth is about all I am good for. I have visited France too. I just kept my mouth shut.

 

[Moliphino]

I'm not fluent or even conversational in any other languages. I do know some Spanish, French, and German.

 

[TippyThomas]

I'm no longer as fluent as I was, and honestly my parents and I just used English when we were home, but most would know the language as a version of German Dutch or an Amish version would be more like what they call Pennsylvania Dutch. It was used in the Church setting for sure, but most just spoke in English as it seemed easier when a mix of people were present. I say a word or two here and there when visiting with old friends, but English is pretty much all I use now.

 

[BrianL]

I took a lot os Spanish classes in school and theoretically that makes me "fluent", but I had to vote no, becuase, honestly, I am not. I have never much practiced it, though I can regocnize words. I can usually read it okay and figure it out anyway, but speaking it is a whole different matter.

 

[soccerdad72]

I took Spanish in HS and for a little while when I was doing some business travelling in South America, I could make due with passable Spanish. But in no way would I consider myself able to speak a second language.

 

[kanerf]

I speak a little German and a little Spanish, but not fluent in either. There are a lot of Amish in my area and they speak a German dialect and can understand some of what they are saying.

 

[RUDisney]

My youngest sister can speak 9 languages. Aside from English, she speaks French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, Thai, Korean and Turkish. She is a medical coder, which is something like another language.

If you asked her to subtract 5 from 25, she'd have to think about it, but she can say 20 in more languages than I've listed. She "dabbles" in other languages. I've told her and my DS that they should try to get on the Amazing Race. He is very strong and she can get around in SO many countries with her language skills. Their schtick is that there is only 4 years between them. She is 24 years younger than me. He barely calls her Aunt... only when he wants to tease her in front of people who don't know their relationship.

 

[hertamaniac]

I grew up in eastern PA with my ancestors (3rd generation) coming from southern Germany. Although I can't speak it, the food traditions were most certainly handed down to me. In fact, I crave (and often cook) those PA Dutch foods, 20 years removed from the area.

 

[lovin'fl]

Can speak a tiny bit of Spanish. I selected other because I am not fluent in Spanish but I took 4 years of it in school and can understand it more than I can speak it. I want to brush up on it.

 

[ronandannette]

Nope - nothing to impress Slo here. I’ve never formally studied another language and I don’t have the kind of brain to which it comes easy. I tried to learn a few very basic phrases of French, Spanish and Italian for a trip to Europe a few years back and couldn’t even master that. I kept getting the languages mixed up and putting the wrong words together. I think I would have a better shot at learning to read other languages as I am very left-brain dominant and apparently that’s where reading is processed.

 

[TippyThomas]

I grew up in eastern PA with my ancestors (3rd generation) coming from southern Germany. Although I can't speak it, the food traditions were most certainly handed down to me. In fact, I crave (and often cook) those PA Dutch foods, 20 years removed from the area.

Oh heavens, do I miss the food. I still get to visit old friends and enjoy it every now and again, but nothing compares to moms cooking.

 

[NannyBeBe]

English is the only language I speak, but I am excellent at shorthand, which is a language of strokes and symbols. Although it is no longer taught in schools, I still use mine often and am glad I learned it.

 

[TCRAIG]

I used to be pretty fluent in Spanish and knew a bit of Portuguese - but it’s been so long I’m only able to speak/understand a minor amount of rudimentary Spanish and probably can’t remember more than a couple dozen words in Portuguese
Computer languages however - I’m quite familiar with several…