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

[CynBeth]

I took Spanish in school but only remember certain words. When visiting a few countries that speak the language was able to say a few things to be polite.
I also know some Hebrew but could not have a conversation. I am able to read it very well and in fact I regularly read Torah out of the scroll at Saturday morning services regularly.

 

[Micca]

Just a little German. Took two years in high school but certainly not fluent.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I’m fluent in French, I grew up around it, grew up going there a lot. I also took Latin (I know it’s a dead language but I thought it was cool hearing how the Romans spoke lol) and Spanish in high school, and I used to be pretty good at them both but haven’t used them since so I’m no longer that good with those two. When I graduated I received a Foreign Language award that’s given to one person each grad year, each school. That persons then referred to the government for their foreign language training program. They send you to whatever country they want you to learn the language of and you’re immersed in it, to hopefully learn quickly and then you work for the government as interpreters or whatever they need. I turned it down and the guy said I was the first person who’d ever turned it down lol.

 

[GAN]

I can get by good enough for natives to appreciate the effort in Italian and French. They especially like it when I combine the two in one sentence . I used Duolingo for French

 

[Dan Murphy]

No other languages here for me, just English. Two years of high school Latin. Sometimes written words in other languages are derivitive of Latin words and I might have an idea of the meaning. Marie and her family sre/were 100% Italian, so I know a few Italian curse and slang words. That's about it.

Sandy, if you rode IASWA at WDW last week, do they still have that goodbye thing at the end? If so, is it still interactive with people's names who are in the boats?

 

[TCRAIG]

I should add I can swear in about a dozen languages - can come in handy sometimes!

 

[AppleDumpling]

I studied French in school for several years, but it was a long time ago. I think if I were to spend time in France or another French-speaking country, and was fully immersed, some of it would come back, and maybe I’d know enough to get by, but would struggle with conjugating verbs and whatnot. Like anything else, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I can read French fairly fluently. I can speak French pretty well, but slowly. I, for the life of me, cannot understand fluent French being flung at me, in spite of Rosetta Stone and watching foreign movies without subtitles. I had six year of French in middle school/high school.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

3 1/2 years of high school Spanish and I only remember very basic words, numbers and phrases, so I’m definitely not fluent. I can pronounce most Hispanic words, I just don’t know what they mean.

My friend took French in high school and is currently refreshing her French using Duolingo in preparation for a trip to France next year. Such a great idea.

 

[RedAngie]

I’m not fluent but I can carry on a conversation in Spanish. I might make mistakes in grammar and verb conjugations but can easily be understood.

I know about two dozen phrases in Polish and have a vocabulary of about 100 words.

I can read road signs and simple menus in French.

 

[E&Cmom]

I can Speak Spanish and French but sadly rarely use them at all now. I grew up with a Spanish Mother so spoke Spanish at home. Growing up in Montreal, I took French at school.

I have been learning Japanese for the last year using Duolingo, Airlearn and podcasts for my upcoming trip. Also watching some dramas. I understand some Korean on a K drama level.

 

[Minnesota!]

I could get by, slowly, in German.

 

[CGB]

I took Spanish, French and German in high school, and then a class of Spanish in college. It wasn't until I had a student from Peru that I began studying Spanish again. I wanted to help make her feel more comfortable at school. We had sooooo much fun together, her trying to speak English and my attempts at Spanish. We helped each other. When she saw me willing to take risks with speaking Spanish and making mistakes, she came out of her shell more with her attempts at English.

My kids both took German in high school and college. That's the language they revert to when they don't want mom to know what's up. I do have a niece that speaks 9-10 languages and is a linguist in the USAF. She's currently stationed in Morocco as a diplomatic attache. She's had quite the career.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

My granddaughter in is second grade and this is her third year in Spanish immersion. She started in kindergarten. Half of her classes are in Spanish and half in English. This is public school and they also have Chinese immersion. I am impressed that she is learning this.

 

[FastPasser.]

I was born in the Azores, which are part of Portugal, so I spoke Portuguese fluently before I learned English. And even after moving to the US and growing up here, all my relatives and friends spoke Portuguese so I grew up speaking both languages.

 

[tvguy]

Took five years of High School Spanish. The Junior High Schools here had you take an introduction to foreign language class in 7th grade. You could pick one and take Freshman level in 8th grade, and four more years in High School. That was 50 years ago. I did use it once in a while when I first got out into the working world, but that ended decades ago.
I was in Germany with a College class and a business man who traveled all over Europe asked our group why Americans even bother learning a foreign language. He said "you already speak the international language". He did business in France, Spain, Germany (his homeland), Poland, the then Soviet Union and South Africa. He said ALL his business dealings were done in English.
My daughter is living in Germany now and learning the language but is frustrated because when people realize she is an American, they only want to speak to her in English.
A friend is in Japan now, and he too is frustrated trying to speak Japanese because everyone wants to talk to him in English. I should mention, he is visiting his daughter there.......she is an English teacher!

 

[evilmommie]

I have a good foundation of conversational Spanish and use it often where I live and travel.

 

[amcnj]

I had Spanish in 7-12 th grades, and then German in college. Way back then I could do pretty well with them. But lack of use over the intervening decades has left me less than fluent in either today. I do still remember some and have wondered how quickly either would come back if I pursued languages again.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I lived in Argentina for 9 months during college. Took 2 classes at the regular university and 2 classes with other exchange students, but all in Spanish. I lived with a family who didn't speak English. Back then I was fluent but now probably just passable for conversation and to get around. As they say "when you don't use it, you lose it". It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I took advantage of the opportunity.

 

[Ronaldo17]

I can speak reasonable Spanish, we owned a holiday property in Spain for 10 years and learned it then. It made life so much easier.