What languages do you speak or would you like to learn?

[VSL]

Fluent in English only.
Can converse to a degree in Welsh.
Have a limited knowledge of modern French, Spanish, Italian, German and very limited knowledge of ancient Greek, Latin and Middle Egyptian (hieroglyphs).

Would like to learn fluently
- Russian
- Vietnamese
- Japanese
- Spanish
- French or German
and I plan to learn at least one of them once I'm done in Uni.

My cousin Storm, however, has a Welsh mother, a Portuguese father and was born in South Africa. She is fluent in
- English
- Afrikaans
- Spanish
- Portuguese
and is currently learning Welsh [and probably French] in school.
She is 13yrs old.

Oh, and I read music

 

[CheshireVal]

I took Spanish in high school and college, but I haven't retained much of it since then. I can read Spanish fairly well and get the main points, but I can only speak basic phrases and I rarely understand it when I hear it spoken.

I would love to learn German since that is my heritage. My dad didn't come to the states til he was 17, so I'm a first generation American on that side of the family. I was actually going to take it in high school, but he told me it was too hard.

 

[nliedel]

Speak English (well I hope so it's my first language) a smattering of French, I can sing in Italian and swear in Swedish! (Thanks Grandma). I would like to speak French well. I am learning sign language because one of my little guys is almost completly deaf and even with implants he will not hear like the rest of the world. The whole family has thrown themselves into it and are enjoying ourselves. My two year old is the one with the hearing problem but my one year old clearly signed, "I love you" last night to me. So sweet.

 

[toto2]

I speak...English ( my first language is canadian french , wich is somewhat different from French from France)

 

[MamaLema]

I speak English, Spanish, and Polish fluently. I know enough French to get by, but don't speak it fluently. My kids speak 3 languages, although when they were learning to talk it was hilarious because sometimes they used 3 languages in one sentence and confused a lot of strangers

I can count to 10 in over 20 languages. I started when I was a kid to see how far I get. I guess I love languages!

 

[Martha7]

We've lived in Germany, Brazil and Spain, so I speak those languages, besides having studied French in school. I studied Russian for a while, but I really think I've lost any knowledge I had of Russian completely by now. I'd love to learn Japanese, but I seem to become fluent in a language when I'm living in the country: survival will motivate you to speak for sure! I can't figure out if I'll end up teaching or subbing for foreign language classes when I get back into the workforce. No one seems to want language skills around here, besides Japanese, of course, since all of the automotive companies are in the Detroit area.

 

[Mishetta]

You always start such interesting threads!

I speak the Sicilian dialect of Italian & French as well as some English . Altho, since my Mom went to live in Heaven, I have not spoken French anymore. Last week I called one of my (many) cousins in France & I couldn't believe how much I was stammering for words! Luckily, most of my cousins speak Italian too (we are Italian but the French part comes in because all of our parents were born in N. Africa under the French Republic therefore they were all French citizens & attended French schools, etc...) so I would just jump right into Italian when the French words wouldn't come to me.

My Mom & I were also known for speaking all 3 languages in one conversation. Your brain just chooses another word (in another language if necessary) when it can't think of one is all I can come up with!

 

[Crankyshank]

I used to be fairly fluent in ASL but am horribly out of practice. I also know enough Spanish to get by and can understand some Italian if spoken very slowly to me. I can also read Latin pretty well

I'm going to pick up Rosetta Stone's French program and also Portuguese

 

[RitaZ.]

Spanish is my first language, English is second. I definitely want to learn ASL.

 

[beattyfamily]

Took two years of Spanish in HS and know NOTHING!

I can speak some, and understand even more, of Cantonese. Would love to get more fluent in it. I would also LOVE to learn Italian.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I took Spanish in high school and college, but I haven't retained much of it since then. I can read Spanish fairly well and get the main points, but I can only speak basic phrases and I rarely understand it when I hear it spoken.

That is the extent of my Spanish too. I took 4 years of Spanish and even the Regents exam but I didn't retain it well. DBF's mom speaks spanish and we try to understand what she is saying but can never grasp the general idea.

I would like to learn Greek, oddly enough. My roommate in college was Greek and she tried to teach me a few phrases and words. So I pretty much learned the dirty stuff. It is a interesting language but I cannot properly pronounce some of the letters because I was not brought up saying them.

 

[Syrreal]

I was lucky to grow up in a multi lingual household and city. I am fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, and French. I can also kind of get by on Italian.

 

[smilingmouse]

I'm fluent in English (my 1st language) and French...though my French is a bit rusty since I don't have the opportunity to use it much.

 

[pozey]

English speaking only here.

However, I have a Cherokee Indian heritage, and I have always wanted to learn to speak Cherokee.

I had a chance to take a Cherokee Language class in college, but transferred to a different college before I as able to.

 

[lemondog]

English is my first language.

I majored in Spanish in college. Unfortunately I have let it lapse quite a bit since I don't use it much. I used to be fluent. I think if I immersed myself back in the language for a few months I would become fluent again.

I know a tiny bit of Portuguese and Russian, and some Italian cuss words from my cousin, hehe.

Oh yes, and being Catholic I can pray in Latin...does that count? LOL!

 

[mommaU4]

You always start such interesting threads!

Oh my, aren't you sweet? Thank-you. Not always though. There have been some real stinkers. LOL



I have to say I am so jealous of all you who can speak several languages. I think that's just great.

 

[Talking Hands]

I speak English, German, French and American Sign Language. Know some Spanish, Russian and JApanese.
I'd like to be more fluent in Spanish and Japanese.

 

[chrrycolalola]

I grew up in a two language home so I am fluent in English and German. I can also speak/read/write a decent amount of Spanish and can read ( or at least was able to while in high school) ancient Latin. I am currently dabbling in Greek in order to be able to communicate with my DF's family. I would also like to learn French and Japanese.

 

[momsgoofy]

English is my first language.

I majored in Spanish in college. Unfortunately I have let it lapse quite a bit since I don't use it much. I used to be fluent. I think if I immersed myself back in the language for a few months I would become fluent again.

I know a tiny bit of Portuguese and Russian, and some Italian cuss words from my cousin, hehe.

Oh yes, and being Catholic I can pray in Latin...does that count? LOL!

I'm right there with ya! English is my native language. 2 years of HS Spanish and 4 years in college...used to be very fluent, but since I hardly ever use it anymore, I've lost so much, but with some immersion time I could get it back up to par...gonna have to start brushing up on it anyway since DS will be taking Spanish next year in school.

I also am fluent in ASL and am an interpreter using that language. I've also interpreted professionally using Spanish and Mexican Sign Language (able to produce about 10 signs, but comprehend more in MSL).

I know enough French to get my basic needs met when I've traveled in France...the same with Dutch...when I lived there I could carry on a conversation, but it's been 20 years so much of it's lost.

I know a few words or phrases in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, ...many of those are swear words...I have a few friends who were in the military to thank for those...lol I also know a few words/phrases in Russian and French Sign Language...and I know a couple of "swearing gestures"..not really signs from other countries, but hand gestures that I've been warned not to use in specific countries. In the last few months, thanks to my email penpal, I've been learning Hawaiian, but since I'm not actually hearing the language, it's hard to reproduce.

I just love languages...want to learn as many as possible.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I took Hebrew and Greek in seminary. Can't read a lick of it =) (we usually don't speak it but just read it - and it's ancient on both accounts so not that useful for conversation!).

I so wish I could learn languages; my memory issues prevent me from it, though. I just wish I could have learned some when I was much younger!

So, just English for me.