Forehead Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Just wondering what the distribution is among ES. I'm in the middle of an MBA so I can't do it now, but I've always thought it might be fun to try and pick up 1 or 2 more languages sometime in the future, over a number of years, of course. I know they don't come easy. How many languages can you speak, which one was your native language (if not English) and how long did it take you to feel comfortable conversing in your new one? Poll coming in a minute... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpillian Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Two: English and Arabic (part of my major in college). Took Spanish in HS but at this point I wouldn't say I could speak it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokie4redskins Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Three for me. Gets more and more difficult to shake the rust off though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renaissance Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English + some Spanish. I always wanted to be able to speak Spanish fluently since my summer camp days when the Mexican kids would school us on the soccer field while simultaneously talking **** about us in Spanish, haha. So I took 6 years of it but have not kept up with it much the last few years. I'm trying to pick it back up now though One day I'd like to learn French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdskn4Lyf21 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, some Spanish, and trying to learn Italian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I used to be able to speak Persian, English, and Italian now I can only speak Persian and English I learned Spanish in high school, but I was never very good at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 It's the 1+ for me...I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, but I'll be damned if I can say anything past the standard "What time is it, where is the bathroom?" type stuff. I never took it that seriously, but I may try again now that I'm more mature about this stuff. If I could pick others to learn, I'd probably choose Arabic and Mandarin. For potential job prospects and future business dealings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, some Spanish, and trying to learn Italian. I really want to learn Italian. I'm half Italian so it would be cool to learn the langauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English and Tagalog (native) fluent. French and German conversational. For about four years around college I spent about a week in France annually. Plus I took 3 years of French in college. My college classes weren't much help to be honest, it wasn't until I was there and had to actually use it that I became conversational. So 2 semesters in classroom and two weeks there, to answer your question. I feel that learning a language has to have a functional component and not just an academic/classroom use. I don't think it sticks if you're just using it in practice situations. Language requires context, which I think is what really makes it stick. I try to stay proficient by reading online newspapers in French and German. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 In the words of John McClain, "I only speak 2 languages, English, and bad English." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinInsite Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, Italian fluent. French, German, Spanish passable. Horrendous Mandarin and Japanese. Can only curse in Cantonese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 I probably should have had an option like "can count to ten in multiple languages." In 7th grade, I took an Intro to foreign languages class, where you spent about a month on each one, learned the basics, and moved on. I used to be able to count to 10 in Spanish, French, German, and Latin, but I can only remember Spanish and German now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renaissance Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I feel that learning a language has to have a functional component and not just an academic/classroom use. I don't think it sticks if you're just using it in practice situations. Language requires context, which I think is what really makes it stick. I try to stay proficient by reading online newspapers in French and German. I have a friend who is pretty fluent in French and another who is Brasilian but only speaks Portuguese around her family now (she lives in DC now). Anyway, we were all hanging out one weekend and I saw that they both had Harry Potter books with them - the one friend was reading the French version and the other was reading the Portuguese version! All the while I can barely finish a book that's written in English :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, Pig Latin, Jibberish, and the Language of Love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RammsteinSkins Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, Spanish, French, and of course German. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English and Urdu Can read Arabic Learned Italian while studying there, but its been 7 years, so I can only ask where is the bathroom and basic directions now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljs Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I speak the only one that matters to me- English. Now I'm not being racist or anything, I just have no use for the other languages. I do know a decent amount of Spanish from HS and College, plus working for years in a town with a very large Hispanich population. (I can arrest you and give you a nice traffic ticket all in Spanish:D) However, I've lost a lot of that just from not using it. Do I advocate people learning another language? Yes, most definitely. Especially Spanish with the way our country is growing. The weird part is, my brother law who is of Mexican decent, only speaks limited Spanish, but his mom is fluent (you'd think she walked across the border yesterday due to her thick accent, but she was born/raised in Texas). So one would think that my nieces and nephews would grow up learning Spanish. No way jose, (pun intended). Their grandmother does not believe they need to know it, she is a big proponent of complete assimilation and is very vocal about other Hispanic immigrants learning Spanish. Sorry for the "rant" but I do find this a very interesting Topic. I worked with a guy who was raised in Norway, so he speaks Norweigen. HE couldn't get the extra % of pay for being bilingual because the city would only give it to the Spanish bilingual cops. He sued and won. At work, we pay our bilingual workers an extra $1 per hour, but they have to pass a test and be working ina department with a specific Spanish language need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I speak: english spanglish ebonics pig latin and pimpenese!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 2 fluently (English and Spanish). I'm ok in Italian and even though I slaughter French, I can get by. My Hebrew is pretty bad, mostly learned from religious services. I know a few words and phrases in Japanese, something I hope to improve on in the years to come. Can swear up a storm in Vietnamese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, some Latin, some Spanish, some Italian, some Serbian, limited Japanese from Anime and Hentai. And like all ESers when the Redskins lose or screw up an opportunity because of a boneheaded play, I speak New York for a limited period of time before putting money in a Jar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wantarace17 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English, Spanish and Russian. I took French before but hated it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 oh wait.. I speak mushmouth too howba doba fatba albert... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slacky McSlackAss Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 English and Hindi fluently, my Spanish is passable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Sadly, I only speak English. I studied French, but I absolutely sucked at it. It was the only academic subject that ever kicked my azz. I think some people are hardwired better for multiple languages than others. My wife was a French major, and she took German and Spanish electives in college because, to her, all language courses were "gut" courses where an A was pretty much guaranteed. For me, French 101 was like advanced particle physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Offensive and silly sidetrack incoming... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfDCRAtODa0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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