Do you speak another language? Is there one you'd like to learn?

[RThomas]

Just thought it would be neat to see what other languages everyone speaks - other than English, of course.

I took three years of French in high school - which was nearly 20 years ago. I haven't kept up with it since then.

I've self-taught Russian. I can read and speak it at a beginner level. It is a fun language to learn, but very difficult. I've learned through books and on the internet. I've also communicated with native speakers in Russia using Skype.
I have slacked off studying for the last few months, though. Would like to find someone local who speaks it, but there doesn't seem to be an abundance of Russian speakers in Tennessee

So, just curious how many other BYCers speak more than one language, are trying to learn another language, or if there is a language you would like to learn someday.

 

[speckledhen]

Had four or five years of French, but have forgotten most of that. Used to teach beginner and intermediate sign language, but again, it's a "use it or lose it" kind of thing. I can sign better than I can read sign.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I've tried Spanish and French in school..a bit of German and Italian on my own. I just don't pick up on language really well so I wind up quiting. I have a nice collection of vocabulary from many languages including Koine Greek and Hebrew. I can get the gist of what I am reading, but I will never be able to speak any of them.. I'm just a word collector.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Fluently, I can speak English and Spanish, the latter I'm certified to teach 6-12.

Languages I can speak partially: Polish, German, Japanese, Latin, French, Italian, Portuguese (very close to Spanish), Scots Gaelic, Khalkha Mongolian, Nahuatl (Aztec fpr the lay people) and Icelandic

Languages I'd like to learn: Anishnaabe (Chippewa for the lay people), Lakota, Greek.

Instead of teaching, I should have become a linguist. It's one of the few natural talents I have, an intuitive understanding of the structure of languages and connections between words. Knowing Spanish made the Romance Latin-based languages easy and knowing the Mexican dialect makes Nahuatl easy. Some English words come from Nahuatl like chocolate, tomato, avacado, guacamole and coyote. My parents are Polish-Americans and can speak Polish and my grand-parents off the boat are trilingual: Polish, English and German. I also studied history in college so I learned some Latin from that. I'm also big into barbarian cultures: the Celts, Vikings, Mongols and wanted to learn their languages. My husband is German so I've learned some from him. I also lived near a Honda plant in Ohio when I was younger and went to school with many Japanese students. In high school, a good friend of mine was taking Japanese and loved anime but always watched it subtitled rather than dubbed so I learned some from that.

BTW, two of my favorite authors are hobby linguists, Gary Jennings & James Clavell

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

I learned a little german when I was in Germany for a year.
The language I would love to learn is Scots Gaelic due to my scottish ancestery.

 

[Mattemma]

I learned hungarian while living in that country for a year.Took the state exam,but I don't get a chance to use it much anymore.Learned french,german,and spansih in school,but only recall a sentence or 2 from each language. Took latin too. Hoping the kids learn spanish,but it's up to them.

 

[Gonzo]

I speak German as well... Ich sprechen die Deutsch!

 

[saddina]

Took French in high school. Currently working on Spanish with my 2 sons, then onto french for them, then Japanese and Mandarin. Languages are not optional at thier school, so you can pick which to study, but you have to be in one every year after 2nd grade. I'm having to learn with them, but we're moving forward.