GTKY: Language Edition

[beersandweirs]

I am always jealous of people that can speak more than one language, so tell us:

Do you speak more than one language? Which one(s)? How did you learn? Do you you plan to pass it down to your LO?

If you don't, is there a specific language you would like to learn?  Do you have any immediate plans to learn it?

[beersandweirs]

I don't speak any other languages. I took American Sign Language in high school, but I didn't retain much. If I were to choose a language to learn, it would probably be Spanish. It just seems like the most useful language I could learn.

[baytosa2013]

I'm not fluent in anything other than English but I can get by in Spanish and French. I took French from JR high through till my 2nd semester in college. I hate my professor and she was the program head so I never took any other classes.

[jillywilly]

I speak German, but not quite fluently. Well enough that I could hold an understandable conversation if it had to be entirely in German, though. I was born there, we moved to the States when I was a little over a year, so my brain just always held onto it - technically English is my second language. I've told my parents to speak to DS in German, and they do, my mom especially loves singing him the German nursery rhymes she sang to me as a baby. I hope he'll want to learn German properly when he's older and be proud of his German heritage, but I'm not going to force it on him, either. I also realize German isn't necessarily the most "useful" language to know, so I'd understand if he chose to study Spanish or a different language that's more globally popular.

[beersandweirs]

budders travel is a great reason to learn a language! I always feel like such a dummy when everyone in Europe speaks English in addition to their native language (and probably a few others).

[holliberry28]

I think my Russian is comparable to your German jillywilly. I call it "kitchen Russian" - enough to hold a conversation, but not to have perfect grammar or understand technical language or literature. My parents, sister, and grandparents immigrated from Ukraine 5 years before I was born. I didn't learn English until I went to preschool at 4.

H and I both talk to M in both English and Russian, although both sets of parents speak with him exclusively in Russian, so I'm hoping he doesn't lose it once he starts school.

Oh yea, I took 6 years of french in jhs and hs and all I can say is "je ne parle pas francais," and "je joue tennis." Fail.

[belle0720]

I started taking French in Middle School and Minored in it in college. It amazes me that I was able to write papers in French. I can still speak some but my grammar is atrocious.

H's first language was Italian but he doesn't speak much anymore. He understands his parents and family members and responds to them in English.

I've told my ILs to speak to Gianna in Italian and hope that she'll pick some up. I know some words and phrases just from being around them and tried to learn a bit for when we went to Italy.

[jillywilly]

Feb 22, 2016 13:15:37 GMT -5 holliberry28 said:

I think my Russian is comparable to your German jillywilly . I call it "kitchen Russian" - enough to hold a conversation, but not to have perfect grammar or understand technical language or literature. My parents, sister, and grandparents immigrated from Ukraine 5 years before I was born. I didn't learn English until I went to preschool at 4.

H and I both talk to M in both English and Russian, although both sets of parents speak with him exclusively in Russian, so I'm hoping he doesn't lose it once he starts school.

Oh yea, I took 6 years of french in jhs and hs and all I can say is "je ne parle pas francais," and "je joue tennis." Fail.

I wish DH spoke German, because then we'd really teach DS German. I do hope that just having some of the early exposure to two languages will help his brain hard-wire to be good in that area. I always excelled at languages in school, so I'm hoping that carries on. So far he's much stronger in his verbal skills than motor skills, so we'll see
H's family has a German background (grandparents immigrated), but he's obviously far enough removed from that to be completely American-ized, so while he doesn't speak a lick of German past "ein beir bitte," he does really like some of the more German family traditions we have. We plan on keeping those around for DS, and he's equally as excited as I am to take him to Germany one day.
I also took a ton of French in HS - and it's probably about as good as yours

[billyhorrible]

I'm not fluent in anything, but I speak enough French and German to get by. I took French in Jr high/high school and I taught myself German before living in Austria for a summer.

I can read Hebrew, but only know a handful of words (like "David, sit down and shut your mouth").

I was a waitress long enough that I know a handful of Spanish words too. (like "Jorge, I need more lettuce in the salad, please.")

My comprehension is really good though. Even without being fluent, I'm able to understand German, French, and Spanish really well.

[Bluedaisy]

I speak English and little bit of French, not fluent but enough to get me by travelling if needed. I want to upgrade it for teaching. I also have a really good ear so I often can comprehend things even if I'm not fluent, especially in Italian (I realised this when I lived with an Italian and responded to his mother thinking she was speaking English...later found out the she was actually speaking Italian) and Spanish.

I also know some ASL. Again, not fluent but could probably make myself understood.

DH speaks English, French and Finnish.

[Bluedaisy]

Oh and I'd love to learn Mandarin but think it would be really difficult.

[musicfrk2002]

I took a year of Spanish in high school, only because I needed one more class. I'm pretty sure I learned more Spanish from my coworkers at McDonald's than I did at school. I remember very little of it.

I took a sign language class in middle school, but don't remember much other than the alphabet.

[dmoney]

So I am not fluent, but know enough to get by in Hebrew. The day care that DD is in there is one teacher that goes to each room every day and only speaks to the children in Hebrew. In school I learned Spanish, I know some, but not enough. Growing up my mom and grandparents spoke Yiddish around the house so I know a little bit of that as well.

[txngrl31]

I'm only fluent in English, but have a basic understanding of Spanish and French. I took two years of Spanish in high school, and with growing up in Texas, you just pick it up. I took one year of French as an undergrad.

I studied abroad in Russia as an undergrad and focused half my grad work in Russian politics, but I only know how to say no, yes, hello, goodbye, etc. I took Arabic in grad school because I focused the other half of my work on Iraq, but it was too difficult to keep up with. So, I'd really like to learn either of those languages.

[pghtruelove]

We are raising LO trilingual. I speak fluent Spanish and Hindi and I know a lot of conversational Arabic and Punjabi so may start that a little later too. I LOVE languages and my goal is to learn a new one a year. I know Spanish because I lived in Costa Rica in 2005 and Hindi because I almost married a guy from India.(we were together for 5 years)

[billyhorrible]

Feb 22, 2016 16:23:47 GMT -5 madymoiselle said:

Waouh so many people taking french lessons and all, why is that? Nobody speaks french outside of France, lol!
I feel next time we play CAH, we should play in french, I might have a shot at winning

I don't know about CAH, but I play a mean game of Mille Bornes.


I took French because both my parents spoke French - conversationally.  When my mother graduated from college, her plan was to translate French poetry at the Sorbonne.  My dad told her they don't pay you to do that, and convinced her to go to nursing school instead.

[gigi3126]

I have a degree in Spanish...but I don't speak it very well. I can read, write, and understand it, for the most part. I always harass my dad (who is Mexican and whose first language was Spanish) about not teaching me when I was younger, so I'm going to do my best to give Jude a basic understanding. I have a ton of children's books that are dual language, specifically because that's what I used to help build my fluency when I was first learning.

[missjenniebean]

Spanish is my second language, it's kinda rusty because there isn't a need for it in or area. And know a lil ASL from when I took some classes when younger, but can't say anything back unless I spell it.

I wanna learn Indonesian bc of SO's parents.

I majored in Spanish Studies in college and studied abroad in Peru for 4 months. I miss that place and speaking Spanish everyday. Actually, miss being that fluent. Music and news articles help. And speaking it, I have one client who speaks it so once in a while I get my practice...I need to work on that. Also spent two weeks in both Colombia and Guatemala.

V will at least learn Indonesian so she can speak with her grandparents.

[missjenniebean]

Feb 22, 2016 17:54:31 GMT -5 budders said:

I also did Latin in high school for a year. I'm a word nerd and Latin is great for understanding word origins, roots if words, and is a good basis for other languages.

+1

[musicfrk2002]

I speak music too lol...does that count? It's technically another language. I suppose I know some German and French from some of the songs our college choir sang and could probably still muddle my way through the pronunciations.

[Deleted]

My dad lived in Holland when I was a kid so I used to speak fluent Dutch. But I haven't used it since I was 19 so it's pretty much gone. I also minored in French in college but again, non use = lost. I can get around as a tourist with it but that's it. And I know enough legal Spanish to communicate in basics with my clients who don't speak English until our interpreter arrives. If I had to fluently learn a second language right now it would be Spanish. It's just the most useful second to know here anymore.

DS1 understands Croatian fluently because of his father and grandmother but he is very shy about speaking it, even though he can. He is going back there with his dad for three weeks this summer and I'm really excited he will get to be completely immersed in it with his cousins and family for that long so he can practice. It's such a blessing that he is growing up bilingual between the two households. I wish we could offer that to P.

[stinybean]

I speak Spanish, but not as fluently as I used to. I learned in high school, but I became better at it when teaching because in my first few years I always had students that were straight from their country. I was amazed at what I was able to communicate. Since moving to a less Spanish filled school I do not have the same level of fluency. I get by though. I'm not going to pass it on because I don't think I'm that great & I would hate to teach J the wrong thing. I'll probably teach her a few words here & there though.

I wanted to teach J baby sign language, but I don't think I spend enough time with her to implement it. Maybe I can try during the summer.

[jessila]

English is the only language I claim to be fluent in aside from music, musicfrk2002. I took 4 years of Spanish in middle/high school/college. I also waited tables and was easily conversational in Spanish. Then worked at a Spanish immersion school so I was able to keep up with it. I do still teach students who only speak Spanish but my skills are getting really rusty. I miss knowing another language.
From singing so much, I am great at reading languages (Italian, German, and Latin especially) but my comprehension level is about zero for all of those.
I'm pretty good at finger spelling in ASL.
Whenever I have to get more credits to keep my teaching certification current (in the next 5 years) I plan to take a Spanish class and an ASL class.

If you want to learn a new language/brush up on your current skills check out Duolingo.com. They'll teach you for free and just ask you to translate the internet. Check it out.

[purple]

I'm bilingual and my other language is Welsh, which is pretty unusual unless you live in Wales (I did till I was eighteen). I speak some Welsh to L but I'm better at songs and nursery rhymes than conversation, partly because around here there is only me and we're speaking English whenever we're with other people.

My French is rusty, but I can still read a newspaper and have a reasonable conversation.

I find German and Italian okay to read and hard to pronounce!

I have what I'd probably describe as an above the average amateur working knowledge of music, but I am by no means fluent. H, who passed Grade 8 French horn when he was seventeen, conducts and composes for fun, and on average teaches himself one new instrument a year for fun (at least pre-baby), is fluent in music.

[txngrl31]

@jimbobcooter, if you don't mind me asking, what part of Croatia? DH and I vacationed on the Dalmatian coast and fell in love with the country and the Croatian people.

[Deleted]

Feb 23, 2016 18:34:02 GMT -5 txngrl31 said:

@jimbobcooter , if you don't mind me asking, what part of Croatia? DH and I vacationed on the Dalmatian coast and fell in love with the country and the Croatian people.

XH Is from Karlovac, which is about 20 minutes west of Zagreb.  XFIL has a summer houe on the coast in Klek, north of Dubrovnik, just on the north side of the Bosnian border.  My favorite area is the Istrian peninsula:  Opatija, Pula, and Rovijn

[purple]

Feb 23, 2016 19:06:44 GMT -5 Joolschweets said:

If you don't mind me being nosy purple where were you in Wales? (Tell me to bugger off if too nosy! Lol)
I spent a lot of time in Gwynedd growing up, we holidayed often & had friends there. I can honestly say the Llŷn Peninsula is probably one of my favourite places in the world. It is astonishingly beautiful.

I don't mind at all :-) I'm a South Walian. I grew up in a village about ten miles north of Carmarthen (trying to think of a town you might have heard of!) Oh, and about an hour south-east of Aberystwyth. My parents both grew up in London, moved to Wales independently, and settled in a Welsh speaking community. So I spoke English at home and Welsh at school, and I did all my exams in Welsh.

There are so many beautiful places in Wales, and Gwynedd particularly has a majestically rugged beauty.

[txngrl31]

Feb 23, 2016 19:43:05 GMT -5 @jimbobcooter said:

Feb 23, 2016 18:34:02 GMT -5 txngrl31 said:

@jimbobcooter , if you don't mind me asking, what part of Croatia? DH and I vacationed on the Dalmatian coast and fell in love with the country and the Croatian people.

XH Is from Karlovac, which is about 20 minutes west of Zagreb.  XFIL has a summer houe on the coast in Klek, north of Dubrovnik, just on the north side of the Bosnian border.  My favorite area is the Istrian peninsula:  Opatija, Pula, and Rovijn

The Istrian peninsula is known for their wines, correct?  We stayed in Split and Hvar, and island hopped on a boat throughout the Adriatic. We really want to go back and visit the other parts. Some people we met raved about Montenegro.

[gilder40]

I took four years of Latin. I loved it. I wish u still remembered more of it.

[wegrowsheep]

+1 for latin. Just 2 yrs in hs, but we use latin names for all the plants we grow at my parents' nursery, and it was helpful in science classes in college. Not in conversation though....

DD wants to learn Mandarin. Sigh.