Thread: What languages do you speak?

I know that English speakers tend to get a bad reputation for not learning other languages but what languages do you guys speak.
Ok I'm not talking fluent here - maybe just enough to order a beer and complain that it isn't cold enough.(That is when you know you have the language mastered!)
I am afraid that my language skills are relatively minor with just basic German and Polish.
Although I studied German for 8 years I now speak better Polish after 7 months of living here!

Seven months in a country will do wonders for your language skills! I made more progress in Russian in six weeks living there than in four years of college study. Of course, the college work made that progress possible--being in the Soviet Union made it necessary.

Because I'm a language dabbler by inclination, and inter alia a foreign-language cataloger by profession, I've picked up bits and pieces of a number of languages. But I've managed basic conversation in French, Russian, Spanish, and German.

I expect we'll find more English speakers who can navigate in other languages here than in some places. Not to mention that we do, I think, have some members whose first languages aren't English--it will be interesting to hear from them too.

Native language is Dutch, I get around in French and German. I can read Latin.

Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

Ok I'm not talking fluent here - maybe just enough to order a beer and complain that it isn't cold enough.(That is when you know you have the language mastered!)

Well if that is the definition you are using then I speak German fairly well and Spanish just barely.

Its funy; German is a language that I love to try and speak but rarely ever get to and Spanish is a language I hate to try to communicate in and I am bombarded by it every day. 'Su licencia por favor""Manos arriba!" blah blah blah

My native language is Dutch. My English and French are fair enough.
I can read German and figure out Latin. Oh yes, almost forgot, I can read and understand South-African too.

I 've noticed that English speaking people often overestimate the intelligence it takes to be multilingual. It's not that big a deal actually, when you live in Flanders (the Dutch speaking region of Belgium).
The other half of the country speaks French, so every kid in Flanders is taught French from elementary school on, till at least the age of 18.
Most music on the radio is in English and the bulk of the movies in the cinema and on television are in English with Dutch subtitles (and often at the same time also French ones). Hence we tend to pick up English almost without noticing. Dutch is related enough to German to catch quite a bit of it. And South-African is just a more plastic and colorful sort of Dutch.
Latin was just part of my classic education from age 12 till 18.
It was more taught for training the mind than for the sake of actually using it. But it's a great help with the vocabulary of foreign languages.

Dutch (native), French (2nd language) and a little bit of English

I can speak Spanish and I'm fully fluent in Klingon.

Native language is English with my second native language being Norwegian. My childhood years were evenly split between Canada and Norway. Swedish and Danish are closely related to Norwegian so I can count those, and I can muddle through with my German. Icelandic and Finnish, even though they are considered Scandinavian, throw me for a loop.

Kaptain "Speaks with forked tongue" Zero

English -barely --- and a little French. Maybe someone can confirm this, but an interesting thing about languages, is that as spoken there are no pauses between words -- this is why foreign languages seem fast --- but upon learning the language, pauses (or breaks) are artificially placed between words by the old membrane. I think this is interesting.


Justin

Well if we're just ordering beer, then I've got German and Spanish under my belt! I used to be conversational in Spanish, but I hate the language and never took it far. German I half-assed- I know a little bit, and I can read some, but I'd be afraid to go to Germany with only my German skills. I'm currently working on standard arabic

Languages I'm fluent in are Southern English and Okie. I comprehend most Northern English almost to fluency, but I can't get the accent right