Thread: Languages

Originally Posted by pcdad

IDF served 1998-2k..refreshed Hebrew there

קורס תותחן, מחנה שבטה, קיץ 1984; מילואים עד גיל מסוים (מ"מ155 נגרר)

כל הכבוד לצה"ל!!

English is my native language and the only one I would claim to be fluent in. I took 4 years of French in high school and, surprisingly, remember enough to get by on my visits to France. I studied Russian for one year in college, but honestly don' remember much of it.

I know a few words of Korean and Vietnamese. I am currently struggling mightily to learn Japanese so that I am able to speak with my in-laws. It's straining my abilities, but my wife assures me I'm coming along. If only I had enough time in the day after work and everything else is done...

I got started with English from playing the Sierra adventures (Police Quest, Space Quest) with a dictionary. But what really got me going was when I started reading English books. That got me a rich vocabulary and an understanding of the grammar. The second big leap for me was when I worked for a Space Agency and spoke nothing but English all day. The native English speakers told me that my English is much better than theirs. The reason was that I learned 'proper' English while they sometimes used the dialect they grew up with.

People I know raise their kids perfectly bi-lingual (Dutch French) from the cradle. One parent speaks French, the other Dutch. The kids learn it naturally and it gives them a huge advantage in life.

We taught our daughters basic sign language from the moment they were able to wave their hands. That was a real joy. They were never frustrated due to communication problems, because from 6or 7 months they could tell us whether they were thirsty, hungry, tired, ... And since we always used the words with the signs, they started talking coherently at a very young age, especially my oldest daughter. She could speak in perfectly pronounced full sentences by the time she turned 2. This always got some funny reactions from people who didn't expect that.