I was just kind of wondering what everyone can speak around the board. And also, what do you think is a pretty useful language to pick up?

My mothertongue is actually Cantonese, although I think it's a pretty useless language (seeing that only a tiny part of China actually speaks the dialect). So I also know a bit of Mandarin, but I usually have to translate from Cantonese then to Mandarin to speak/understand it.
My most fluent language is English though, so my Chinese has really deteriorated over the years. And seeing that I live in Canada, it's mandatory for all children to start learning French at the age of 7/8. I've also been studying Japanese since I was 12 or so.

I'm not sure, but even with 4 languages, I think it'll be pretty fun to start learning German or Italian as well.

You'll probably find that most people round here speak another language to a greater or lesser extent. I did French and Spanish at A-level (but have forgotten most of it now ), and through music have picked up enough Italian and German to order a glass of wine.

One day I'll learn Welsh, but at current rate of progress this won't happen until I retire.

My mother tongue is English.

I studied French and German at school, and then went on to use them a fair bit in my work as an accountant - I specialised in international reporting. I also, through work, picked up a smattering of Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Polish - enough to understand invoices, the text of tax returns and sets of accounts, and deal with simple letters or queries.

As a singer I've performed in French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Welsh as well as Latin and English, of course.

I'm not fluent in anything other than English, though.

Never seen that performance direction, Deborah, you must play more interesting stuff than I do....

No, just spent too much pocket money at Covent Garden

I can speak French and German to a good holiday level.

Ive sung in numerous languages, but as of yet never Spanish. I have a spanish song I want to teach a pupil, so would welcome a spanish speaker to give me a phoenetic transcription.

I know my International Phoenetic Alphabet reasonably well, and thats how I get by learning songs in other languages, then I find a translation (pref word for word) and get on with it.

My home language is English. I speak very fluent Afrikaans, some Dutch, a spattering of Zulu and Sotho. I studied German at school, and first year uni, but it is quite hesitant (gets better when I'm around Germans. I can read it much better than I can hear it too). I did Latin in school, and can still remember most of it.

We've been talking about languages in the past (see below)

http://forums.abrsm.org/index.php?showtopic=9430&hl=
Languages
http://forums.abrsm.org/index.php?showtopic=9385&hl=
Languages 2

My mother tongue is Dutch, French being my second language and English my third. I also studied some German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish. I particularly like getting acquainted with the principles of grammar, but vocabulary is a never ending story.

Fluent in french (worked there for 10 years) and love the language.

Four years in Italy and I can get by, but still not fluent. Most people at work can speak excellent english or french so I've got a bit lazy.

Wife is Polish and I can speak just enough to survive and chat with the in-laws, but I'll never be fluent. It's an incredibly hard language! The grammar was invented by a sadist. There are 3 genders, Masc, Fem and Neuter, but the masc. is divided into Inanimate/Animate, so in fact there are 4 to learn, each has its Sing. and plural, 7 cases to learn for each!

Then there are the adjectives which have to agree with the.......

Even to say 'I go' isn't straightforward. It depends on how you go and whether it's something you do regularly or not.

Fortunately, they're all very friendly - oh, and I like vodka!

Steve

fluent in English and German. Learnt French and Latin in school. Can understand snippets of written Dutch and the Scandiwegian languages as a result, but haven't a clue how to pronounce a thing. Can sing two songs in Icelandic! (though the singing isn't up to much. )

First language is English. I can speak quite a lot of french, since I'm doing a degree, and I did A-level German. I can speak a bit of spanish, enough to talk to my cousins anyway! I used to be pretty good in portuguese coz I spent a month in Brazil and learnt a bit before I went, but that was 3 years ago so I've forgotten it all!

I have two mothertongues! It's a little complicated, but I'm fluent in both German and English. I spoke English first and learnt German when I was 4 or 5. My parents are also fluent in both and I'm in mothertongue English and mothertongue German classes at school. Don't know which of the two I'm more confident in. As I'm living in Germany at the moment, I know more slang words and stuff in German than I do in English!

p.s. And I don't have a German accent when I speak English or an English one when I speak German. Have been told that this might have to do with being musical and hearing the nuances! No idea how true this is, but it's a flattering statement!

My first language is technically Japanese. I learnt English when we moved to Boston, when I was 6. Now I can probably manipulate English just as well as my mother tongue, although depending on the situation, one language is easier than the other. For example, I could not talk to my family in English (just feels really weird); I can insult/yell better in Japanese () and sometimes I have difficulty explaining subtle emotions in English.

On the other hand, I find it hard to write essays in Japanese, because I haven't had much practice with it. It seems easier to organise ideas in a logical way when it's in English. Plus, I read slightly more English books than Japanese, so I know more idioms and vocabs in English.

Apart from those two, I currently learn German and Spanish at GCSE level, which is way far from fluent. I'm planning to take German up to A2 level though, and possibly continue it as a side option when at university. Then, if I have enough money, I want to study at Germany! Hopefully after all that, I'd be more or less fluent in everyday speech. I still want to keep up Spanish though, and in the future would like to pick up French (but maybe I'm too ambitious!).

Well, my mother tongue is English. I am taking French and Spanish GCSEs this year and I'd like to take A levels in them and then study languages at university. My Chinese friend is also teaching me a bit of Mandarin.

My mother tongue is cantonese, I find it really hard to write it, reading it is easier but I hardly know any anyway:P. I can only understand a little mandarin and speak basic french. Ummm.... apart from English and 'orange' in spanish, that's about it.

I'm not fluent in any language, but I'm doing French and Italian at A-level (ex-latin student too), and French and Russian at University next year. My mother speaks French all the time, that's where she's from and my dad speaks Russian, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Portugese fluently, and is trying to learn Arabic and Japanese at the moment. It's a shame the culinary side of our house isn't so cultural!

How come you're not fluent if your mother is french and speaks french all the time?

Steve

i don't live with my mum. was brought up by aunt and occasionaly visit my mum.

English is my native, but I have lots of family living in France and we go there alllll the time (unfortunately) so I'm pretty confident, although I don't speak it if I can help it just to annoy French people because they all speak English...and I don't enjoy it. Except my stupid grandmother forces me to talk French to her so I can't get any food or drink without asking in French
But yup, semi-fluent I suppose.

Dude this is so cool. My mother tongue is cantonese too! I can't write it very well though, its so difficult cause you can't pronounce it out like you can in english or frech if you get me. I'm learning Mandarin as well because then i can go to China and speak fluently! Because of the way i look they porbably expect me to understand what they're talking about! Obviously i speak English but I also going to be studing GCSE French and Italian next year. I plan to continue up to A level as well. I also speak a little Jerriais, which is Jersey french - a bit like Norman French i often get confused with normal French and Jerriais! I'm also considering taking up latin. I'm hoping to do law when I am older.

My mothertongue is English, but I can also speak American, Australian and Canadian too!

Erm... French and Spanish GCSE, and hopefully A-level too, teach-myself-Italian-and-Latin, and would love to learn Portuguese and German, but maybe not yet!

I can speak a reasonable amount of French (though not brilliantly, or terribly quickly), and could probably order food/drink, or ask for directions in German.

Of course, as the vast majority of us on these forums are musicians, we all know a few words in Italian!!!!!

I speek Engleesh.

I learn it from a book.

I also speak German and Latin to GCSE level.

And a little French, and a little Norwegian and Danish.

And musical terms in Italian. hehe.

Cool

Probably also has to do with learning it from a very young age. The nicest English accent I have ever heard (including English people's!) was a Norwegian girl's who'd been learning English from a very early age and had lived in London. To speak to her, one would not have known it was not her mother tongue - exquisite accent and idiomatically rich, too, quite sickening!


Ahhhh no, Slavonic grammar is WONDERFUL! Verbs of direction! Aspect! Cases!

My mother tongue is English, I also speak (though it's rusty *sob*) Russian which I studied at Uni.

Those are the only two I could really claim to speak, and be fluent in, though Russian is a lot less fluent than it was. Give me an hour chatting in it though and it's amazing what comes back.

Other languages I have studied or learned bits of: it's a long list!

I'll do it chronologically:

Learned French from 2st year of secondary school up to 1st year of uni... can still get by/make myself understood, though I never got to grips with the grammar (much prefer the sadism of Russian to the vagueness of French!!) - I can understand spoken and written much better than I can speak or write it! Though I do tend to speak it with a Russian accent apparently...

Spanish I have some holiday Spanish and can get by when asking for prices or ordering food, (or I could, anyway, it's been a while since I tried!) I did a term of it in school in my first year and then was official family translator on holidays forever even though I wasn't very good at all. My grammar is totally non-existant and if people talk fast or about anything more than prices and food I'll be lost!

German I did for 2 years at school, another language I can understand more than I can produce, I have had several conversations with people where they have spoken German and I have understood but have not been able to contribute. It's a bit embarrassing! I can get by, count(!), order food, ask for (and sometimes even understand ) directions. My grammar is non-existent again!

Mingled in around school years are 3 words here and half a dozen there of anywhere I have gone on holiday - I collect bits! I can say the basic hello, please, thank you, bye, or some random collection of basic words like that with sometimes something completely mad thrown in, in quite a few languages where I can't understand a word else... Italian, Greek, Arabic, Polish... previously Estonian though I'd have to remind myself, ditto Maltese... There may be others... I forget. Oh and music terms - the usual! And I can make some sense of ecclesiastical latin having sung various Glorias, Masses, Pie Jesuses(!), Nunc Dimittuses and Magnificats.

Moving on to uni: Russian! Of course... Also studied beginners' Croatian, never had a chance to use it but probably better than my holiday Spanish and in some respects more comfortable than my rusty French. Given the chance I *think* I could get by - more so if I had a chance to refresh it before I went.

Japanese - a 6 month evening class in my 4th year - most of which I have forgotten save the odd word. Probably less fluent even than my terrible Spanish, and that is saying something. But I can introduce myself and ask how d'ye do, how are you, etc, basic politesse. If I revised I could probably have a simple conversation about my town, tell you what the time was, and that the train to Tokyo was due to leave soon

Polish, Ukrainian, generalised "UberSlavonic" - I went to Poland for 10 days a couple of weeks after the end of my degree, and ended up chatting with lots of people who *said* they spoke Russian but didn't really. (one old man spoke the equivalent of someone saying they spoke English and then talking to you in German with every 10th word said loudly and slowly in English....!!!) As a result I had a crash course in how to piece together the meaning of what someone might be saying in a language somewhat related to Russian or Croatian, and forever confused my poor brain. To say I could speak Polish or any other Slavonic language besides Russian and a bit of Croatian would be a big fat lie, but I can (or could - it's been a while since I had the chance) do a pretty fair job at understanding and can have a crack at making myself understood. I picked up a few words of Polish along the way, but my knowledge of real Polish is teeeeeny.

So yeah... I like languages a lot. But like my music, it's jack of all trades, master of none - I'll have a crack at any language someone may make the mistake of letting me know they speak, but only two are any good and I sometimes can't even speak English in a way that makes sense to anyone else .....

Sarah-flute is right - linguists tell me that my lack of accent with each is because I'm a true bilingual, having learnt both from the beginning - and certainly before age 6. I'm told my whole demeanour becomes more germanic when I'm on the phone to a German person. I do start stammering once I've switched between the two a few times, though. Worst thing I've had to do is take a history from someone in German but write down what she was telling me in English at the same time....

I can easily believe it: I've spoken Russian for a relatively small proportion of my life, but even then, my tone of voice and even sometimes facial expression is completely different when speaking Russian in small but noticeable ways... I even speak in a different part of my mouth all this more so when I've had practice or am speaking to a russophone, but I find it really quite weird! I can imagine that if you're truly billingual it would be more pronounced as you are sort of naturalised in both languages properly, if that makes sense.

I can speak fluently in countonese, and haka. I can also talk in french fluently. and english too .

Im actaully quite surprised at how many people speak cantonese!

Do you mean Cantonese or is that a different language, or maybe just a variant spelling? *confused*














I really am going....

Maybe it's a language that involves number counting...

It's really cool to see how many people are bilingual/can speak several languages. Especially your extensive list, Sarah.

Well I'm only any good at two of them! I like languages, I can't seem to stop the urge to learn as much of as many as possible....

English is my mother tounge, but I can also speak Spanish pretty well as my dad's from Peru!

Darn good for a third language!


Heehee sounds so much fun!




How dare some people be so intelligent! First language is English, can sort of get by a little bit in German and am currently learning Arabic, which is great fun! Atakallam :arabi qaliil!

Says he who's self teaching Arabic

Mother Tongue : English
Learning at school : French (intend to do at degree level) Latin (A level definate, mebbe joint degree with French too) and Japanese (I'll do it as long as possible before the endless repetition of "yomimasu nomimasu kikimase kakimasu shimasu asobimasu okimasu nemasu [listing verb infinitives] etc finally kills me)
Have attempted (badly) to teach myself: Dutch, German
Will attempt (badly) to teach myself : Welsh, Russian
Linguistical aim : Be able to hold a decent conversation with anybody in any language in the world

Argh!!!!!!!!! You are all making me feel stupid now

I only speak french and German (I am taking them at gcse) and a very minimal amount of spanish. I once tried to teach myself Korean and Indonisian but I was learning from a book and had no idea how to say anything

and my mother tongue is english

How flattering, I'm a true bilingual! Quite cool, though. Anyone else here feel really annoyed when speaking to monolingual people? I tend to become quite impatient with German people who don't understand the English words I keep dropping into sentences. My favourite one is 'obviously'. There doesn't seem to be an equivalent word for it in German...

I kind of have that trouble, in that when there's a certain word that does not exist in English, I substitute it with a French word or a Japanese word that I find is more appropriate (and then I get blank looks ).

I would say "klar", but as an adverb, that doesn't fit very well, does it?

I don't get annoyed with people for not understanding, but I do get annoyed with people for assuming everyone will speak their language - something us in the English speaking world are well known for. It is embarrassing to be aborad with people who won't even try to learn to say hello in the local tongue.

This evening I had to call the police for an emergency. (After all, there was no problem, fortunately!)
Brussels is officially bilingual, so I spoke Dutch, my mother tongue. But the officer replied "Vous parlez le français?" So I had no choice and continued in French, but I was quite shocked about this ! I think I should lodge a complaint !

That's a bit rubbish really, isn't it?

You mean the officer or me ?

The officer!!!

"Offentsichtlich, or "selbstverständlich", maybe?
As a very small kid, I didn't realise that others couldn't understand if I was in the "wrong" language, and if I couldn't remember a word in one would produce an equivalent in the other, but with the pronunciation of the first! I now get more irritated with myself if a word or expression hides deep in my subconscious, rather than with the person who is having to wait patiently for some trivial anecdote to be finished.

It's so not, Cantonese is my most beloved mother language although my English and Mardarine are as good as my Cantonese...(maybe English is even better...) I considered myself is 1/3 HKer, 1/3 Chinese, and 1/3 Aucklander...

One of the habits it was hard to get out of, after spending months with English people who spoke Russian, in Russia, was of habitually using Russian words where they were more appropriate or simply mellifluous. I still sometimes refer to my "klyuchis" (Anglicised version of the Russian for keys which we used all the time).

The other thing was going to cafes with people I had been in Russia with, and chatting away merrily in English, 1) forgetting that we weren't surrounded by Russians who couldn't understand us and 2) being completely thrown when we didn't have to switch to Russian to order...

Oh right...
I was thinking that maybe you'd find me a bit huffish for being upset...

You know, this language conflict is a big thing in Belgian politics. Since the foundation of our country (1830), the French-speaking have always been dominating the Flemish, and although the situation has become immensely better these days, our language rights are still not respected (my anecdote is just another example), but it's very tough to make them understand our frustration. It's all about disrespect and contempt.

No, not at all. I think that there should be someone available to speak to a caller in Dutch even if not everyone answering the phones speaks it, after all it is an official language. So why should you be forced to speak in something other than your mother tongue when it's an official language and it is an emergency!! I think that's really bad.

Ho hum. at least you are in a position to speak fluently in French but I think that's really bad. Even if it wasn't an official language but just something which was a common first language then they should make the effort, but if it's called an official language and you can't even report an emergency in it, that makes a mockery of calling it an official language.

If *any* of this makes sense....

Past my bedtime

It sure makes sense ! You're just saying what we are trying to make them understand !
I noticed you've been editing this post, probably because I didn't reply in the first place. Well, I didn't because you were just so right...