What languages can you speak?

**Janszoon** · 05-08-2009, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucifer_sam

i hear there's way more Spanish speaking people in Massachusetts than southern California.

Haha. I actually live in Northern California and am moving to Philly, but there are way less spanish-speakers in Philly than Boston so your point is even more true than you realize.

Seltzer · 05-08-2009, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAPTAIN CAVEMAN

the idea of being completely fluent/billingual, and learning more languages appeals very much to me... gonna keep taking french in college. i'd like to learn to understand/speak mandarin but the idea of learning the alphabet turns me off completely

Learning Mandarin would be a massive commitment. One that I feel I could have made if I'd started a few years ago, but now probably couldn't make.

And yeah, there is the possibility of learning it on a spoken level rather than written which is much more feasible and still useful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 333

Hm, I guess what I'm really asking is do you practice orally outside the classroom? I found that when I did this a lot, I really got a feel for the foreign ways you move your tongue while learning a new language.

I think that practice is necessary for listening skills. My high school Latin teacher who majored in French told me that he went to France and could only really converse properly with the locals after about a week of being there.

I don't think I've forgotten much French vocab since high school, but my listening skills have deteriorated... I can't be the only one who finds listening hard. Mind you, French isn't particularly phonetic and the speed/enunciation/elision can make it difficult to understand.

~~CAPTAIN CAVEMAN~~ · 05-08-2009, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seltzer

Learning Mandarin would be a massive commitment. One that I feel I could have made if I'd started a few years ago, but now probably couldn't make.

And yeah, there is the possibility of learning it on a spoken level rather than written which is much more feasible and still useful.

its more or less because the city i live in has the highest visible minority population in canada... 59%, most of whom are from china, hong kong or taiwan. mandarin & cantonese are practically spoken just as widely as english here. maybe not cantonese as much, but still a huge amount of the population speaks at least one of them.

sidewinder · 05-08-2009, 12:48 PM

English is my second language. I was born and grew up in Belgium (till 9 y/o) and unfortunately don't practice the French nearly enough. It's quite embarrassing when speaking with relatives.

I took a continued education course last summer and it helped a little, but not enough. What I need to do is join a group of French speakers in town and get together a few times a month to socialize. That would really help mature my vocabulary too. Part of why I'm embarrassed to speak it now is because my education in the language only went to age 9. Sure I've spoken French on a somewhat regular basis with immediate family in the past 24 years, but not enough to really improve. Barely maintain is more like it.

I wish procrastination would let go of it's choke hold on me.

Antonio · 05-08-2009, 01:29 PM

well my family's from the Dominican Republic, so Spanish

**Janszoon** · 05-08-2009, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidewinder

English is my second language. I was born and grew up in Belgium (till 9 y/o) and unfortunately don't practice the French nearly enough. It's quite embarrassing when speaking with relatives.

I took a continued education course last summer and it helped a little, but not enough. What I need to do is join a group of French speakers in town and get together a few times a month to socialize. That would really help mature my vocabulary too. Part of why I'm embarrassed to speak it now is because my education in the language only went to age 9. Sure I've spoken French on a somewhat regular basis with immediate family in the past 24 years, but not enough to really improve. Barely maintain is more like it.

I wish procrastination would let go of it's choke hold on me.

You can probably find some good french groups in your area on meetup.com. That's where I found my spanish group.

Bulldog · 05-08-2009, 02:11 PM

I studied German for a about a year, and was fine right up until they asked me to do some exams. I can speak it a little, and could probably make it through a day in Germany without having to spend money on a phrasebook, but I wouldn't exactly call myself fluent at it.

Trauma · 05-08-2009, 08:37 PM

English and a little French.
Just enough to talk to and understand salespeople in Montreal.

~~TumorAttitude~~ · 05-09-2009, 12:06 AM

Un pequito espaniol'.
(No idea about spanish punctuation......)

boo boo · 05-09-2009, 01:11 AM

I know sign language, jive, redneck and I can speak a little bit of Jon Anderson.

05-08-2009, 12:48 PM	#14 (permalink)
sidewinder Engorged Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,536	English is my second language. I was born and grew up in Belgium (till 9 y/o) and unfortunately don't practice the French nearly enough. It's quite embarrassing when speaking with relatives. I took a continued education course last summer and it helped a little, but not enough. What I need to do is join a group of French speakers in town and get together a few times a month to socialize. That would really help mature my vocabulary too. Part of why I'm embarrassed to speak it now is because my education in the language only went to age 9. Sure I've spoken French on a somewhat regular basis with immediate family in the past 24 years, but not enough to really improve. Barely maintain is more like it. I wish procrastination would let go of it's choke hold on me. __________________ last.fm \| my collection on RYM \| vinyl instagram @allthatyouseeandhear I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.

05-08-2009, 08:37 PM	#18 (permalink)
Trauma snickers Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: detroit Posts: 2,194	English and a little French. Just enough to talk to and understand salespeople in Montreal. __________________ A mi no me importa nada Para mi la vida es un sueño

05-08-2009, 02:11 PM	#17 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	I studied German for a about a year, and was fine right up until they asked me to do some exams. I can speak it a little, and could probably make it through a day in Germany without having to spend money on a phrasebook, but I wouldn't exactly call myself fluent at it.

05-09-2009, 12:06 AM	#19 (permalink)
~~TumorAttitude~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Purgatory Posts: 749	Un pequito espaniol'. (No idea about spanish punctuation......)