Who's bilingual, trilingual, etc?

[dsurrett]

I'm once again trying to learn Russian via podcasts and websites. I'd love to visit Moscow and Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad/Tsaritsyn) since I'm a big WW2/Cold War student, and have a story with Russian vampires, but that's besides the point.
Who on the boards is conversant or fluent in anything other than English? And if English isn't your native language, what is?
I've heard that someone who speaks three languages is trilingual, someone who speaks two languages is bilingual, and someone who only speaks one language is American. I put this same post on Facebook (always glad to have more King friends, by the way, facebook.com/dsurrett) and only had a couple responses other than "only English."
If you don't know any languages other than English, would you like to learn any particular language?
All this is out of curiosity. I'm not trying to hawk some kind of language software.

 

[BeverleyMarsh]

I'm a French native but lived 15 years in England so that makes me bilingual. I have some rudiments of Spanish left from School but hardly much because I didn't like my teacher and even with 7 years study I didn't really get anywhere with it. I'm trying to pick up a bit of Arabic here in Morocco but it's such a different language, the pronunciation is super tricky because it's quite guttural and it's just not sounds I am used to make. I sound like I'm about to be sick when I try. lol

 

[skimom2]

I speak American (lol), but can futz my way through as few other languages: Spanish, German, Portuguese, French. I took Japanese when I lived in Japan and Russian in college, but both were incredibly difficult (and more like each other in structure than Russian is related to western European languages). I still remember some Cyrillic alphabet and a couple of phrases, but that's about it. The prof said I had a lovely accent (probably due to listening to a Russian great grandpa when I was little), but I made very little headway with the language itself.

 

[Dana Jean]

Took a couple years of spanish and I can understand much better than I can speak it. Especially if the speaker slows it down. I would LOVE to learn sign language, which I consider a language. Technically, most people probably wouldn't, but I would. If I filled out a application and they asked if I was bilingual and I knew sign language, I would check yes.

I think Walter's wife is a sign language interpreter, isn't she?

 

[Bryan James]

Extensive language studies and I can't communicate.

Next up: Whalesong.

 

[Riot87]

My reguler language is Jamaican (Patois) and American English

I know Japanese and spanish (learned from my friends) and some French.

 

[Lepplady]

My native language is American English. I studied French but wouldn't consider myself fluent. I've cruised through rosetta stone for Japanese, but I think I reached the equivalent of "See Spot run."
I'd like to learn all of 'em. Including ancient languages. But I doubt that my brain will cooperate.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

American English
fluent German
moderate French
some Danish
a little Italian
pretend Spanish
and enough Portuguese to make Spanish-speakers laugh their asses off

and if ya don't speak it, mime it

-Did I get the job?

 

[Kurben]

Swedish
Fluent English (not sure if it should be called american or british)
Can read and talk german with no problem.
some french phrases that lingers from my school days
Of course i understand Danish and Norwegian since the languages are closely related to Swedish but i don't speak them.

And thats it i'm afraid. Would like to understand Spanish well enough to read.... But i'm never been good at languages.

 

[skimom2]

Took a couple years of spanish and I can understand much better than I can speak it. Especially if the speaker slows it down. I would LOVE to learn sign language, which I consider a language. Technically, most people probably wouldn't, but I would. If I filled out a application and they asked if I was bilingual and I knew sign language, I would check yes.

I think Walter's wife is a sign language interpreter, isn't she?

My oldest daughter took sign language all through high school & really liked it. She's hoping to continue it in college (though she couldn't get into the class this term) and use it in her work (right now, she's thinking of social worker or child psychologist).

 

[Spideyman]

As a child I could speak Russian and Polish from being with my grandparents. My mom didn't continue using the language and it became lost to me. I would love to speak Russian.

I used to be able to speak and read Latin with ease. Alas, non use and old age makes it much more difficult now. After all they do call it the dead language.

 

[skimom2]

As a child I could speak Russian and Polish from being with my grandparents. My mom didn't continue using the language and it became lost to me. I would love to speak Russian.

I used to be able to speak and read Latin with ease. Alas, non use and old age makes it much more difficult now. After all they do call it the dead language.

WHen I was little we lived in San Antonio for a couple of years. All of our neighbors were Hispanic (we lived off base), so we kids all spoke Spanish pretty well very quickly.I've lost most of it, though, especially hearing it spoken. I do better reading it.

 

[Walter Oobleck]

Took a couple years of spanish and I can understand much better than I can speak it. Especially if the speaker slows it down. I would LOVE to learn sign language, which I consider a language. Technically, most people probably wouldn't, but I would. If I filled out a application and they asked if I was bilingual and I knew sign language, I would check yes.

I think Walter's wife is a sign language interpreter, isn't she?

She knows sign language...went to school with two deaf students...and yay back she made a little deaf boy cry because he thought she told him in sign language that she loved him...though she didn't know sign language at that time. So she knows some sign language. You've quite a memory, DJ...even I don't remember posting anything about my wife's sign language ability though your post brings something up from memory.

I took up space in two semesters of French, a semester of Spanish, and a semester of Latin. A couple I am working for are going to Honduras in a week or so (missionary work)...and the lady had some system on her computer, relearning stuff she already knows...and she said the program was more Mexican Spanish than Honduran...and the little I listened to, looked at over her shoulder as I'm going in and out doing carpentry stuff for them seemed different than what I recall from my one semester. I've picked up phrases in Korean, Finnish, Tagalog, enough to get someone's attention...I've worked for this Korean couple and I surprised him by saying something in Korean...friend of the couple, worked for him, too...and he taught me, though I did know a Korean gal in the ago who taught me what a split infinitive is...in English...I had no clue. Being American.

 

[not_nadine]

I am terribles.

Learned how to ask for a subway ticket in France. oooon beyay silve you play? They just pointed.
Made some sidewalk selling guy mad. Asked where the Louvre was. I was standing across the street. oooh aye la looooove? shook his head and told me to walk on. I think....

Always learned to ask for a bathroom.

Also always learned how to order a beer in mexico. limo? cervasa? dous?

 

[Neesy]

As a child I could speak Russian and Polish from being with my grandparents. My mom didn't continue using the language and it became lost to me. I would love to speak Russian.

I used to be able to speak and read Latin with ease. Alas, non use and old age makes it much more difficult now. After all they do call it the dead language.

If you heard these languages as a child you would most likely be a whiz if you took a formal course on either one of these languages.

I heard my Dad speaking French to my Grandpa for many years up until about the age of 5 or 6 when Grandpa passed on. When I took a six month French course (living in Quebec when I was 31), I picked up the language quite quickly).

 

[Lepplady]

When we were stationed in Germany, I had to learn to get along as much as possible. It wasn't too bad.
There was only once that I got really stuck.
I caught a cab home instead of taking the bus because my purchases were too bulky to carry on and off. But I found out very quickly that the driver spoke no English and my German wasn't close enough to cut it. In a last ditch effort, I asked him "Parle-tu Francais?" He did. Not much better than me, but well enough to get me home.

 

[Sigmund]

I'm bilingual-English and Spanish. Spanish is funny though. The Spanish Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, etc. speak are differnt. They have nuances.

I was taking French in college but after three weeks of living in the language lab I realized I just don't have the *ear* and dropped it. Bummer.

Good luck!

Peace.

 

[not_nadine]

 

[Bev Vincent]

I can speak French reasonably well and can read it well enough to make my way through Sale Gosse. I understand some written Spanish and some German but do not consider myself fluent in either.

 

[Neesy]

Took a couple years of spanish and I can understand much better than I can speak it. Especially if the speaker slows it down. I would LOVE to learn sign language, which I consider a language. Technically, most people probably wouldn't, but I would. If I filled out a application and they asked if I was bilingual and I knew sign language, I would check yes.

I think Walter's wife is a sign language interpreter, isn't she?

Has a thread like this one been posted before? As I was checking out Bev Vincent's post and the other ones above that I got the weirdest feeling of deja vu

(sorry - tried to do a spell check on deja vu and deejay came up!)