Spoken Languages

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Originally Posted by jackmilliesmom

I am Irish so I speak both english and irish and speak both fluently depending on what part of the country I am in, funnily enough can read and speak irish but cannot for the life of me cannot write it properly....

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I am with you.... I can't really write the other languages at all. But in school those courses were always my favourite.... French and German.

I had to learn some Japanese when I was taking Judo... that was pretty neat.

I don't know about in Ireland but I heard from a German Air crew once that they are required to learn to speak english in Germany... of course that might have just been for the air force though. Is it a requirement where you are? LOL I guess if part of the country speaks english it would be a benefit but is it something taught in schools as a regular class or is it a special class?

English. I know a little Japanese, but not enough to hold a conversation. I really want to learn more though...

I am fluent in Vietnamese :). I came to the U.S. when I was 17 years old and started learning English from the beginning. It was very hard at first, but after almost 20 years of continuous studying (I still learn new words everyday :)), I think I can now say that I'm fluent in English, too ;)

I took two years (4 semesters) of Spanish in college, and got all A+, but since I never used it in real life, I lost it all but a very few words..

English is my native language
I am fluent in Italian from studying 13 years there!
I understand French (studied it for 8 years). Can speak it a little.
I understand Spanish. Can't really speak it.

My family spoke german at home, it was my first language.

I speak German, English, French, Italian (good when I'm in Italy for longer), a little bit of Spanish (I can read it), a little bit Greek and Japanese and some left-over Latin.
And I can count to ten in Finnish ;)

Technically, my first language is Cantonese, but I grew up in America so I know Cantonese and English equally well. I understand Mandarin and am currently taking classes along with help from a tutor. I also know rudimentary French, but I can definitely read more than I can listen/speak. I love languages :) I just wish I could use them more!

I only know english, but have always wanted to learn something else.

I speak deep south english only ya'll! :rolleyes:

In addition to English...I speak/read/understand and some write (that's the hardest!) Spanish....not as well as when I lived in Mexico...it does fade if you don't use it...I can read enough French to navigate the subway in Paris, the roads and a menu. I know Chicago Polish (hello, how are you, please, thank you, yes and no) and a few words in Slovenian (although my father says my accent is terrible.....)

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Originally Posted by sparks19

I am with you.... I can't really write the other languages at all. But in school those courses were always my favourite.... French and German.

I had to learn some Japanese when I was taking Judo... that was pretty neat.

I don't know about in Ireland but I heard from a German Air crew once that they are required to learn to speak english in Germany... of course that might have just been for the air force though. Is it a requirement where you are? LOL I guess if part of the country speaks english it would be a benefit but is it something taught in schools as a regular class or is it a special class?

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We are born speaking english and we learn irish in school but I love it and I love visiting the Gaeltacht (gail tact is the best way to say it in english) I get to speak irish all the time and especially love hearing the older people in the are speak it. There are different pronuciations of words in irish depending on the province you go to but I love it nonetheless. It comes from my love of history and learning about the hedge schools where the children used to have to be taught in the hedges and ditches of ireland because the british army during the famine times closed and burned all of the schools because they were catholic and not protestant its a long story but an interesting one and the only way they could warn the priests and the children that the army (peelers) were coming was to shout out in irish for them to scatter...

Do you serve in the air force where you are? I have a german friend who once told me that they had to learn english in school because most of the businesses in germany are linked with english speaking countries and he said it was the most difficult language to learn because of all the similar pronouncing words such as through and threw and so on....

My native language is English. I also speak Spanish and Japanese quite often.

I know a few phrases in Thai, French, Swahili, German, and Korean. I've spent the past 4 years living with people from 42 different countries so I picked a bit up.

My first language is Dutch. I also speak French and English fluently. I used to speak German too, but since I haven't used it for more than 20 years, I have forgotten most of it. I am still able to talk to people in German though :)

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Originally Posted by jackmilliesmom

Do you serve in the air force where you are?

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Air traffic control requires a common language worldwide (imagine trying to land airplanes at an international airporr if it weren't that way!)

English is the common language used for air traffic control.

(French was once the common language for diplomacy so all diplomats needed to speak it. I doubt if that is still true....)

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Originally Posted by jackmilliesmom

I have a german friend who once told me that they had to learn english in school because most of the businesses in germany are linked with english speaking countries and he said it was the most difficult language to learn because of all the similar pronouncing words such as through and threw and so on....

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In Germany, most people learn two foreign languages in school. In my case it was 3: 9 years French, 6 years Latin and 3 years English.

Most people learn English now as it gets you further in travelling and business. In the beginning of the last century and for a long time, French was number 1 but now it's losing its second place against Spanish.

The good thing here: most people enjoy learning and speaking foreign languages and are really happy to practise when you come and visit.

I am working for a Germany based language publishing company (Langenscheidt) and the market for language learning in small Germany is much bigger than the market for language learning in the big US- something I'm proud of :)