Do you ACTUALLY speak a foreign language

[The Captain]

Taking Latin in HS has, besides scarring me for life, actually instilled a certain curiosity about linguistics.    I'm always looks for the Latin roots in words and drawing family trees between related languages.

For example, on my floor at work we have the following languages spoken:

English (well, in theory.  Proper English is seldom used )
Chinese (Mandarin and Catonese)
Russian
Polish
Italian
Hindi
Thai
Spanish

We have two native Russian speakers and two native Chinese speakers, who laugh at the fact they can only converse with each other in English.

So 9 non native english speakers among a department of about 25 people. 

If you're comfortable sharing any second (or third or even fourth) languages you speak I'd love to know.  We seem to have a pretty diverse group.

[vonna]

I speak drunken sailor . . .

[weltschmerz]

I speak English, French and Russian. I can also get by in Spanish and Polish.

[The Captain]

Jan 3, 2015 14:21:45 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I speak English, French and Russian. I can also get by in Spanish and Polish.

(Crap, I said 4 and now someone had to one-up me with 5 freaking languages). 

Feeling a little inadequate today...

[Malarky]

Semi fluent in teen speak.

Seven years of spanish in school and I can order drinks and find the bathroom.

[swamp]

I used to be fluent in French. I can stil read it. I'm rusty. 

[sarcasticgirl]

I used to be semi fluent in Spanish and Italian... But I speak rusty spitalian.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using proboards

[andi9899]

Fluent in English and Spanish. I can get by in Portuguese.

[dannylion]

Native speaker of English.  Proficient in reading Russian, Chinese, and French.  Used to be proficient speaking Russian and French, rusty now.  I can still understand it pretty well but have lost most of my active vocabulary, so participating in conversations has become difficult.  Never was very good at speaking Mandarin Chinese and very rusty now.     Can read Italian, Spanish with heavy reliance on dictionaries and grammar texts.  Studied Farsi long ago; cannot remember any of it. 

[Tired Tess]

English and I still do pretty well in American Sign Language.

[mroped]

Oh, crap! English is my third language ! Fluent also in Romanian and French. Can get by in Spanish, understand most of Italian and if necessary some basic russian.

[weltschmerz]

Jan 3, 2015 14:30:57 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Jan 3, 2015 14:21:45 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

I speak English, French and Russian. I can also get by in Spanish and Polish.

(Crap, I said 4 and now someone had to one-up me with 5 freaking languages). 

Feeling a little inadequate today...

Sorry!   

[mmhmm]

I'm reduced to "little bits", I'm afraid. I used to be much more fluent in Spanish, French and Italian than I am now. I can read them much better than I can speak them. I'm still pretty good in Indonesian and Malaysian but still read better than I speak. I've got a little German (less than any of the others) but my pronunciation has always been horrible. I've forgotten my Farsi completely but retain a bit of Arabic.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I'm semi-fluent in French. The REAL French that is.

Canadian French spoken by the Québécois francophones has taken the original language of France and & butchered it so badly over the years with their own slang and idiomatic expressions it's an embarrassment to the original language.

It's an entirely different dialect than Parisian French.

[weltschmerz]

Jan 3, 2015 16:46:59 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I'm semi-fluent in French. The REAL French that is.

Canadian French spoken by the Québécois francophones has taken the original language of France and & butchered it so badly over the years with their own slang and idiomatic expressions it's an embarrassment to the original language.

It's an entirely different dialect than Parisian French.

I was taught Parisian French in school.

[swamp]

Jan 3, 2015 16:46:59 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I'm semi-fluent in French. The REAL French that is.

Canadian French spoken by the Québécois francophones has taken the original language of France and & butchered it so badly over the years with their own slang and idiomatic expressions it's an embarrassment to the original language.

It's an entirely different dialect than Parisian French.

ETA:  bite me.  I'm quebecoise. 

[Bonny]

Jan 3, 2015 15:52:35 GMT -5 dannylion said:

  Studied Farsi long ago; cannot remember any of it. 

I can still swear in Farsi.  Shocked the heck out of myself when after 30 years I could still count to 10. I never took any classes but picked up some words from my Iranian friends. I can usually get the gist of what they're saying because about half of their words are French or English!

[Bonny]

After 5 years of Jr. High and H.S. English and 3 years for a French Literature Degree I'm reduced to only being able to read French and say some simple sentences. If I review one of my French grammar books I can get by. I was never fluent.

I can make myself understood in German. It ain't pretty.

I work pretty well with the Spanish speaking workman who don't speak very good English. Between growing up in San Diego and my French I can generally do some translation.

[mroped]

Hold it right there about the quebecoise! 
The Canadian French is in fact old and as a matter of fact "truer"(if there is such a word?) than the French french. It is in fact the old French spoken in or around Marseille. Granted, it mixed many English words in time but not as many as the French spoken in France.
Et voila! Vous ete bien venue!
(missing the litle caps on "e"s ! )

[weltschmerz]

Lunch at  l'office québécois de la langue française

[tootsieroll]

I started studying Spanish in sixth grade. I took four years in high school, studied for a summer in Spain and got a BA in Spanish. I taught 7 years of high school Spanish, and now I tutor a retiree and a few high school students in Spanish while staying home with my kids. I can speak, read and write, though I do feel a bit rusty in some areas. I have translated in school meetings and random situations.

I feel like I can understand Portuguese, but I have no idea how to formulate a response

[imanangel]

I speak fluent English, redneck, teen, and drunk Italian.  I am also fluent in Italian sign language.

[mroped]

So for "redneck" do you use chewing tobacco or beef jerky?

[imanangel]

Jan 4, 2015 7:57:07 GMT -5 mroped said:

So for "redneck" do you use chewing tobacco or beef jerky?

Neither.  It was my native language, but I moved out of that area many moons ago.  I am way more city girl now.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Sarcasm   

[Artemis Windsong]

Inadequate, here.  No foreign language.  I used to be proficient in shorthand.  A nonspoken language.

[Anne_in_VA]

I used to speak and read French, but have become rusty although I can pick out words and can sometimes get the gist of what is being said. I used to speak some Swedish as my dad was a first generation Swede, but only remember a few words now.  Took shorthand in HS, but never became very proficient in it. 

I used to study ASL but have forgotten most of that now since I don't use it in daily life.

[chiver78]

if you want to talk about butchering the French language, take a look at the dialect I speak - Chiac
I grew up speaking this dialect of French with my family, and then made the mistake of taking French in school - thinking I'd earn an easy A. I got that A, but managed to frustrate myself in the process when taking tests that covered subject matter where Parisian differs from Chiac.

when I was younger, I was proficient in Brazilian Portuguese and Italian. I've lost both w/o regular use, but want to reacquaint myself with Italian. I'm thinking about picking up some learn-to-speak CDs for my upcoming long commutes.

[wyouser]

I speak, read, and write German. Beyond that, I can order beer or wine in Spanish or French,  complete with a please or thank you.  But ...asking directions to the nearest bathroom?  Hopeless!!

[NastyWoman]

Native language: Dutch
Foreign Languages (fluent) English and German
                            (get by) French
                            (survival level) Thai