Second Languages

[astrogirl_2100]

Astrogirl, when I went to Danemark, I could not understand the normally spoken Danish, but if people sloooooowed down when talking to me, I could understand it.

Yeah, that's the point, people should slow down and repeat themselves, and then it is perfectly possible to communicate well. Ofcourse there are some words that will throw you off completely. Like "rolig" which is Swedish means "fun" and in Danish and Norwegian means "calm". But when you learn those traps in school, you'll be fine if you speak slowly. Once you get used to it, you can understand conversations even though people speak in their normal, fast-paced way.

[Elle]

My very first language would be Taiwanese and learned to speak Mandarin Chinese in school (we were forced to speak Chinese instead of Taiwanese at school in Taiwan twenty something years ago). Now I live in the U.S., I speak Taiwanese/Chinese at home and English everywhere else.

[Lotuslander]

Astrogirl, I was constantly amazed how Europeans seem so adept at speaking 3 or 4 languages with ease, I guess it's the geographic proximity to so many other countries, but it's still mind boggling.

[Belfastgirl]

The predominance of English in the world has made those of us whose first language it is very lazy. Shameful how our knowledge of other languages is so poor. Just read about all your bi and tri lingual people. Makes me wonder why I had to learn Latin at school!!

[charstar813]

I'm fluent in Spanish and am trying to learn French. Trying the key word there. I'd love to learn Italian and Portuguese.

[applesauce]

I studied German for 6 years and used to speak it quite well. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of opportunities to practice so I am pretty rusty. I would love to plan a trip to Germany in a few years and get a chance to brush up.

[Matt64]

English is my 1st and only language. I do however speak a tiny bit of Hebrew, French, Spanish and Yiddish..

[SurvivorGirl]

My first language is English. And it's also my only language. But once I took a class in Spanish at a summer school for 3 weeks, but I forgot everything.

[Shayla]

That's cool that you speak a little Hebrew, Matt. I also do. It was technically my first language, although I'm no longer fluent. In '98, when I visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories, much of my Hebrew came back. In school I studied Greek, Sanskrit, Latin, and Spanish, but speak/write none fluently. I'd love to also learn French, Arabic, and Italian.

[lalol]

I don't really have a first language but I would say... English my first language? And Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin will come as my second languages... I speak a little French too