Learning Languages

[Bexray]

Even though science is my bag in general, I love languages. I'm half Russian and have a very basic (VERY basic) grasp of the language. My gran (babushka) was fluent in Russian and her English was fractured, and while we had a great relationship, it's a huge regret that I never could really talk to her deeply.

But after all that background, I was wondering what languages you can all speak? I'm trying to learn Slovak at the moment, but it's at a really slow pace, mostly because of my own laziness though!

What is your first language, if not English?

Are you learning anything right now?

 

[sk]

I'm from Sweden so Swedish and English are the only languages I understand.
Don't think I'm particularly good at either though... lol
I'm also better at writing in English than I am speaking it. In my head it works pretty good but it's a huge barrier somewhere on the way to actually speaking.

Would love to know more languages. But I really hate learning them so I don't see that happening any time soon.
I even made a thing out of getting away as easy as possible with our English lessons back in school.
In high school I could choose between English and math. I took math. Much more fun. 🙂

Can admit that it perhaps wasn't the best choice today but it made school more bearable so I don't really regret it.

/SK

 

[Bexray]

I'm from Sweden so Swedish and English are the only languages I understand.
Don't think I'm particularly good at either though... lol
I'm also better at writing in English than I am speaking it. In my head it works pretty good but it's a huge barrier somewhere on the way to actually speaking.

Would love to know more languages. But I really hate learning them so I don't see that happening any time soon.
I even made a thing out of getting away as easy as possible with our English lessons back in school.
In high school I could choose between English and math. I took math. Much more fun. 🙂

Can admit that it perhaps wasn't the best choice today but it made school more bearable so I don't really regret it.

/SK

Granted, this is the only post I've seen from you but there's no way I would know you weren't a native English speaker.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

For a couple of years in high school, we had French, English, German and Latin. I am a native English speaker with a minor amount of fluency in French (from a total of seven years of classes) and negligible in the two others. But I don't consider it to be time wasted - any insight into other languages and the culture behind them is worthwhile.

 

[Mr Trick]

Learnt some French quite a few years ago, but besides the basics have not retained much. I would like to learn one or two other languages beside my native English, but it is just a case of finding time, and also deciding if it would benefit me that much besides just being a cool thing to learn.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

I can only speak English but I did take 2 years of French in high school, so I can recognize some words, but I've never been good at pronouncing foreign words. Unfortunately I have to take 2 Spanish classes for my degree. I failed Spanish in 8th grade so I'm hoping I do much better this time around. I wish I could speak more languages like German or Russian but it's tough, everything I say sounds very English, I can't do accents. lol

 

[Blaze]

First language is French! Like sk73, I think my written English is much better than my spoken English. I can speak it well, but I still have those French quirks when speaking, people can tell right away that I'm not a native speaker. And when I get stress, for example when I had to present some research stuff today for a seminar, my English gets 10x worst, and I just lose my word and the accent comes out. Makes me sound a bit like an idiot sometimes, but on the flip side people find the accent charming, so that's a win!

I understand very limited Italian and Spanish, my mom learnt Italian for fun, and a lot of the researchers I work with are Spanish. So I pick up on a few things. But definitely not enough to fully understand a conversation, and I can't speak it.

I really want to learn ASL though!

 

[Taake]

My native tongue is Swedish but I also speak English and a little bit of French (after high school I've lost a lot of it which is a shame, I can still make it through a simple book or contracts in French though, Reading is easier than speaking.) I took on year of Spanish in school but was discouraged by the teacher who said ny pronounciation was "too French" and I'd never learn properly so sadly I kind of gave that up.

I hear you on the Russian. My grandmother was fluent in Mandarin and tried to teach me as a kid, then I thought it was too much work but now I regret that! Especially when my gran had a stroke and temporarily only spoke Mandarin for a while after. Would've been nice to have been able to speak to her then.

I've been learning Hebrew but am on a bit of a break now.
I'd really like to brush on my French and also learn Russian and Italian and Spanish. 🙂

 

[Mr Trick]

I can only speak English but I did take 2 years of French in high school, so I can recognize some words, but I've never been good at pronouncing foreign words. Unfortunately I have to take 2 Spanish classes for my degree. I failed Spanish in 8th grade so I'm hoping I do much better this time around. I wish I could speak more languages like German or Russian but it's tough, everything I say sounds very English, I can't do accents. lol

Good luck with the Spainish. A friend of mine took a course in Spain learning the language there so I don't know if that is something which might benefit you?

I don't think speaking in the accent is that important as long as you get the basics down. I hear German is one of the hardest languages to learn.

Funny enough I lived with three Russians in my second year of UNI. That was an experience😀

 

[Bexray]

It's so interesting how there's people on here from all over the world, who have this one thing in common!

 

[pixiedreams]

Only language I speak is English, though I know a lot of French.

 

[Bexray]

Only language I speak is English, though I know a lot of French.

If you know a lot of French, what makes you say you don't speak it?

 

[Blaze]

@janas "Quindi se ti dico "Ciao" tu mi capisci? 🙂"

See, this is totally cheating because the sentence is almost exactly the same in French

Quindi: quand
Se: je
ti: te
dico: dit
tu: tu
mi: me

and even better, the phrasing is the same in French, unlike English, so really I'm just one big cheat 😛

 

[janas]

@Blaze 🙂 (Why there are no smileys with hugs?)

Donc, quand je dis tu "Bonjour" tu me comprends?
So, if I tell you "Hi" you understand me?
Quindi se ti dico "Ciao" tu mi capisci?

 

[Fuffy Baith]

Good luck with the Spainish. A friend of mine took a course in Spain learning the language there so I don't know if that is something which might benefit you?

I don't think speaking in the accent is that important as long as you get the basics down. I hear German is one of the hardest languages to learn.

Funny enough I lived with three Russians in my second year of UNI. That was an experience😀

I'm not going to Spain just to learn how to speak Spanish but it definitely would help. Well a lot of words are pronounced with an accent otherwise it just sounds really white. And I look like an idiot. lol. Also other languages are spoken really fast compared to English. It's just something you have to have an ear for when speaking. Which I don't.

It's so interesting how there's people on here from all over the world, who have this one thing in common!

Yep, that's the power of Buffy. lol

 

[Bexray]

Reading through this thread and remembering my babka I remember how she would never call me my English name, Rebecca and only call me the Russian equivalent "Rivka", ha.

 

[Blaze]

@Blaze 🙂 (Why there are no smileys with hugs?)

Donc, quand je dis tu "Bonjour" tu me comprends?
So, if I tell you "Hi" you understand me?
Quindi se ti dico "Ciao" tu mi capisci?

Almost!!!

Quand je te dis "Bonjour" tu me comprends?!

But dam, I'm impress, do you speak French? Cause you got the conjugation right, and even French people don't get that right 😛

 

[janas]

My second language is French, that is, I studied French in high school and in college I only gave an exam in English, but more than an exam was a farce. LOL

To overcome the biennium was absolutely necessary to take an exam in English that was to translate in Italian a text chosen by the teacher. The texts available there were ten, and I've memorized all of them so that any text they asked me I would have been able to answer, but without really understanding what I was reading. I passed the exam, but what about English, then as now, I'm still at zero 😛

 

[Mr Trick]

I'm not going to Spain just to learn how to speak Spanish but it definitely would help. Well a lot of words are pronounced with an accent otherwise it just sounds really white. And I look like an idiot. lol. Also other languages are spoken really fast compared to English. It's just something you have to have an ear for when speaking. Which I don't.

Yep, that's the power of Buffy. lol

To be fair I did forget that you are based in the US whereas my friend lives in the UK which is most easily to get to Spain from.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

To be fair I did forget that you are based in the US whereas my friend lives in the UK which is most easily to get to Spain from.

Haha, yea I don't got money for Spain. I have been down to Central America but I didn't really pick up any Spanish from down there cause I had my friend do all the translating. lol. Again, they speak too fast I can't pick up any words they are saying.