Languages in the Playground

[Killersquid]

I think there was a post like this before, but its months old, so I feel like making a new one. What languages do you know at the moment, you are learning at the moment, wish to and will learn, and wish to learn, but know it may not happen? I guess I'll start. Also, it's pretty much assumed everyone here speaks English, since its an English speaking forum.

Languages I am learning: Italian - my family language. My family is from Italy and I want to speak to them. Also, for Italian media, mostly books, and the fact I live in the North East, where Italian immigrants live.

Languages I will probably learn: Japanese - for selfish reasons. Mostly for media, and also, North East, immigrants, etc.

Latin - Fun Language, pursuing the sciences, so this will help marginally

Language I wish to learn, but probably won't: German - mostly because my other half comes from Germany

Arabic - Mostly for fun, but also with many more immigrants coming to America (and me living where they all live), it helps to know the language.

[Dihan]

I can speak Welsh. I'm not a first-language speaker, though. I'm a lot better at reading and understanding the language than I am at speaking it, though.

I should really brush up on my speaking at some point.

[Cristo Meyers]

At one point I could poorly speak and passably read Spanish and very poorly speak Mandarin.

Nowadays I can really only poorly read Spanish. I can just never really get languages to take whenever I try to learn.

[Eldan]

Well, I know swiss german, obviously, german, since it's the written language around here (swiss german doesn't have one), english and french, since we learn that in school. Also, on holidays I discovered that I can somehow read dutch by deducing the meaning of words from german, swiss german and english, even though I don't understand a single word when it's spoken.

[Mando Knight]

I know bits of Latin, German, and Spanish, as well as a few words/phrases in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Japanese, and Mando'a. I'm not capable of speaking any of the latter with proficiency, and it's just a couple of phrases here and there... and it's been maybe 6-8 years since I last studied Latin, and I never learned a whole lot in German or Spanish anyway, though I do know enough of the grammar from each that with a dictionary in hand I could decipher written messages...

[LCR]

German, English (obviously), some French, Latin.

[afroakuma]

English (surprise!) and Canadian French by default. Italian and Spanish by choice. I understand a little German and plan to study it.

In terms of other languages, my learn-list (if I can) includes:

Arabic
Russian
Mandarin
Japanese
Portuguese
German

Of course, since four of those use different alphabets, one of them writes backwards, one is tonal, one has three alphabets and one has letters that look like letters that they are not, there is a notable difficulty factor. Rosetta Stone thinks it's hilarious to teach said languages using their native alphabets, so I get no phonetic help on Arabic or Russian (they were kinder with Japanese).

On the bright side, I've been able to independently decode some Japanese (not grammar, but I'm picking out individual words with a fair bit of consistency) and I imagine Portuguese will come fairly easily to me.

[Morty]

Well, I know Polish and English, obviously. I know Latin fairly well too. I also know a bit of French, but not near enough - I can get myself understood and read French texts, but I have to work on it. As for other languages, I used to learn German and I still remember some words and phrases. Futhermore, I can guess the meaning of stuff written or spoken in some other Slavic languages due to their similiarity to Polish. In fact, I'm planning to become a linguist, so the list is going to get bigger - most likely it'll include Italian or Spanish, as I've heard they're easy to lear for someone who already knows French and Latin. Maybe some Scandinavian or Slavic languages, who knows. I seem to have a knack for linguistics, I'm just a bit too lazy to use it properly.

[Groundhog]

I speak English and Hebrew fluently, as well as knowing snippets of Spanish, French, Danish, Japanese, and German. I can't read any of said snippets, just understand them when they're spoken. I can, however, write in Hebrew, which is a big thing for me, since it's a second language.

[Zaggab]

Swedish fluently, and okay English (at least I think so... shout if I'm sprouting nonsense), and some Spanish, though I have started to forget most of that.

One of these days I will refresh my Spanish skills, and maybe learn something new (like Chinese, Russian, German among others). At least that's what I tell myself.

Since I'm studying medicine, I have amassed quite a large Latin and Science-ese vocabulary, but I can't speak it.

Fun fact: According to a study, a student of molecular biology encounters more new words each week than a language student. Now if I could only remember them all...

[Anonomuss]

I can speak fluent Irish and English, as well as passable German, and a few words of both French and Latin.

It's mostly legal latin too, so its not very applicable, unless I really want to argue that expressio unius et exclusio alterius

[Dallas-Dakota]

Hmmm.

My mother language is dutch.
I speak (fluently?) english.
I can speak the basics of German and French.
I know some phrases in Latin, Spanish, Italian.
The occasional word of Quenya and Sindarin.
And I used to be able to speak Khuzzdul as far as it was made.

Which languages I'd like to learn?(For me, languages either go or don't go. for example, French and German don't go. Dutch and English go.)
Arabic, spanish, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin(the biggest 'chinese' language).
And they all(except spanish) have their own alphabet, how curious.

Also, on holidays I discovered that I can somehow read dutch by deducing the meaning of words from german

Shame on you. Thats not proper dutch, it'l only be a vague wrong understanding of it. They may come from the same family, and look a like at first sight. But they're not that much alike.

[SurlySeraph]

I speak English perfectly, and French pretty well. I can understand a lot of Spanish, but don't actually speak it (I want to learn it, eventually, when I have more time). I know a lot of Latin, though I'm not quite as good at translating as when I was actually studying it. I know a few words of Arabic, but I'm rapidly forgetting them as a) I've decided not to pursue it, and b) it's a really, really hard language. I'd love to speak Arabic, but the time-to-usefulness ratio doesn't work. I'd also like to know Aramaic, but I doubt I'll ever get around to it.

[Fredthefighter]

Well, my native language is English and I'm learning to speak French. I can speak French quite well, my teacher has told me that my accent is very good and that I pronunciate my words very well.
Other than that, I only know the really obvious stuff. Like Ola, Gutentag, Wakarimasu ka, So ka, etc, etc.

[Ilena]

I speak english .... yay! but i want to learn latin and greek badly, as well as german, and i just met someone who actually turned into a really good friend within a few days (its odd how quickly and well we get along but ya) and hopefully she might teach me it if i ask!

[Helanna]

The only foreign language I know is a bit of Spanish, which I should really focus on improving.

However, I do love languages, and I've started learning Lojban, which seems like it'll be quite easy to learn.

After that I plan on learning Japanese. After that, I'll probably choose another language to try and learn, but I'm not sure that I ever will . . . maybe German, for no particular reason, or Finnish, just for a challenge.

Also, a site of interest: Before You Know It is a useful site for learning language basics, and has free unlimited trial downloads, which don't teach very much but at least gives you a general idea of the language.

[Dallas-Dakota]

One of my english teachers has said that my english is absolutely perfect, except for the pronounciation of the ''th'' and was asking me why the heck I wasn't doing a higher level of high school.

[Morty]

One of my english teachers has said that my english is absolutely perfect, except for the pronounciation of the ''th'' and was asking me why the heck I wasn't doing a higher level of high school.

Heh. Funny, because while I'm also very good at English I have the exact same problem - I can't pronounce "th" properly. Also my "r" used to be too hard and I sounded like Tim the Enchanter.

[Spiryt]

I cans talk english wery good.

[GolemsVoice]

I speak German, since it is my native language, and pride myself on my English, though I consider myself far from perfect, a goal I actually want to achieve. (Never perfect... never perfect... never perfect...). I also know a few words in French, and had Latin for 4 years, though I don't remember much of it. Of course, I also know a few words Russian, since a friend of mine speaks it as his mother tongue, but I can't do more than accept, decline, and insult someone, which is something, don't you say?

[Lord Herman]

Dutch is my native tongue, and I can speak English quite well. I can read and more or less understand German and French, and I know enough Latin to read simple texts and obnoxiously correct other people's grammar.

I can understand some Spanish and Italian mostly through my knowledge of Latin and French, and I also know some Russian and ancient Greek.

I'm learning medieval Irish and Welsh as part of my Celtic Languages major, and I've also followed courses on modern Irish and old Norse.

[InaVegt]

I'm fluent in:

English
Dutch
German

I can manage in:

French
Danish
Spanish
Nethersaxon

I know bits and pieces of:

Finnish
Hebrew
Japanese
Quenya
Nahuatl

[Mauve Shirt]

German is my main subject in school, so I'm pretty good at it. I want to learn Italian and Arabic.

[Sneak]

Well, my native language is English. I'm taking Spanish in school and am decent at it.

I want to learn Arabic. And perhaps a bit of Latin.

I'm mad...my school is offering Arabic next year, but only to freshmen. Grr.

[Assassin89]

I took Latin in high school, but it is more of a matter of translation than speaking. Learning Japanese might be interesting.

[Fostire]

I'm fluent in English and Spanish.

I know lot's of loose words and phrases in Portuguese, Italian, French, and German. Not enough to actually speak any of this languages, but enough to understand part of what they're saying (I can understand most of it, if it's written).

I want to learn French since I'm moving to Canada next year and it might be useful to know it.

Other languages I'm interested are Latin, German, and Japanese. I don't think I'm learning any of these in the near future though.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

I speak English, and enough French to get by easily in France or Quebec. I want to learn German (one of my friends speaks, I'll get him to teach me), and a bunch of other languages.

[B-Man]

One of my english teachers has said that my english is absolutely perfect, except for the pronounciation of the ''th'' and was asking me why the heck I wasn't doing a higher level of high school.

Curious on my bit, but do you pronounce the "th" sound like "t"?

I would like to say that I am fluently bilingual in English and French, but that is a delusion my school system instilled on me. English is my mother tongue and I would say that I have an advanced understanding of France French and a passing understanding of Québec French. I studied Italian and Spanish in high school and I'm sad that I didn't pursue Spanish more than just 2 credits for my diploma.

I would like to learn Japanese and German in the future.

[adanedhel9]

English is my native language. At one point I considered myself fluent in Spanish, but I haven't used it in any significant manner in several years, so I've lost a lot.

Between years of Spanish classes and an interest in linguistics, I can get along in Italian and usually decipher writings in any Romance language. I also know a tiny smattering of Greek.

I would like to learn Nahuatl, Arabic, Hindustani, and Mandarin (though I have no interest in learning to read and write the latter) as well as expand my ability with Greek. But at the moment I'm not keen on spending the effort on any of them.

[Thajocoth]

Common, Elven & Giant.

Oh, wait, you meant in real life?

Fluently: English (Slight New York City + Netizen accent) & C++ (Nitro dialect mostly. Also good with the DirectX dialect.)

Secondary: I'm mildly slower at reading Standard Galactic than I am with ordinary English.

So-so: I can find my way around with QBasic, Java or Perl, but I don't use them often enough to be that great with them.

Forgot all knowledge of: French, Spanish & Turbo Pascal. I took them from 3rd through 6th and 7th through 10th and 11th respectively. That's 4 years learning the first two, but I've completely forgotten all three.

Learning: Lua