Languages!

[JoleneBrody]

I'm pretty much down to quoting "Encino Man" these days.

Ummm...just curious. How do you say, "No butts, chill!" and "No more weezing da ju-uuuice" in Espanol? :-D

I dunno! I only quote the lines that were in Spanish!

 

[bob]

in addition to english...i still can speak spanish fairly well....learned it in Puerto Rico and Peru, back when the peace corp would take anyone with a pulse...

and like a lotta guys in camland, i dabble in romanian....the free language community at http://www.livemocha.com (similar to evvie's busuu.com, except they offer romana) is a well organized and friendly place for that.

had dreams of learning japanese once, but they never proved to be very lucid :lol:

 

[Candygirl3x]

Being From Quebec Canada, our first language is french, but since the province is mult-cultural
English is a must and I'm fluent in both of them.

I'm also Fluent in Calabrese Italian, sadly it's the most slanged dialect of the them all lolll If you're
Italian you need to at least know a certain number of proper words in Sicilian or Florentine Italian
to be fully understood.

My Spanish is getting quite good from our numerous Cuba/Mexico trips...

I've always wondered why most americains don't speak fluent spanish since it's the #2 language in
the US... It's like Living in Quebec and not being fluent in English when it's the 2nd most spoken
language... doesn't make any sense...

 

[Evvie]

Being From Quebec Canada, our first language is french, but since the province is mult-cultural
English is a must and I'm fluent in both of them.

I'm also Fluent in Calabrese Italian, sadly it's the most slanged dialect of the them all lolll If you're
Italian you need to at least know a certain number of proper words in Sicilian or Florentine Italian
to be fully understood.

My Spanish is getting quite good from our numerous Cuba/Mexico trips...

I've always wondered why most americains don't speak fluent spanish since it's the #2 language in
the US... It's like Living in Quebec and not being fluent in English when it's the 2nd most spoken
language... doesn't make any sense...

Culturally, here there is a lot more pressure for people to learn English than for English speakers to learn other languages. Americans are quite full of it, and the general consensus often seems to be, "if they're coming to America they can learn English or get out." The only exceptions are in very southern places along the Mexican border and in Florida, where there are so many Spanish speakers as to change the status quo.

 

[EmelieSky]

I speak Swedish fluently and can survive with my English. Grammar nazis probably hates my English, but people understand what I'm saying.

I can still bend Spanish verbs but I have most likely forgot what the word it self means.

 

[Just Me]

I speak spanish pretty well. I took a few classes in high school and college, but most of what I learned was from the kitchen staff at this small breakfast restaurant where I was a server. The dishwasher was this old man who didn't speak a lick of English, and all the cooks were his sons. Right away when I started working there, I told the boys how much I wanted to learn spanish, and while they didn't take me seriously at first (curse words and insults were all that I learned for a while), eventually they were ONLY speaking spanish to me...and I was encouraged to always try to say whatever I had to say to them in spanish as well. They were always offering up new vocabulary for me, and would correct me when I got things wrong, and after four and a half years of this, one day I realized I was pretty goddamn fluent in spanish! The best thing about learning from the boys is that I actually spoke like normal people, not just text book gringo style. Whenever I served families who spoke spanish, I was encouraged to do the same, and once I actually had a family ask me if I grew up in Mexico, my pronunciation was so right on.... :-D The boys were so proud of me! Unfortunately, I haven't been using my spanish for quite some time, and my skills may have diminished somewhat...(I do however curse in spanish all the time, and rather eloquently I'm proud to say!)

I miss those boys, I saw a few of them get married and was always invited to their big family fun functions with tons of incredible food where I would be encouraged to eat and eat and eat some more...(They always called me 'flacita'--even the gringo server girls were calling me flaca after a while!) :mrgreen:

:lol:

Flacita? Do you mean flakita? Flaca and flakita I am familiar with, but flacita is a new one to me.

 

[Ann_Sulu]

I know tons of languages! Come in my room and test me if you want! :lol: English, German, French, Greek, Arabic (both Cairene and Lebanese) and Japanese) I know Iz haz crazy (oh yeah I also speak lul catz :geek:

 

[LilyMarie]

Question.
Do you have to learn any new languages in an American High School or can you just decide to take more non-language subjects instead?

 

[inkydoo]

Question.
Do you have to learn any new languages in an American High School or can you just decide to take more non-language subjects instead?

I think in most places you still have to take some foreign language classes, but from what I've seen, these rarely come anywhere near making you a fluent or semi-fluent speaker of that language. While I hate the idea personally (because I have a problem with clearly hearing spoken words, even in my native language), I think immersion is clearly the best way to go, and that's not at all how most schools I know of go about it.

 

[Ann_Sulu]

I have two forms of dyslexia (both auditory and visual) so I've seriously been translating 24/7. My dad's side of the family is Swiss so I know German because of that. My mom's French. They put me in school, but I learn pretty quickly on my own...schools kinda suck at language courses. I haven't been out of the country much, but when I have it's been a mainly English speaking one. I get a lot of help through foreign friends, but yeah...I'm a crazy I know. :dance:

-Lily

 

[RoxieRed]

English is my native language.

I know a tiny bit of Spanish, probably not enough to even mention.

I've always wanted to learn another spoken language but I haven't selected which one yet. Does anyone have suggestions? I have decided that Rosetta Stone would be the way to go once I decide.

I am studying American Sign Language and I currently know enough to be able to communicate for the most part, but wouldn't say I am fluent yet. Understanding someone who has been signing as their form of communication for a long time is usually difficult.

 

[Ravi]

Well I've been living abroad to study Mandarin over a year now. Once I've got that down, I want to move to Germany and learn German! Then I will go to university and get a degree in something cool. :geek:

 

[LilyMarie]

Someone posted this on fb today...