Can you speak a foreign language?

[nageov3t]

I speak enough French that I could navigate around a foreign city and engage in commerce in stores/restaurants. but I'd be hard-pressed to actually hold a conversation.

my Spanglish is pretty good, though I credit 4 years of working with Puerto Rican and Dominican girls.

 

[rudeguy]

Ich spreche Deutsche aber nicht zu gut.

The older generations of my family all spoke German (well Amish but its close enough) and I took a couple years of German in high school. Basically I could go there and be fine with what I know but please don't ask me to hold a conversation.

 

[manimal]

Some impressive poliglots!!!



I speak Italian, Portuguese, and English, conversational in French and Spanish as well. I can read and sing in german and russian and some dialects.

 

[Cappuccino]

I can speak Swedish fluently. My English is a bit rusty though. I am learning Japanese in my own time too

 

[sdifox]

I can speak Swedish fluently. My English is a bit rusty though. I am learning Japanese in my own time too

Watashi wo sawaru no wo yamete kudasai.

 

[skyking]

Spanish- I took two years in high school and it stuck.

 

[ManBearPig]

Nope, studied a bit of French in HS though.

 

[Imp]

Surprised at how many people here don't just speak "American"... or this is a very "international" forum.

 

[IEC]

Korean, Japanese, German.

I would be able to get by in Korea, Japan, or Germany at least. Not a native speaker of any of them.

 

[rudeguy]

Surprised at how many people here don't just speak "American"... or this is a very "international" forum.

I think you would be surprised how many people here have English as a second language. Its one of the really cool things about this forum; we have people from all over the world posting

 

[sdifox]

Surprised at how many people here don't just speak "American"... or this is a very "international" forum.

You mean Spanish? :whiste:

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'm fluent in "kitchen." I speak and read a fair amount of German. Over the years, I've worked with many different nationalities and have always been able to communicate well enough to get the job done. Sweat is a great translator.

 

[rudeguy]

I'm fluent in "kitchen." I speak and read a fair amount of German. Over the years, I've worked with many different nationalities and have always been able to communicate well enough to get the job done. Sweat is a great translator.

How about we work up a sweat and communicate later on?

 

[Imp]

You mean Spanish? :whiste:

I was thinking "Asian" considering this is a tech forum and I already know there are a lot of Asians... but thought that might rub people the wrong way .

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Malay, Japanese, little bit of Hindi and Telegu.

 

[akugami]

Excellent in English. Pretty good in spoken Cantonese. Can get by in Mandarin. Can't read or write worth a crap in Chinese.

Took 4 years of French with the idea of going to France. My grandparents lived in France before they passed away a few years ago. Still got some aunts and cousins that live in France. Never got the chance to go to France and I know zero French. Incidentally, Cantonese with a French accent sounds horrible to my ears.

 

[ThinClient]

I know a buncha bad words in several languages, does that count? :awe:

 

[clamum]

Not really. I took a semester of German in college, and was surprised at how relatively easy I found it (despite not studying it much), but I don't know hardly any of it now. I can pronounce words ok I guess, and know a few words: Ich bin dreißig Jahre alt; and so on.

I was at a Goodwill store about a month ago and picked up a "Spanish for Idiots" book for a dollar, just for the heck of it, so every now and then I spend a half hour or so reading through it and practicing. It would be cool to speak at least one other language.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Sometimes I wonder - those of you who grew up in areas of the world (Europe) where being bilingual, or trilingual is fairly common, does it amaze you (or even bother you) that in the US, some people go to college simply to major in a second language? That is, they graduate, and their college degree basically means that they're now bilingual - and they use this as a marketable skill.

I never went to college for language studies...but where I grew up you were SOlLif you didn`t know Polish and Hebrew and Arabic.......it literally could mean the difference between life and death.

Yes, I have parlayed the languages I grew up with into a special skill!

 

[Via]

I speak German better than I speak English, but I have so little opportunity to do so that my vocab is getting crappy.

 

[Zeze]

Korean- can read and write.

I wish I knew Spanish. I see that language everywhere.

 

[NetWareHead]

I'm fluent in "kitchen." I speak and read a fair amount of German. Over the years, I've worked with many different nationalities and have always been able to communicate well enough to get the job done. Sweat is a great translator.

Agree. One place where I honed my Spanish is working in my dad's restaurant kitchen. Nearly all of the employees are some form of Hispanic and Spanish is the working language of the kitchen. 9 years in a kitchen made me pretty conversational and able to visit Spanish speaking countries with little problem.

 

[Mixolydian]

Nope. Can only speak English.

 

[Apathetic]

German, but it's been a while.

Dave

 

[DigDog]

yes, English.

because not everywhere it's america.

but seriously, 2 primary languages, and can speako-somethingo of 3 more.