Languages, Polyglots

[Xander]

How many languages are you fluent in?

I went to an European Film Festival tonight with a coworker (who speaks four and is currently learning one more) who is friends with a girl who speaks at least five, possibly more.

I don't think polyglots are common, but boy, I felt motivated to learn another language... :rolleyes: I speak two fluently, completely understand another (it's strange because I can't form sentences, but comprehension is all there) and took Spanish for 3 years (and don't remember any of it)... so I guess that's better than nothing, but wow, I was very impressed and motivated.

I'm interested in what languages QLCers here speak. English is a given...

[wordsmith]

It seems like I know a disproportionate amount of people who are fluent in several languages, but that's from college. I went to a liberal arts school that really emphasized the study of foreign languages, and attracted people who came in with more than one at their disposal, so I knew quite a few polyglots.

I'm def. not bilingual by any means, but I had enough years of Spanish that I have a decent vocabulary, and years of choral singing gave me a lot of exposure to a lot of languages, some of them "dead" languages. But fluent? No way. I doubt I'll ever become fluent in another language...it's not likely at this age unless I'm in a long-term immersion situation, which isn't probably happening.

[Rusalka]

Russian and German - fluent (did a degree in them; spent 1 semester in Germany and 4 years in Russia)
French - passable, I can read and translate but don't speak it so well (high school)
Serbian/Croatian - can communicate reasonably well, need a lot more practice though (evening class)

I have passive knowledge of related languages, which means I can read but not speak them. Ukrainian, for example, is similar to Russian, so I can get the gist if I read it.

[wordsmith]

I think Europeans will generally always be more likely to be multilingual than most Americans, and it's not because Americans are stupid and Americans don't care and Americans aren't interested in other cultures. It's because the geography is so different. If we were a small country butted up against/within easy travel distance from other countries with different languages, if, say, every state here had it's own language, I'm sure we as a whole would develop the skills to communicate accordingly, as well.

[Ciderhillnh]

Sadly, even after 9 YEARS of spanish I cant speak or understand a word of it.

Amazingly, my great grandmother spoke 7 languages and would mix them up when speaking. She knew Armenian, Arabic, French, Italian, Turkish, English, and Spanish.

My grandmother knew 4: Armenian, Arabic, English and French

My Dad used to be bilingual though he has lost most of his Armenian due to not speaking, but he can pick it up slowly when needed.

I have some friends who know enough of a language to get by but are by no means fluent. Im actually a bit envious of their talent to know the basics, just doesnt seem to stick when I try and learn.

[SmilesSoSweet]

English was the only language I learned while growing up. My parents thought they were teaching me Tagalog, but they weren't.

I can understand some Tagalog (language of The Philippines), for the most part just to get by.

I took three years of Spanish and high school, but I can understand just basic conversation.

I won't say that I'm fluent in another language other than English.

[J-girl]

I can get by in French but I cant debate or discuss a topic and learnt it in High school and picked a little at work.

I learnt Punjabi at home but I took Hindi classes so I can read, write and speak Hindi.

If anyone wants to learn a new language, I suggest taking private school. I remember trying to take Italian in university but the class was full of people who spoke Italian already and were there just for easy credit so I dropped it. My sister had the same experience with Spanish when she went to school in Cali.

[cache]

I'm fluent in French..and pretty good with various dialects.

German I can stumble through OK.

I guess I'm somewhat fluent in Latin too, but I don't think that counts, does it?

And I am currently learning Spanish and Japanese. Haven't really started much on the Japanese, though - I've been focusing on Spanish.

[cheshrcarol]

I took french from 7th grade to freshman year of college, but I've lost some of it. I used to be practically fluent and if I'd spent more time in a french speaking environment, I'm sure I could have gotten there. But I can still get the gist of things reading it, hearing it, and could probably make myself understood.

And weirdly enough, from having learned french I can understand a lot of Spanish. I had the funniest time a few weeks ago when I was with my best friend J and his brother, who was signing a lease for a new apartment in Manhattan. The landlord was Cuban-Chinese (family was Chinese, moved to Cuba, then moved to the US) and he spoke only Chinese and Spanish. J's fluent in Spanish, so he and the landlord were talking the entire time. I could understand fairly good part of it, but the whole situation just kind of struck me as funny.

[wordsmith]

And weirdly enough, from having learned french I can understand a lot of Spanish.

That's not THAT weird, since they're both Romance languages. I learned a lot of Latin from choral training (although in music, that's mostly classical Latin, not the Latin vulgate) and from studying it in college, and that helped immensely with identifying vocab in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese...

[cheshrcarol]

That's not THAT weird, since they're both Romance languages. I learned a lot of Latin from choral training (although in music, that's mostly classical Latin, not the Latin vulgate) and from studying it in college, and that helped immensely with identifying vocab in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese...
Well, I didn't think it was that weird because of the romance language stuff until I mentioned at work once (we published stuff in several languages and someone needed to translate something) that I could understand some Spanish because I took French and got LAUGHED at. :neutral:

[veniqe]

Hmmm. Let's see. I'm fluent in English and Afrikaans. Being Afrikaans means I can understand written and verbal Flemish, Dutch and a little tiny bit of German.

I did one year of German in high school and hated it. I did French two years later and loved it. I would need to do a refresher course.

I can understand rudimentary Xhosa and even speak some.

Alas, I can still only speak and understand two languages. :(

[hajime]

I think Europeans will generally always be more likely to be multilingual than most Americans, and it's not because Americans are stupid and Americans don't care and Americans aren't interested in other cultures. It's because the geography is so different. If we were a small country butted up against/within easy travel distance from other countries with different languages, if, say, every state here had it's own language, I'm sure we as a whole would develop the skills to communicate accordingly, as well.

That's a really good point. When I first arrived in London, I was struck my how many people were speaking languages other than English. It's just so easy to travel between countries, I guess that's to be expected. Geography/need drives acquisition of knowledge...

[wordsmith]

That's a really good point. When I first arrived in London, I was struck my how many people were speaking languages other than English. It's just so easy to travel between countries, I guess that's to be expected. Geography/need drives acquisition of knowledge...

And exposure.

[AshleyJordan]

I can get by in written and spoken Arabic, French, and Spanish.

[WorkInProgress]

I think Europeans will generally always be more likely to be multilingual than most Americans, and it's not because Americans are stupid and Americans don't care and Americans aren't interested in other cultures. It's because the geography is so different. If we were a small country butted up against/within easy travel distance from other countries with different languages, if, say, every state here had it's own language, I'm sure we as a whole would develop the skills to communicate accordingly, as well.

I think that has a lot to do with it as well. It makes more sense, so to speak, for most Europeans to learn a couplefew languages, since they might need to use it fairly regularly. A whole lot of (most?) Americans only need to use one for daily life.

I am currently fluent only in English, but I'm sure I could pick up my French (which I *was* damn near fluent in, but nowhere near a native speaker) again without too much trouble, and with a little more effort could pick up German again. I'd like to learn a few languages, but it's just not that high on my priority list right now, especially since foreign language acquisition is a perishable skill and my daily life does not require more than English.

[WorkInProgress]

Well, I didn't think it was that weird because of the romance language stuff until I mentioned at work once (we published stuff in several languages and someone needed to translate something) that I could understand some Spanish because I took French and got LAUGHED at. :neutral:

Merrrrr? Laughed at? I can do a pretty fair job of reading Spanish, Italian and Portuguese because of my experience with French. Certainly enough to get a basic understanding of a written text.

And, since French was the foreign language I learned most/best/earliest as an adolescent/adult, everything foreign I read, I hear in my head with a French accent, and my German is most definitely accented with French (but not American English, oddly enough, according to my former German teacher).

[wordsmith]

I can't pronounce French to save my soul, partially because my foreign language background is Spanish. But I can read it, to a point. Just not say it out loud.

I'm the reverse with German...know a lot of words to the ear, less so on paper, because I always heard it spoken by my grandmother, who could speak it but not read it.

[Xander]

I can get by in written and spoken Arabic, French, and Spanish.
The CIA needs some translators (or agents) for Arabic. There's good money in it too... :D

It appears that language is processed/stored in different parts of people's brains. "Native" speakers (who learn a language as a child) have that language stored in an entirely different spot than if they pick up a language later in life. I wonder if hyperpolyglot brains are wired differently. They must be. It's probably like having a photographic memory.

What languages do you guys think are the most useful? English is a given, but what's the second? Spanish? Mandarin Chinese? Spanish is the no-brainer for living in the US, but since there are already so many native speakers, you don't gain any competitive advantage. Hmm... I suppose I need to figure out why I want to pick up another language, and what I intend to do with it.

[wordsmith]

The CIA needs some translators (or agents) for Arabic. There's good money in it too... :D

It appears that language is processed/stored in different parts of people's brains. "Native" speakers (who learn a language as a child) have that language stored in an entirely different spot than if they pick up a language later in life. I wonder if hyperpolyglot brains are wired differently. They must be. It's probably like having a photographic memory.

It's a retention thing. You have higher retention rates the younger you learn most new skills. "Old dog, new tricks" adage and all.


What languages do you guys think are the most useful? English is a given, but what's the second? Spanish? Mandarin Chinese? Spanish is the no-brainer for living in the US, but since there are already so many native speakers, you don't gain any competitive advantage. Hmm... I suppose I need to figure out why I want to pick up another language, and what I intend to do with it.

I know Mandarin Chinese is popular in the business world. I don't, however, know if it's "second most useful."

I do know that in most nonprofit human services work, it's overwhelmingly preferred that applicants be English/Spanish bilingual, if not required (and in many cases it is required).

[NorthernAngel]

I'm a francophone, so French is my number one, then English and I have a little Polish from my grandparents.

My mother (French-Canadian) used to get annoyed when I was little and talked in my sleep... because I would dream out loud in Polish... and she couldn't understand a word.:p

[weary]

i'd really like to learn latin...even though i know it's not like i'd be speaking it a whole helluva lot. it always surprises me when i hear of a HS that still offers it, and makes me a little jealous too. :0 i know this one girl who's taking russian AND chinese in HS. weird combo, but she likes them.

[wordsmith]

i'd really like to learn latin...even though i know it's not like i'd be speaking it a whole helluva lot. it always surprises me when i hear of a HS that still offers it, and makes me a little jealous too. :0 i know this one girl who's taking russian AND chinese in HS. weird combo, but she likes them.

My high school did not offer Latin, but my college did, it was part of the Classics major. You could also take Greek.

[WorkInProgress]

My school offered Latin and Greek as well. It's something I always wanted to do, but couldn't really justify it in terms of the payout, you know? One of the colleges I was looking at offered a "classical" education (EVERYBODY took Greek and there was LOTS of literature). It looked like a lot fun, but not terribly practical.

Were I in college again, I'd definitely learn a new language, and I'd probably pick Arabic.

[weary]

My high school did not offer Latin, but my college did, it was part of the Classics major. You could also take Greek.
yeah, mine didn't either. i do see latin & greek at a lot of colleges still. wish i'd known better years ago. when my SAT tutor, and one of my spanish teachers would start on one of their speeches saying, "this word comes from the latin word meaning..." i would just roll my eyes and tune out. i'd soak up every word now.

[wordsmith]

Having even a rudimentary grasp of Latin helps a lot with writing and vocabulary across the board...it helps you make a lot of connections, knowing roots.

[embrassezla]

I am learning Greek at the moment, booyah.

[weary]

Having even a rudimentary grasp of Latin helps a lot with writing and vocabulary across the board...it helps you make a lot of connections, knowing roots.
yup, that's exactly what the SAT tutor would say. i was just being a b*tchy little teenybopper. *sigh*

em - are you taking lessons?

[SmilesSoSweet]

My high school offered a lot of foreign language classes - Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Latin, etc., but of course I stuck with Spanish.

[embrassezla]

em - are you taking lessons?
Nope, just audio CDs. I got a good one, it's been pretty easy so far.

[cheshrcarol]

The CIA needs some translators (or agents) for Arabic. There's good money in it too... :DAfter 9/11, my uncle who's from Morocco and fluent in Arabic, French and English tried to go work for the FBI. He took the language test and failed. He said the Arabic they tested on an extremely old style, comparative to one of us being given an English fluency test in Shakespearean wording. Just another example of our gov't in action :googly:

[AshleyJordan]

After 9/11, my uncle who's from Morocco and fluent in Arabic, French and English tried to go work for the FBI. He took the language test and failed. He said the Arabic they tested on an extremely old style, comparative to one of us being given an English fluency test in Shakespearean wording. Just another example of our gov't in action :googly:

I have seen/heard some stuff in Classical Arabic which is ridiculous and like reading the Bible . . .which is probably what he was talking about and totally useless because no one speaks that way. Personally, I have no desire to do that type of work, anyway.

[hajime]

After 9/11, my uncle who's from Morocco and fluent in Arabic, French and English tried to go work for the FBI. He took the language test and failed. He said the Arabic they tested on an extremely old style, comparative to one of us being given an English fluency test in Shakespearean wording. Just another example of our gov't in action :googly:

Modern standard Arabic? It's true that no one speaks this way. But it's the standard used for all broadcasting/formal settings/publications.

[hajime]

It appears that language is processed/stored in different parts of people's brains. "Native" speakers (who learn a language as a child) have that language stored in an entirely different spot than if they pick up a language later in life. I wonder if hyperpolyglot brains are wired differently. They must be. It's probably like having a photographic memory.


There's some plasticity in this. English is technically my second language (learned it after I came over to the US when I was 6), but it's by far my better language-- the language I think in, communicate best in.

Otoh, sometimes I'll get the 3rd & 4th languages I learned (French, Arabic) confused in my head. As I'm trying to think of a sentence in Arabic, sometimes French words will come to mind. So, that gives credence to the different storage idea ;).

[AshleyJordan]

Modern standard Arabic? It's true that no one speaks this way. But it's the standard used for all broadcasting/formal settings/publications.
Anyone from Morocco to Lebanon with access to a TV or radio understands Modern Standard Arabic. I'd be really surprised if Cheshr's uncle didn't understand it. It's what I've had to use when talking to, say, Egyptians or Yemenis, who wouldn't understand the Lebanese dialect. It sounds weird, but it is the most widely understood dialect.

[J-girl]

Ohh I completely forgot I took Arabic lessons too once. I can read Arabic I just dont know what the hell anything means!

[sondra_finchley]

French is good- 4 years of high school and it still sticks. I can get by in France fairly well and have used it for work before. Read and comprehend French almost as fast as English.

Swedish- This has been picked up rather haphazardly, but very very quickly- its almost to the point where it will surpass my French ability. All I did was expose myself to it for 4 months in Sweden, bought some books, listened to some radio, and speak with the boyfriend in his language. My pronunciation is getting much better than it was (its a two-tone language) and I can easily understand and respond to his mother now when I call and she picks up the phone- which is great because I like her so much and yet she is extremely shy about her english skills. I couldnt give a speech in the language yet, but can understand at parties, communicate at the store and ask questions/comprehend in public.

German- semester at university, some study on my own. Cannot understand normal tv, and minimal reading comprehension, although I can get what I need in public. Managed a week in Germany last summer ok- though the bf did the heavy lifting if needed.

Japanese- year at university. Can still remember some of the phrases and how to pronounce things and read the symbols, but I would really have to go back to pick this up again.

As a follow on to Swedish I do have some ability in the other Norden languages by default. Danish/Norwegian are both similar, just different in pronunciation- especially Danish. But... most of the vocabulary is the same, so reading comprehension is ok. And you can get away with Swedish in Denmark for comprehension, but not Danish in Sweden.

I, however, bow down to those of you who have mastered standard modern Arabic!

I love to learn languages- its so much fun. Id love to go back to Japanese or start Chinese or Hindi- I just have absolutely NO interest in learning Spanish.

[wordsmith]

I went to a very Swedish college in a very Swedish area for undergrad, one of the only undergrad institutions in the US that offers a Scandinavian Studies major, and I still picked up only a touch of Swedish. I can sing quite a few Swedish folk songs in the language, though. My pronunciation is decent from being around dyed in the wool Swedes, and many of them.

[sparklyrocks]

Although I was born in Canada my first language was Cantonese, so I grew up speaking it as well as I can speak English. I'm currently trying to pick up Mandarin to take advantage of the shared writing system between the Chinese languages. I also studied French for 5 years in high school and Korean for 1 in college, so I hope to brush up on them in the near future.

[EmberMae]

I took Spanish for 4 years in middle and high school. I feel that it unfortunately did not challenge me enough. I love languages, am trying to work on Spanish again but with everything else going on in my life I just don't have the time to really focus on it. Wish I could have been in an immersion program, but I had to graduate college in 4 years and focus on my major in order to do that.

[Scorcho]

My family is Polish and I grew up speaking the language at home and with my relatives. I'm still conversant in Polish, but frequently I've left fumbling for words because I don't have occassion to speak it that often/never had formal schooling in the languages. I try to maintain my Polish ability by reading Polish online newspapers from time to time.

In college, I ended up taking four years of Russian. Russian is very similar to Polish (they're about as close to each other as Spanish and Italian). The best I can say about learning Russian is
- it REALLY boosted my gpa since most of the vocabulary was not new to me, as opposed to the poor English-only speakers who were really, really struggline.
- It helped me speak better Polish because I learned the complicated grammar system used by Russian and other Slavic languages.

In addition, I took three years of Spanish in high school, I can usually understand most written spanish, but cant really understand it spoken by a native speaker since they talk so darn fast!

[Xander]

Has anyone tried Rosetta Stone? I have it for Spanish (Latin America), Japanese, German, and a few others. I've done 7 lessons in Japanese, and it quickly levels out in difficulty (never gets much harder) but it's just so damn hard to retain. And they don't give you any important phrases like, "my pants are on fire" or "where is the nearest hospital?" but the system definitely works. I see a cat now and know the Japanese word without translating, "cat... neko" but they never tell you exactly what the phrases mean, so you're left to guess. e.g. I think they say, "the boy is inside the airplane" but I'm not sure.

...and actually, at this point, I can only remember "boy" and "airplane" but the inbetween words. Dang. Back to lesson one. :p

[wordsmith]

but it's just so damn hard to retain.

This is the key...languages don't stick as well, if at all, if you're not using them often and conversationally, particularly when you're learning as an adult. My mom even learned that this is the case with sign language. The years she worked with kids with aphasia and hearing barriers, and signed all day, every day, she signed like a pro. Then, when a year later, she didn't have kids that used signing, she nearly completely lost what skills she'd gained. You have to use it or you lose it. Music is similar, too. You get rusty if it's not in regular use.

[sondra_finchley]

I have the Rosetta Stone program for Korean, Japanese, Swedish, and German and can honestly say it really doesnt work for Asian languages. Hell, it was a little too easy to pick up German again- Deutsche Welle has a much better free program on their website. Xander is right about it not sticking- that method just didnt work for me. At some point you need to see the symbols and a word underneath it.

[veniqe]

Yes, I def think immersion plays a big part in learning a new language, or in retaining it.

I know some people who can speak 6 languages and not because they wanted to; they were basically forced to acquire these languages.

Their mom would be Xhosa, the grand mother, Sotho and the dad might be Zulu. Granted, Xhosa and Zulu are very similar. And then they speak English with their friends and so on.

What worries me is that most people now prefer to send their kids to an English school but they themselves can't understand it.

These kids often lose the ability to speak their mother tongue. Does this happen elsewhere as well?

Please note that I love English. I'm all for learning it but I think some people reckon it's the only worthwhile language to learn!

Hmmm. Perhaps this is a thread jack.. Hope not. So I shall stop here and if you'd like to discuss this, I shall create a seperate thread.

[wordsmith]

These kids often lose the ability to speak their mother tongue. Does this happen elsewhere as well?



Yes. Where I live, there is a large Mexican population. Because we're a thousand miles north of the Mexican border, not learning English is not as tolerated as it may be in portions of states closer to the border, and because it's really an isolated enclave, it's in native Spanish speakers living here's best interest to learn English, because they really can't avoid having to use it for even simple interactions, unlike other places in the U.S. (esp. more urban areas) where you can easily get by speaking Spanish only. So the pressure is really on to learn English. Right now, our local school system is largely second or third generation children of Mexican immigrant families, and a great many of them have subsequently lost their ability to be conversant in Spanish. Even ones who speak/hear it at home can often not read it. My sister's boss is about 28, and grew up in an immigrant family that spoke Spanish in the home, but the pressure to make English the primary spoken language did cause her to lose her ability to speak Spanish with ease. She's called on now to translate for customers, and she often loses words and is embarrassed by not knowing the language of her heritage anymore.

My family was the same with German. During America's times of warring with Germany, it was NOT seen as cool to have German ties, and German-speaking populations (the basic original settlers of the area I live) really abandoned the language because it was seen as not patriotic. In the course of only one generation, my family totally lost its German.

[AshleyJordan]

Just echoing what Words said above, speaking my family's mother tongue (Arabic,) in public isn't exactly the best idea right now, either! (Seriously, though, I'm not sure how many people could easily distingish it from any number of other foreign languages. :p )

[veniqe]

Ashley, I'm interested to hear you're mother tongue is Arabic.. I didn't know.

Just tell those ignorant people you're speaking Afrikaans! They might even believe you cause both these languages have a guttaral sound to it. :)

just due to all the flack I've received on here, I'm reluctant to ask more personal questions about you, your heritage, etc. I'm tired of being seen as trollish. But, here goes.

1st or 2nd Gen American? Where's your family from?

I'll leave it at that. J

[wordsmith]

Hey, Veniqe - I studied for a little while in South Africa ( I was part of a college choral ensemble that toured internationally, and so I learned a tiny bit of some of the languages of South Africa for our concert program...we opened every concert with your national anthem, and that's what, four languages?).

I was wondering how much South Africa currently has its class system tied up in what languages you speak. I remember some interesting subtleties from being there.

[veniqe]

Hey Words.

Race is still a big factor but language is probably becoming the next big divide.

Of course, English is the de facto language in most cases. Afrikaans is "struggling" to survive, supposedly. That's what "they" say. Yet we have Naspers, one of the biggest, if not THE biggest publishing houses in SA. And they're an Afrikaans company.

I'm Afrikaans and feel almost offended when white Afrikaans people insist on speaking English to me, especially when they know I'm as Afrikaans as they are. You should see the surprised look on their face when I speak "their" language better than themselves.

Some "Mixed race" South Africans (I won't use the other word cause it might offend some here) still think Afrikaans is inherently evil, just because some stupid white Afrikaans dude invented Apartheid. So they are hell bent on teaching their kids pidgeon English, to their kids' detriment, of cause.

They look down on anyone (especially other "mixed race" people) who speaks Afrikaans.

Some of my Xhosa speaking friends are illiterate in their own gorgeous language, just the same as those Spanish people you posted about. And they are seen as inferior by the Zulus..

These Buppies (or Black Diamonds, as they are now called by mostly white marketing agencies) are seen as not Black enough by their peers. Just cause they attended private (Eton, etc) schools and speak a superior English.

White Saffers make fun of the "posh" way in which buppy (rich black people) kids speak. It's scary cause you as a foreigner learnt a few words in a couple of our indigenous languages. Most Saffers don't want to learn even Molo (Hi in Xhosa) and can only speak one language! My friend's name is mispronounced by all her colleagues. No one bothers to ask what the correct pronunciation is. NOTE: Those clicks DO take a long time to learn!

The massive ignorance saddens me.

Other "mixed race" people tease me cause I don't speak the way they do. I think Camus was inspired by my life when he wrote The Outsider! :)

i'm not sure if what i'm writing answers your question.. I was rambling on and on and on as this is a topic I feel strongly about.

[wordsmith]

I know that when we gave an outdoor concert in Krueger Park, we were driven to the ampitheatre by park rangers, all of whom where white Afrikaans, and we hung out with them a while for the day preceding the concert. As I mentioned, we always began our concerts with "N'kosi Sikelele..." I remember very vividly that all of our guides very pointedly did NOT stand up until we got to the verse in Afrikaans. Like, didn't even acknowledge the first two verses in indigenous languages.

And, yes, the clicks in Xhosa ARE hard to learn to do.

[veniqe]

That doesn't surprise me, Words. Most of the kids in my (very white) high school didn't know or care to know the words from the other languages. Except the ones who took Xhosa as a subject!

But I am one of the few who has an intense dislike for the National Anthem. In most parts, it's a prayer.. As an athiest, I find that bizarre. Also, I think it'd be better if we can get a completely new NA..in English!