Speaking other languages

[NRC]

We have been poor at teaching foreign languages but I believe we're improving on this front. We'll have to not simply match foreign countries when it comes to teaching, we'll have to exceed them because the motivations listed above to learn aren't going to be there for English speakers for the foreseeable future.

When I did my French A-level it was literally what I would have retitled as French literature. It was identical to English literature, but in French. I totally blame this on my level of French being mediocre at best.

I learned some Arabic when living in the Middle East, but only enough to clock what topic those around me might be talking about. Same with German when I lived in Austria. I wanted to put my daughter into Spanish Immersion School at kindergarten age, but her English mother objected. I use Spanish in hotels, bars, and restaurants while visiting Spanish-speaking destinations.

I used to have an admin assistant that had seven languages, and my brother-in-law (Caucasian American) speaks six Asian languages

[NottsClaret]

Just seen our new signing speaking fluently - and apparently effortlessly - in what must be his 2nd, possibly 3rd language. At 20.

[SammyBoy]

I've been learning Portuguese for just over 3 years due to my wife being Brazilian-Portuguese, I can now read most things put in front of me and understand what's being said if listening to a general conversation or a news report for example - speaking is still pretty poor though.

What I will say is that I would've given up after about a week had I not had a personal motivation to learn it, there are no shortcuts and it basically boils down to hours and hours of practice and exposing yourself to the language, often when you can't be arsed.

[Volvoclaret]

I'm cunnilingual. I talk like a t**t.

[Lubanski]

I meet quite a lot of people with different nationalities. Most are not in their own country (and not in England) but they almost always have a very good command of English.
Some speak perfect English.
Danish, Czech, Colombian Argentinian ...
I realise that people who travel are well advised to learn English as it's a very useful language to travel with and is often the common language amongst European businesses.
What surprises me is they often say that their level of English is no better than their compatriots who haven't travelled.

I just wondered what other languages the posters on here can speak?
Anyone bilingual?
Or people posting when English isn't their mother tongue?

I grew up speaking Polish only until the age of 3 then started playing out on my backstreet in Nelson and before I knew it I spoke perfect English, so good I got an O level in it lol.

[Lubanski]

I suppose you could say my pal on Kensington st taught me English, thanks Dingo (David England)

[mdd2]

I do admire those who speak read and write more than one language. I more than admire those whose native tongue has some different letters like Greek and Russian and no doubt other European languages but those who have a totally different alphabet like Arabic, Hindu etc who write in what i called squiggles as well as Chinese and other character languages are the ones i admire the most having been educated with their written words manage to crack English is something I have nothing but admiration for.

[Weymouth Claret]

I live in Madeira and speak Portuguese ! As "Sammy boy" rightly say's there are no short cuts especially if you only begin to learn in later life ! My advice is to learn the two V'S {not Vinny !} Vocabulary and Verbs and practice, practice, practice !!! Don't be afraid to make speaking mistakes as the aim is to be able to converse.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I live in Madeira and speak Portuguese ! As "Sammy boy" rightly say's there are no short cuts especially if you only begin to learn in later life ! My advice is to learn the two V'S {not Vinny !} Vocabulary and Verbs and practice, practice, practice !!! Don't be afraid to make speaking mistakes as the aim is to be able to converse.

This is s very good point.
The vanity aspect of getting it wrong can often hinder people just having a go.
I think more often then not people will gently correct your mistakes and appreciate the effort of trying to speak their language

[gtclaret]

I can speak Spanish at a good level, Italian at a get by level, and I talk complete crap fluently

[IanMcL]

School French....forgotten mostly
School German ... some still there.
Scots Gaidhlig - current and over 2000 words. Started in lockdown.

[boatshed bill]

French, not at all bad.
Spanish (Catalan), a bit poor on the vocabulary, but get by with a little help.
Russian, learned at A level standard, but can only read it now with a dictionary nearby

[dougcollins]

I kind of learnt conversational Welsh (had to because I worked in a pub where no-one spoke English) but unfortunately, I've probably forgotten most.

[forzagranata]

I speak Hungarian and Italian.

Learnt both languages primarily through everyday life, living in those two countries. Previously failed to learn French at school (didn't get O'Level) and gave up at a dreary attempt with a German course.

[Stayingup]

Speaking and reading I can do to some extent in French particularly and Spanish, it falls down when someone replies. Easiest is Bahasa - no grammar as such.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I speak Hungarian and Italian.

Learnt both languages primarily through everyday life, living in those two countries. Previously failed to learn French at school (didn't get O'Level) and gave up at a dreary attempt with a German course.

Apparently Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages to learn - so fair play

[Claret Toni]

It's conversational Latin for me.

Fortunately, not for anyone else.

I worked with a Romanian in a pretty technical IT area and was vastly impressed with his abilities to understand the jargon, in what was a foreign language to him. He was quite dismissive about it, saying it was just a requirement to work in that part of the industry.

Convinced he was a spy

[tally]

I think they only way to learn a foreign language and then master it isto live in that country for some considerable time.
I have lived in Holland for almost 44 years now but me being English was always a diasadvantage not because I did not want to learn dutch but folks would always say to me say it in english Petethen we can understand you. Any ways after 10 years living there I could understand virtually everything in dutch. The pronounciation was a different kettle fish however that took another 10 years haha.
Anyways I suppose now my dutch is on a par with my english. However its funny when people visit us for the first time and are amazed that my wife (she is native dutch) talk to each other in a mix of dutch/english with my wife throwing in english words without realizing it.

[jordsclarets]

Bien hecho y Buena suerte!

muchas gracias

[karatekid]

Μπορώ να μιλήσω λίγα ελληνικά

I can speak a little Greek

[GodIsADeeJay81]

I think they only way to learn a foreign language and then master it isto live in that country for some considerable time.
I have lived in Holland for almost 44 years now but me being English was always a diasadvantage not because I did not want to learn dutch but folks would always say to me say it in english Petethen we can understand you. Any ways after 10 years living there I could understand virtually everything in dutch. The pronounciation was a different kettle fish however that took another 10 years haha.
Anyways I suppose now my dutch is on a par with my english. However its funny when people visit us for the first time and are amazed that my wife (she is native dutch) talk to each other in a mix of dutch/english with my wife throwing in english words without realizing it.

My brother in law spent a few decades living in Spain before coming back to the UK 14yrs ago.

Even now he sometimes has to use the Spanish word for something before he can remember the English word and it throws me everytime he's chatting away and then suddenly drops a Spanish word in.

[forzagranata]

It's conversational Latin for me.

Fortunately, not for anyone else.

I worked with a Romanian in a pretty technical IT area and was vastly impressed with his abilities to understand the jargon, in what was a foreign language to him. He was quite dismissive about it, saying it was just a requirement to work in that part of the industry.

Convinced he was a spy

In my experience, Romanians have the best talent for languages in Europe. Might help them that their own language is very Latin-based and shares quite a bit with French and to some extent Italian.

[RHansburyEsq]

I’ve got an 855 day streak doing Spanish on Duolingo. In practice all it has taught me to do is be good at Duolingo (next to useless in real life) but I enjoy the mental challenge and keeps me from scrolling brainless videos on Facebook on my commute.

[jos]

Switching between learning Spanish, then switching to learning Italian then switching back again ….. depending on the next holiday probably doesn’t help with progress, although I was pleased when a Spaniard started talking back to me and thought I was a local.

They do speak fast, it should be compulsory to use flash cards

[dsr]

One of the reasons Norwegians, at least, tend to be so good at English is because they start learning early. The don't start school till 6 years old but they learn English from the first year. And no-one learns a new language better than a tiny tot - I have known several people brought up by parents of different nationalities, each talking to the child in their own language right from babyhood, and the child has had no problems learning both languages fluently and not confusing the two.

Belgium is a strange case because the country has two nationalities, French and Flemish, who don't necessarily learn each others' languages. English is their common language. Switzerland is a bit different, because I think they all speak German, French and English fluently!

[Jel]

Ani bevar Ivrit
I speak Hebrew. Not very well nowadays but I lived in Israel for 5 years and also taught myself to read.
I used to look at road signs which are in Hebrew and English and work out the letters. Going to the cinema and
watching films with subtitles was a good way to learn also.

[morpheus2]

Many are fluent in that on here!

*Effluent

[Rowls]

In my experience, Romanians have the best talent for languages in Europe. Might help them that their own language is very Latin-based and shares quite a bit with French and to some extent Italian.

That’s very true about their aptitude. They have everything going for them though:

A native language that nobody else speaks as well as a Latin/romantic language very similar as you’ve described above.

I can understand small bits of Italian and Romanian just from learning French.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Ani bevar Ivrit
I speak Hebrew. Not very well nowadays but I lived in Israel for 5 years and also taught myself to read.
I used to look at road signs which are in Hebrew and English and work out the letters. Going to the cinema and
watching films with subtitles was a good way to learn also.

I lived in Israel for a year, travelled around a lot but spent most of my time in Eilat.
Whereabouts were you?

[kaptin1]

I can never really understand why we bother teaching German in schools. Aside from the Germans, Swiss and Austrians, it’s not a particularly widely spoken language. Contrast that with Spanish, which is much more widely spoken around the world yet plays second fiddle to German in many schools.

[Pickles]

I teach English as a foreign/second language occasionally and it's humbling as I only know English. I wish I could speak another. Was dating a French girl for a while and a bit of GCSE French came back but a tiny amount. The kids I taught in Hong Kong were pretty much fluent in at least two languages by the time they're seven or eight, younger maybe. We have a poor attitude to learning languages here, not really entirely through fault of our own, but it'd be great if we were like the rest of the world and were more multi-lingual.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I teach English as a foreign/second language occasionally and it's humbling as I only know English. I wish I could speak another. Was dating a French girl for a while and a bit of GCSE French came back but a tiny amount. The kids I taught in Hong Kong were pretty much fluent in at least two languages by the time they're seven or eight, younger maybe. We have a poor attitude to learning languages here, not really entirely through fault of our own, but it'd be great if we were like the rest of the world and were more multi-lingual.

I've seriously considered doing a TEFL course.
I was going to do an online one but was advised by a friend not to as there wasn't enough classroom experience.
I still haven't completely given up on the idea.

[Pickles]

I've seriously considered doing a TEFL course.
I was going to do an online one but was advised by a friend not to as there wasn't enough classroom experience.
I still haven't completely given up on the idea.

My course was combined but majority online. And then being thrown into the deep end is really the best way, well it was for me anyway. As long as you've got a bit about you, are confident, can speak in front of people and think on your feet then you'll be great as those are things which can't really be taught. I find students are more eager to learn conversational English, business English, idioms, slang and current trends rather than grammar - their grammar is usually better than ours, almost robotically so! But the other stuff, a native speaker can really help with.

I'd say go for it!

[AfloatinClaret]

Μπορώ να μιλήσω λίγα ελληνικά

I can speak a little Greek

I have a book somewhere, aptly named 'How to learn Greek in only 25 years'

[dougcollins]

I can never really understand why we bother teaching German in schools. Aside from the Germans, Swiss and Austrians, it’s not a particularly widely spoken language. Contrast that with Spanish, which is much more widely spoken around the world yet plays second fiddle to German in many schools.

It may be due to scientific bias. A fair amount of zoological classification, for instance, is in German.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

My course was combined but majority online. And then being thrown into the deep end is really the best way, well it was for me anyway. As long as you've got a bit about you, are confident, can speak in front of people and think on your feet then you'll be great as those are things which can't really be taught. I find students are more eager to learn conversational English, business English, idioms, slang and current trends rather than grammar - their grammar is usually better than ours, almost robotically so! But the other stuff, a native speaker can really help with.

I'd say go for it!

Thank you, it's probably not the right time for me at the moment but I'd be interested in who you went with for the course. There was a lot of different options, and obviously it's easy to get influenced by the price.

Interesting that you say foreign people's grammar is better than ours - I've found this to be absolutely true.

[the_magic_rat]

I did German at university in the late 70's, now work for a Spanish company and am fortunate to have been able to use my languages throughout my career in sales. At school I was rubbish at science subjects but seemed to have an affinity for languages which has served me well.

From personal experience I know that learning a new language is increasingly difficult the older you are. I've spent 10 years casually trying to learn Russian but it doesn't seem to stick and if I lapse for a couple of weeks I virtually have to start again.

[Massivefloodlights]

I speak Russian and more than my fair share of BS.

[Tricky Trevor]

School French....forgotten mostly
School German ... some still there.
Scots Gaidhlig - current and over 2000 words. Started in lockdown.

I tried Irish on duolingo but gave up. I was a munro-bagger so know the Scottish gael for mountains. when I hike with my niece she’s forever correcting my pronunciation(I don’t object, I’m learning). They write the same but sound different. Dubh, doo in Scotland is dove in Ireland, etc.,

[IanMcL]

I tried Irish on duolingo but gave up. I was a munro-bagger so know the Scottish gael for mountains. when I hike with my niece she’s forever correcting my pronunciation(I don’t object, I’m learning). They write the same but sound different. Dubh, doo in Scotland is dove in Ireland, etc.,

Sgoinneil!

[Tricky Trevor]

Sgoinneil!

I learned the Scottish from the below, which has long tickled me.

720875CA-90F9-44AE-9755-8FA710E25C4D.jpeg (1.28 MiB) Viewed 883 times

[JellyBaby]

I've seriously considered doing a TEFL course.
I was going to do an online one but was advised by a friend not to as there wasn't enough classroom experience.
I still haven't completely given up on the idea.

This is what I do. Personally I’d advise you to do a CELTA course if you can, nothing else is worth it if you think you might teach for a few years. The online stuff might get you any old job but they aren’t usually worth it. Your friend is right, you need classroom experience as part of the course

[Tricky Trevor]

This is what I do. Personally I’d advise you to do a CELTA course if you can, nothing else is worth it if you think you might teach for a few years. The online stuff might get you any old job but they aren’t usually worth it. Your friend is right, you need classroom experience as part of the course

My eldest did German/Spanish at Salford Uni. Never used the languages for work but she is looking to finish in the UK, move to Spain and take up giving private lessons. She was going to do a TEFL but how do you get classroom experience?

[Massivefloodlights]

There are lots of opportunities to do voluntary TEFL in the UK for people resettling here. Usually, local councils have schemes set up for this. It’s unpaid (sigh) but at least it provides real TEFL experience without the cost of needing to live abroad somewhere, and you can be sure that you’re helping someone out who really needs it.

[JellyBaby]

My eldest did German/Spanish at Salford Uni. Never used the languages for work but she is looking to finish in the UK, move to Spain and take up giving private lessons. She was going to do a TEFL but how do you get classroom experience?

You just need to do a course like the CELTA. Any course like this which is worth doing is a 4 week course with teaching practice included. Usually described as 120 hours with 6-7 hours teaching practice during the course. This is all you need to get started!

[Tricky Trevor]

You just need to do a course like the CELTA. Any course like this which is worth doing is a 4 week course with teaching practice included. Usually described as 120 hours with 6-7 hours teaching practice during the course. This is all you need to get started!

Cheers I’ll pass that on to her.

[IanMcL]

I learned the Scottish from the below, which has long tickled me.
720875CA-90F9-44AE-9755-8FA710E25C4D.jpeg

Math fhein
Nice one!

[Jacob Rees Dogg]

Switching between learning Spanish, then switching to learning Italian then switching back again ….. depending on the next holiday probably doesn’t help with progress, although I was pleased when a Spaniard started talking back to me and thought I was a local.

They do speak fast, it should be compulsory to use flash cards

Habla mas despacio

[Tribesmen]

I tried Irish on duolingo but gave up. I was a munro-bagger so know the Scottish gael for mountains. when I hike with my niece she’s forever correcting my pronunciation(I don’t object, I’m learning). They write the same but sound different. Dubh, doo in Scotland is dove in Ireland, etc.,

Never had the urge to give Irish a go really as only know a handful of words .

[tally]

Just a thought but being an island also does not contribute to learning another language.