Speaking other languages

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

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?

[Tribesmen]

Boy have tried a few , Mandarin , Italian and Started on Spanish on the 1st of Jan this year .

Just to note i am naff at all of the above .

[Rowls]

I can muster a bit of French.

Learning a language is very difficult, especially if you grew up monolingual. You need to be highly motivated to succeed.

[claretinkorea]

I also speak Dutch (living in Amsterdam). I can also confirm that while many Dutch people speak great English, there are many that really don't, especially when you get out of the Randstad

I took great satisfaction from the first time I was able to suggest in conversation that it might be easier if we spoke Dutch rather than English.

[Tricky Trevor]

I’ve finished the Linguaphone course in French, German & Spanish. Perfect for holidays but no better. Probably a good ‘O’ level grade. Can read all of them fairly well. Really struggle picking up what they say back.

[NottsClaret]

Nothing but respect for anyone who learns another language as an adult. We have a Dutch mate who speaks three languages easily, obviously quite common in Europe but they grew up with it.

Tried to learn Japanese once and gave up after four weeks. Impossible.

[claretinkorea]

Asian languages are tough, I lived in Korea for 2 years (as you might guess), but ended up giving up on the language after the first 3 months. It was like a maze for my brain.

[JohnMac]

Enough German to get by but really, an appalling standard for someone who lived there on and off 12 years in the Forces.

Very few people had the inclination to learn languages despite being afforded the opportunity to travel.

I think as a nation we were indoctrinated and certainly into this Century into believing everyone should speak English It is a very poor attitude to have and I don't know if it has changed within the schooling system.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Nope and that's depsite being taught Welsh in school and growing up in North Wales...

I'm just lazy with it, probably like most people, and tbh when I've been abroad, I've found people speak our language quite well, especially in Poland and Holland.

My personal opinion is we're wasting time teaching kids one if German, French or Spanish at school because with modern tech, there's no need.

[evensteadiereddie]

Pretty decent at German and hope to have a real go at learning Spanish over the next six months.

[Beagle]

Our education system needs to be vastly improved when it comes to languages, which are so useful for the brain’s development, as well as obviously great tools to have. At the point (14/15 yo) when many other European countries would be getting kids to pick up a second or third language, here it is standard practice to stop learning any.

[RVclaret]

I’ve lived in Italy for almost 2 years and have an Italian mrs so I’m speaking enough to get by quite well at the moment.

As soon as a convo gets going between them all though, I’m lost quite quickly.

I find it incredibly complex in comparison to English.

My 2 year old daughter is lucky in that she’ll grow up with both so will learn naturally!

[DCWat]

Enough German to get by but really, an appalling standard for someone who lived there on and off 12 years in the Forces.

Very few people had the inclination to learn languages despite being afforded the opportunity to travel.

I think as a nation we were indoctrinated and certainly into this Century into believing everyone should speak English It is a very poor attitude to have and I don't know if it has changed within the schooling system.

I had sod all interest in French or German whilst at school. I look back at that time with regret now. I do ponder the idea of trying to learn a language now (I’d probably opt for Spanish) but there’s a big difference between pondering and actually doing!

I’m certainly envious of people being able to speak more than one language. As a nation we’re pretty bloody ignorant when it comes to learning languages.

[JohnMac]

Speaking Spanish phrases is okay, it's when they reply the problems begin. I don't understand why they all speak so bl+*dy quickly

[RVclaret]

Speaking Spanish phrases is okay, it's when they reply the problems begin. I don't understand why they all speak so bl+*dy quickly

I think my most used phrase here is 'can you speak slowly'

[Hipper]

I think it was - maybe still - is a requirement if you go to university in Germany and Holland to know a second language.

I learned some French for a trip to Paris. Using these new skills I attempted to book a bed and breakfast room on the phone from the UK and succeeded. It was like scoring a goal at football and gave me some confidence I could get by.

Walking around Paris I decided I wanted something to eat and went into a food shop.

'Bonjour Monsieur, vous avez des sandwich si'l vous plait?'

The shopkeeper was supposed to reply 'Ah oui Monsieur, avec fromage, jambon (with cheese or ham)?'

Instead he spoke something I didn't understand. I ended up with une pomme!

The final straw was when I rang up a mate staying in a posh hotel and attempted to get through to his room via the telephonist there. 'Would you prefer to speak English' he said in a haughty voice. Merde! I gave up.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

English is considered by academics to be the only global language.

Not sure if that equates to us being lazy, but it's the most spoken one in the world by non-native speakers.

Those foreign language lessons in schools could definitely be put to better use

[JohnMac]

[quote=Hipper post_id=1994051
'Bonjour Monsieur, vous avez des sandwich si'l vous plait?'

The shopkeeper was supposed to reply 'Ah oui Monsieur, avec fromage, jambon (with cheese or ham)
[/quote]

Therein lays the problem, I love Fromage with Jam on

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I think it was - maybe still - is a requirement if you go to university in Germany and Holland to know a second language.

I learned some French for a trip to Paris. Using these new skills I attempted to book a bed and breakfast room on the phone from the UK and succeeded. It was like scoring a goal at football and gave me some confidence I could get by.

Walking around Paris I decided I wanted something to eat and went into a food shop.

'Bonjour Monsieur, vous avez des sandwich si'l vous plait?'

The shopkeeper was supposed to reply 'Ah oui Monsieur, avec fromage, jambon (with cheese or ham)?'

Instead he spoke something I didn't understand. I ended up with une pomme!

The final straw was when I rang up a mate staying in a posh hotel and attempted to get through to his room via the telephonist there. 'Would you prefer to speak English' he said in a haughty voice. Merde! I gave up.

I think this is often the problem, people's level of English is better than our butterfingered attempt at their language.
Plus they often want to practice their English

[Tricky Trevor]

I’ve watched Dutch tv and I noticed all US/UK imports were in English with subtitles. As they are doing English in school this must be a great advantage to them.

[claretinkorea]

I’ve watched Dutch tv and I noticed all US/UK imports were in English with subtitles. As they are doing English in school this must be a great advantage to them.

This is how it is with all foreign language movies here. The only ones that get dubbed are kids movies, even then you can still select subtitles if at home and they run both Dutch and English versions of international movies for kids at the cinemas.

[Exeterclaret]

English is considered by academics to be the only global language.

Not sure if that equates to us being lazy, but it's the most spoken one in the world by non-native speakers.

Those foreign language lessons in schools could definitely be put to better use

Hard disagree on this. You gain so much insight into nations' cultures by learning their language.

We're quite an insular nation sometimes and our poor levels of second language learning really don't help in that respect.

[Rowls]

Enough German to get by but really, an appalling standard for someone who lived there on and off 12 years in the Forces.

Very few people had the inclination to learn languages despite being afforded the opportunity to travel.

I think as a nation we were indoctrinated and certainly into this Century into believing everyone should speak English It is a very poor attitude to have and I don't know if it has changed within the schooling system.

Very few people learn a language to a good level simply because they are travelling or holidaying in an area.

It's obviously much easier for children to pick up a second language than it is for adults.

On of the main motivations for learning a language are moving to live in an area.

I'd disagree that we "have a poor attitude" to learning second languages, it's simply that the main motivations that exist for much of the rest of the world to learn English do not apply to us. For foreign youth, most of their favourite pop songs, films and TV programmes are all in English. For people of working age, English is the linga-franca of the business world.

These are the main motivations that people have to learn English. Sadly, they don't exist in reverse for us English speakers. How many foreign language pop songs are there in our charts? How many foreign language films top the box office? How many foreign businesses don't speak English?

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.

[Rowls]

I think it was - maybe still - is a requirement if you go to university in Germany and Holland to know a second language.

I learned some French for a trip to Paris. Using these new skills I attempted to book a bed and breakfast room on the phone from the UK and succeeded. It was like scoring a goal at football and gave me some confidence I could get by.

Walking around Paris I decided I wanted something to eat and went into a food shop.

'Bonjour Monsieur, vous avez des sandwich si'l vous plait?'

The shopkeeper was supposed to reply 'Ah oui Monsieur, avec fromage, jambon (with cheese or ham)?'

Instead he spoke something I didn't understand. I ended up with une pomme!

The final straw was when I rang up a mate staying in a posh hotel and attempted to get through to his room via the telephonist there. 'Would you prefer to speak English' he said in a haughty voice. Merde! I gave up.

It's terribly rude when they don't stick to the scripts!

[Gunfury]

My hovercraft is full of eels

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Hard disagree on this. You gain so much insight into nations' cultures by learning their language.

We're quite an insular nation sometimes and our poor levels of second language learning really don't help in that respect.

I'm not disagreeing with the culture aspect, but we have huge numbers of kids who struggle with the basics of English, maths etc, but we still insist they try to learn a language that they'll most likely never use.

The curriculum is outdated in many aspects though, languages just being one aspect.

[Hipper]

[quote=Hipper post_id=1994051
'Bonjour Monsieur, vous avez des sandwich si'l vous plait?'

The shopkeeper was supposed to reply 'Ah oui Monsieur, avec fromage, jambon (with cheese or ham)

Therein lays the problem, I love Fromage with Jam on
[/quote]

Ah. that's where I went wrong.

Actually I like them too. Cheddar and strawberry jam. I was shown this delight when gardening and a Phillipino maid made (!) us these sandwiches. I wasn't sure but tried them anyway. Lovely!

[Vino blanco]

Having studied German and French at school and university, I then went on to use these languages in my career in business. I sat on the management boards of several German and French companies so my spoken and written knowledge of both languages had to be at a very high level.
Since retiring 17 years ago I still get some opportunity to use and my French and German, and having lived in Spain on and off for the last 10 years I have reached a decent level of spoken Spanish. When people say that they can’t understand foreigners because they speak too fast, my comment would be that they are not speaking “too fast” , but they are speaking at their normal speed and our ears and brains have not yet developed sufficient comprehensive ability to understand them. To learn to speak a language well you really need to be amongst the speakers of the language for some time, listening and absorbing the language until you start to think in the language.
Regarding the use of English as a world wide lingua franca, I would suggest that this started with the British Empire in countries like India, South Africa etc, whilst the proliferation of the use of English to many other countries in the 20th century was more the result of the USA becoming the dominant world economic power.

[Cirrus_Minor]

I did French lessons at work because I used to work for a French company. Did these more or less weekly for about 3 years. Also spent occasions working in France.

But years later, when retired, I went on holiday in the French Alps and was hopeless. The problem is, without practice, you mentally prepare for your conversation and when they reply at speed and slightly off course from what you expect, it throws you. I have all of my notes and various audio courses and keep saying I will one day get back into it.

Note, for a really good beginners audio course I would recommend Michel Thomas, much better than Linguaphone.

[Hipper]

Very few people learn a language to a good level simply because they are travelling or holidaying in an area.

It's obviously much easier for children to pick up a second language than it is for adults.

On of the main motivations for learning a language are moving to live in an area.

I'd disagree that we "have a poor attitude" to learning second languages, it's simply that the main motivations that exist for much of the rest of the world to learn English do not apply to us. For foreign youth, most of their favourite pop songs, films and TV programmes are all in English. For people of working age, English is the linga-franca of the business world.

These are the main motivations that people have to learn English. Sadly, they don't exist in reverse for us English speakers. How many foreign language pop songs are there in our charts? How many foreign language films top the box office? How many foreign businesses don't speak English?

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.

We did have 99 red balloons by Nena but this was a poor translation of 99 Luftballons'. I preferred the German version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY

The issue for us English is that we have little grammar and only one word for 'the' so we find it tough to learn the thousands of words others have (der, die, das, dem.....). The converse is that, in German at least, the pronunciation is consistent. In English, we have Leicester, Bicester, envelope, antelope, bough, enough......

[aclaretinstevenage]

Early years in Grammar School we were given Greek and Latin, that lasted a couple of terms for me and a good few others. "Dropped" to French and German where crap teachers - and being a not great pupil - I learnt just the basics which of course we lose unless we use them regularly.

Later on did German at Night school for a year while working and a few Spanish lessons at lunchtimes in the office much later in life. Again not using languages regularly much is forgotten. I can get by on holidays but that's about it.

[Rowls]

We did have 99 red balloons by Nena but this was a poor translation of 99 Luftballons'. I preferred the German version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY

The issue for us English is that we have little grammar and only one word for 'the' so we find it tough to learn the thousands of words others have (der, die, das, dem.....). The converse is that, in German at least, the pronunciation is consistent. In English, we have Leicester, Bicester, envelope, antelope, bough, enough......

Yes, we've started to redress that by teaching "universal grammar".

If any of you parents were stumped by English homework during home-teaching during the pandemic and wondering what all this stuff about finding the "verb forms" and distinguishing the main clause from the subordinate was all about - this is partly teaching them English grammar but it is also laying a foundation to learn other languages.

[Rowls]

We did have 99 red balloons by Nena but this was a poor translation of 99 Luftballons'. I preferred the German version:

And there's Christine and the Queens these days (or whatever name she's using this week).

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

I did French lessons at work because I used to work for a French company. Did these more or less weekly for about 3 years. Also spent occasions working in France.

But years later, when retired, I went on holiday in the French Alps and was hopeless. The problem is, without practice, you mentally prepare for your conversation and when they reply at speed and slightly off course from what you expect, it throws you. I have all of my notes and various audio courses and keep saying I will one day get back into it.

Note, for a really good beginners audio course I would recommend Michel Thomas, much better than Linguaphone.

Absolutely, his courses are brilliant.

He talks about getting the conversational ball over the net.
As other posts above have mentioned this is incredibly difficult and also incredibly important.
Preparing for a conversation mentally and then being thrown by an unexpected response is tres difficile

[martin_p]

Hard disagree on this. You gain so much insight into nations' cultures by learning their language.

We're quite an insular nation sometimes and our poor levels of second language learning really don't help in that respect.

I don’t think it’s to do with being insular, it’s need. Because English is so widely spoken we don’t really need to pick up other languages. Lazy? Yes! Insular? Don’t think so.

[Rowls]

I don’t think it’s to do with being insular, it’s need. Because English is so widely spoken we don’t really need to pick up other languages. Lazy? Yes! Insular? Don’t think so.

If we were truly insular we won't notice the rest of the world speaks decent English.

[Croydon Claret]

I taught myself Norwegian as I was running a car based website at the time and we had a section for Norwegians. It frustrated me that I couldn't understand what they were saying so I got various books and CDs and figured it all out.

Turns out they weren't saying much at all

I understand written Norwegian quite well, and to a lesser extent Danish as there are some similarities.

Verbally I am not so confident but can order meals and get by at the airport if I need to

[dibraidio]

For me there are a number of levels when learning a language.

1) you've got some basic vocabulary and you can order a beer or a sandwich and make yourself understood in a shop.
2) you can have a conversation with another person about the weather, family or even football but it's still an effort for you and them.
3) you can listen to two people talking and follow the conversation. You don't have any thinking time when you're not part of the conversation so this is a big step up.
4) you can follow a film without subtitles with all the background noises and music and stay awake throughout. I used to fall asleep after 15 minutes of a film in french because it was a huge effort to understand everything that was going on.
5) you can write a document or article or give a presentation and nobody suspects that this isn't your first language.

I've been living in France for 25 years, I'm somewhere between 4 and 5. I have to write documents and present to clients in French but I don't pretend to be French. I gave up making an effort with my accent years ago when I had kids and had to swap between the two all the time. What I notice is that a lot of English speakers over here get tired of talking French after a couple of hours and any meals that I've been to with mixed groups start in French and tend to switch to English after a couple of hours because the English have had a few drinks and can't be bothered any more. This includes some French teachers I know and people who've been here longer than me.

Clearly the best way to really learn a language is immersion and like RVClaret having a foreign partner really makes a difference. You can really tell the difference in the English people I know who speak English at home and those who speak French with their other half. I only speak English with family and friends at home and foreign customers at work the rest of the time I speak French. I struggle more to find English words than I do French ones.

One thing that people seem to forget is that your understanding is based on what you hear and it's really difficult to train your ear to pick up what's being said. It's not something you can learn in a book. It happens when your brain wants it to happen. All you can do is keep trying and wait for it to adapt.

I only learnt the language because I came to live here. When I arrived I don't think anyone was impressed with my CSE grade 3 French that I learnt at Burnley College.

[fidelcastro]

Note, for a really good beginners audio course I would recommend Michel Thomas, much better than Linguaphone.

I'd been wondering what our former defender was up to these days.

[AfloatinClaret]

Does talking shite count as a second language?

[fidelcastro]

I did Spanish 'A' level a good few years ago, and I have many Spanish speaking contacts across the world who I sometimes practise with, but usually via WhatsApp or messenger.

Verbally it's a lot more difficult, as it feels like they're speaking at a billion miles per hour on purpose, which of course they're not.

I always enjoy the challenge though!

[fidelcastro]

Does talking shite count as a second language?

Many are fluent in that on here!

[JellyBaby]

My personal opinion is we're wasting time teaching kids one if German, French or Spanish at school because with modern tech, there's no need.
[/quote]


Spanish for me, used to have low level Italian and started to learn Chinese amongst others but I’m not getting very far! I disagree with better not teaching a language to kids though because as others have said it allows a big insight into another culture, which can bring many benefits, socially and culturally as much as anything

[depechedingle]

I can speak a little Greek, Turkish and Polish, conversation starters and a little bit more. Mainly gained from holidays and having a Polish work colleague.

However, I do have a massive ability in talking shite.

[Vegas Claret]

many on here seem to struggle so much with basic English I just figured they were from a different country

[jordsclarets]

I started learning Spanish a year ago attending a night class once a week. Really enjoying it.

[fidelcastro]

I started learning Spanish a year ago attending a night class once a week. Really enjoying it.

Bien hecho y Buena suerte!

[claretinkorea]

For me there are a number of levels when learning a language.

1) you've got some basic vocabulary and you can order a beer or a sandwich and make yourself understood in a shop.
2) you can have a conversation with another person about the weather, family or even football but it's still an effort for you and them.
3) you can listen to two people talking and follow the conversation. You don't have any thinking time when you're not part of the conversation so this is a big step up.
4) you can follow a film without subtitles with all the background noises and music and stay awake throughout. I used to fall asleep after 15 minutes of a film in french because it was a huge effort to understand everything that was going on.
5) you can write a document or article or give a presentation and nobody suspects that this isn't your first language.

I've been living in France for 25 years, I'm somewhere between 4 and 5. I have to write documents and present to clients in French but I don't pretend to be French. I gave up making an effort with my accent years ago when I had kids and had to swap between the two all the time. What I notice is that a lot of English speakers over here get tired of talking French after a couple of hours and any meals that I've been to with mixed groups start in French and tend to switch to English after a couple of hours because the English have had a few drinks and can't be bothered any more. This includes some French teachers I know and people who've been here longer than me.

Clearly the best way to really learn a language is immersion and like RVClaret having a foreign partner really makes a difference. You can really tell the difference in the English people I know who speak English at home and those who speak French with their other half. I only speak English with family and friends at home and foreign customers at work the rest of the time I speak French. I struggle more to find English words than I do French ones.

One thing that people seem to forget is that your understanding is based on what you hear and it's really difficult to train your ear to pick up what's being said. It's not something you can learn in a book. It happens when your brain wants it to happen. All you can do is keep trying and wait for it to adapt.

I only learnt the language because I came to live here. When I arrived I don't think anyone was impressed with my CSE grade 3 French that I learnt at Burnley College.

I can relate to a lot of this, when I had just arrived in NL and had just started learning Dutch, I always found there was a sweet spot on nights out after about 2-3 beers where I wasn't so uptight about my pronunciation (so easier to understand) and still coherent enough myself to understand what people were saying. Before and after that point it was a bit of a struggle... That was back in 2004! Nowadays I also speak more Dutch than English (apart from with my kids, I always speak English with them and my wife takes care of the Dutch bit). Also handy for learning a bit of German and Danish too although I wouldn't give myself more than a 2.5 in either of them.

[mkmel]

I tell people I am fluent in Tagalog!

Well I have a Beautiful Filipina wife so I know the essentials like...... Maganda, Mahal na Mahal Kita, Mahal na Mahal din Kita. And for describing myself Gwapo That's it

Flying back there this Tuesday and can't wait

[brunlea99]

Russian and German.