Topic: How many languages do you speak?

[24/7]

Epic bump!!!


Any multilingual Scousers/Brits here nowadays? 

Love it.

I'll swing my linguistic cock on the table then - cos I'm proud of this......

Conversationally/Commercially/Socially - four
English
French (used to be fluent but back in my teens)
Swedish (pretty much fluent, although a little rusty through lack of practice)
Estonian (that's my new superpower, although academically I have only the equivalent of GSCE)

Very, very basic level
I also have a smattering of
German
Spanish
Hungarian
Italian
Slovenian.

I can say thank you in over 40 languages and you're welcome in most of those.

Qualifications - academically, I have various level certifications in 7 languages:
English
French
Latin
Ancient Greek
Swedish
German
Estonian

I can converse relatively smoothly with Danes and Norwegians by using my Swedish.

[Kenny's Jacket]

English
Scouse from my Dad who grew up on scotty road
some Welsh
some Thai
very little Bahasa

[Crosby Nick]

English, a dwindling bit of French since my A levels 25 years ago and Love.

[west_london_red]

If you speak anyone of those, the others are relatively easy to learn.

I know about 100 Hindi words, but no real sentences, hence I could also get by with Urdu.

As a Punjabi speaker personally I find Urdu easy to understand (that’s probably because they will drop in some Punjabi as most Urdu speakers are native Punjabi speakers), Hindi I can follow but find it harder, by the time you get to Gujarati it can get pretty tough to understand.

[WEST HAM PAUL]

English & Australian 

As I have to listen to their fucking stupid ways of pronouncing certain words .

[I've been a good boy]

Speak English, Turkish and Gujrati fluently. Understand basic conversational words in Urdu and Arabic but can't speak them myself.

[Indomitable_Carp]

I'll swing my linguistic cock on the table then - cos I'm proud of this......

 


Was shite at languages in school. Properly hated them, dropped them as soon as I could, and gave up on the idea that I would ever speak another language.

Then life happened, I met a native-Spanish speaker and now live in Spain. So my Spanish is getting much better these days. Certainly not fluent, but can maintain a whole night of Spanish conversation if I´m pissed, and understand most of whats going on (gets more difficult the bigger the group gets though). Honestly one of my proudest achievements - and hope to one day be fluent.

You can throw in a few basic words and phrases of German. Also two memorised lines of Russian (for my half-Russian nan). Also some basic questions and responses in Nepali/Hindi.

Massive respect to anyone properly bilingual (especially those who have taught it to themselves in adulthood). Such a long, difficult, occassionally disheartening but also very rewarding process. If I have kids they will 100% be brought up as bilingual. I always knew it was poor (if understandable) how bad English speakers are at other languages - but I never truly appreciated just how much of the world it leads to you shutting yourself off from.

[rob1966]

I can count to ten in Japanese

[24/7]

One of the best parts about being multilingual, especially in languages not widely spoken, is that, when you act 'normal' around them and they say bitchy or nasty things about you, it's so satisfying to turn around and address them in their language directly, or passively-aggressively use a phrase to your travelling partner in the local language like, "They're so rude here, aren't they?!" I love the reaction that gets.....

Also, when travelling abroad, I've gotten out of some uncomfortable situations by pretending not to be British but Swedish instead.

[rob1966]

One of the best parts about being multilingual, especially in languages not widely spoken, is that, when you act 'normal' around them and they say bitchy or nasty things about you, it's so satisfying to turn around and address them in their language directly, or passively-aggressively use a phrase to your travelling partner in the local language like, "They're so rude here, aren't they?!" I love the reaction that gets.....

Also, when travelling abroad, I've gotten out of some uncomfortable situations by pretending not to be British but Swedish instead.

We used to see the same family on Holiday in Tenerife every year, they were from the South West. One day someone said something nasty about her in Spanish and she let fly a tirade back in Spanish - she'd been brought up in Spain

One of the many things I hate about the English is the way we expect everyone to speak English, so the education system doesn't get us when we are very young and mke us fluent in at least one useful language. I got to know one of the entertainers, she was an Italian called Valentina, she was mid 20's and she'd be chatting away with me in English, shout to one of the staff in Spanish and then turn to Monika and yak away in German. You feel like a right twat alongside that.

[24/7]

We used to see the same family on Holiday in Tenerife every year, they were from the South West. One day someone said something nasty about her in Spanish and she let fly a tirade back in Spanish - she'd been brought up in Spain

One of the many things I hate about the English is the way we expect everyone to speak English, so the education system doesn't get us when we are very young and mke us fluent in at least one useful language. I got to know one of the entertainers, she was an Italian called Valentina, she was mid 20's and she'd be chatting away with me in English, shout to one of the staff in Spanish and then turn to Monika and yak away in German. You feel like a right twat alongside that.

Totes!

I allow myself to feel incredibly smug when I can hold a conversation in English, French, Swedish and Estonian in one sitting

I don't usually make a point of learning the 'bad' stuff any more in any language (for example I very, very rarely curse in Estonian) - but the French version of cursing is gorgeous (think the Merovingian in Matrix 2) and the Hungarian and Finnish invectives are a delight to express!

[Crosby Nick]

I got to know one of the entertainers, she was an Italian called Valentina, she was mid 20's and she'd be chatting away with me in English,

Oi oi!

[Linudden]

I don't usually make a point of learning the 'bad' stuff any more in any language

Let's not pretend you wouldn't understand me ranting about the ref scraping the bottom of the barrel of Swedish in Football Manager here 

[Corkboy]

One of the best parts about being multilingual, especially in languages not widely spoken, is that, when you act 'normal' around them and they say bitchy or nasty things about you, it's so satisfying to turn around and address them in their language directly, or passively-aggressively use a phrase to your travelling partner in the local language like, "They're so rude here, aren't they?!" I love the reaction that gets.....

Also, when travelling abroad, I've gotten out of some uncomfortable situations by pretending not to be British but Swedish instead.

That's one great thing about speaking Irish in other countries. The chances of anyone understanding are really small.

[rob1966]

That's one great thing about speaking Irish in other countries. The chances of anyone understanding are really small.

Bit like walking into somewhere in Wales.....

[24/7]

Let's not pretend you wouldn't understand me ranting about the ref scraping the bottom of the barrel of Swedish in Football Manager here 

Err.........having spent two years reffing in the Swedish leagues, there's nothing you could say in Swedish that would shock me in that context

[Komic]

Learning Spanish, can have a conversation with someone if they make the occasional concession for me.

Just started learning French as well, I have the goal of becoming competent in four languages and hope to add Italian after French.

[Linudden]

Err.........having spent two years reffing in the Swedish leagues, there's nothing you could say in Swedish that would shock me in that context

I've always been told our northerners are polite?

[deFacto please, you bastards]

two and a half.

I lied.

-Bosnian
-Croatian
-Serbian
-Montenegrian
-Slovenian
-half German
-half Slovenian

 

[LiamG]

Two, Welsh and english, i did used to speak a bit of french in school but i've forgotten it all haha

[Crosby Nick]

I lied.

-Bosnian
-Croatian
-Serbian
-Montenegrian
-Slovenian
-half German
-half Slovenian

 

Ignorant question, sorry!..

Is there much difference between those first five?

[24/7]

Ignorant question, sorry!..

Is there much difference between those first five?

Surprisingly much. Put it this way, where I lived, in Metlika/Novo Mesto, the Slovenians could understand the Croatians reasonably well but it doesn't translate so easily the other direction. It's like, Estonian and Finnish are reasonably closely related - but the differences are too great for it to be like Norwegian/Swedish. The Estonian word for 'ghost' is the same word in Finnish for 'wife'.......

And in Serbo-Croat, there are many phrases in everyday use that do not translate to Slovene.

[24/7]

I've always been told our northerners are polite?

They are until you get them on a footie pitch and they all think they're Zlatan Fuckin Ibrahimovic.......there was even a campaign run by the refs' association when I was there called "Lämna oss i fred!" (leave us in peace!) making the very valid point that, as a coach, if your striker misses a key penalty, do you rant, rave and insult them? No. You encourage them to learn. But too many refs were walking away in their first year because of the dogs' abuse they were given.

(You'll already know this bit...)

Swedish is an interesting language to swear in (all Nordic languages, actually) cos the roots of the invective lie not in sexuality (like ours do - body parts and actions - go fuck yourself up your own arse, for example) but in religion and mythology - hence why "Go to hell!" is reasonably strong for us but "Dra åt helvete!!!!" or even "Dra åt skogen!!" (go to the forest!) is definitely taboo language there. In Estonian it's the same - "Fuck off!" translates to "Minna metsa" which translates to........

"Go to the forest!"

[west_london_red]

You learning something every day. I always assumed swear words and curses in any language related to sex, body parts and your parents, Punjabi is very much the same other then we’re quite found of including sisters in curses plus there the wonderful caste system ie ‘you look like someone from the leather workers caste’

[24/7]

You learning something every day. I always assumed swear words and curses in any language related to sex, body parts and your parents, Punjabi is very much the same other then we’re quite found of including sisters in curses plus there the wonderful caste system ie ‘you look like someone from the leather workers caste’

Yeah the only curse word that I know of in Indian languages refers directly to sister....

[JC the Messiah]

I can count to ten in Japanese

Me too, but I did study Japanese at uni in Sheffield and in Japan, and then lived out there for a few years after I graduated.

Fascinating language to study, particularly the written aspect with the complicated Chinese characters (kanji). They only use around 2,000 of these, but they can be read in different ways in different contexts.

二十年前、大学で日本語を勉強した。残念ながら、だんだん忘れてしまった。

[Drinks Sangria]

I lied.

-Bosnian
-Croatian
-Serbian
-Montenegrian
-Slovenian
-half German
-half Slovenian

 

My mother in law is Slovenian and can essentially speak those languages too. She’s been trying to teach me some Serbian but I struggle with it.

[Crosby Nick]

Me too, but I did study Japanese at uni in Sheffield and in Japan, and then lived out there for a few years after I graduated.

Fascinating language to study, particularly the written aspect with the complicated Chinese characters (kanji). They only use around 2,000 of these, but they can be read in different ways in different contexts.

二十年前、大学で日本語を勉強した。残念ながら、だんだん忘れてしまった。

I’m sorry Wayne, please finish your cider.

[rob1966]

Me too, but I did study Japanese at uni in Sheffield and in Japan, and then lived out there for a few years after I graduated.

Fascinating language to study, particularly the written aspect with the complicated Chinese characters (kanji). They only use around 2,000 of these, but they can be read in different ways in different contexts.

二十年前、大学で日本語を勉強した。残念ながら、だんだん忘れてしまった。

I learnt it at Karate.  I can say and understand a few words such as Hajime, Yame, Rei, Seiza, Mokuso, Arigato and a few others.

[Dim Glas]

Welsh is my first language, English my second,  and I speak a little German (and learning more).

[24/7]

I learnt it at Karate.  I can say and understand a few words such as Hajime, Yame, Rei, Seiza, Mokuso, Arigato and a few others.

The only Japanese I can remember is Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, which I use in reiki practice

[deFacto please, you bastards]

My mother in law is Slovenian and can essentially speak those languages too. She’s been trying to teach me some Serbian but I struggle with it.

They're all the same bar Slovenian/German, we just call it different things as we're mentalists. 

[rob1966]

The only Japanese I can remember is Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen, which I use in reiki practice

When I was doing Kendo, Sensei Ozawa visited us from japan (8th Dan) and his son Ryo stayed with our Sensei for a few months and trained with us. Of course, not matter how hard we tried, we all called him Ryo and he constantly told us, no its "Leo".

[Lastrador]

Spanish, English, and Uruguayan.

[Linudden]

Welsh is my first language, English my second,  and I speak a little German (and learning more).

Surely English is joint mother tongue for 99.9 % of Welsh speakers nowadays right? Even in peak Plaid Cymru farmland territory I'd guess everyone has as great a command of English as someone living in Cardiff 

From my impressions about Italy, all speakers of regional languages speak Italian just as well no matter age, location and education so first/second language is quite hard to determinate for most geographically limited minority languages nowadays.

[Drinks Sangria]

They're all the same bar Slovenian/German, we just call it different things as we're mentalists. 

We go to a local pub quite often where the couple who run it are Croatian and Bosnian, he speaks flawless English but she can’t speak any, but adores my mother in law coming in because she can converse fluently with her - I must say that to my ear, her moving from Croatian to what I assume is a Bosnian dialect of Serbian seems extremely similar. I’m definitely going to try to learn, I’m due to go over to Slovenia for the first time with all of them next year, they’re from Jesenice not far North of Bled, near the Austrian border.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

We go to a local pub quite often where the couple who run it are Croatian and Bosnian, he speaks flawless English but she can’t speak any, but adores my mother in law coming in because she can converse fluently with her - I must say that to my ear, her moving from Croatian to what I assume is a Bosnian dialect of Serbian seems extremely similar. I’m definitely going to try to learn, I’m due to go over to Slovenia for the first time with all of them next year, they’re from Jesenice not far North of Bled, near the Austrian border.

They're exactly alike mate, bar some words here and there, but no different from going from Liverpool to Newcastle for instance, [we got different accents and terms for some things but it's all the same] Slovenian is a bit different in that regard, but they've all learned our language in school so usually they have an advantage 

You'll enjoy it, Slovenia is a beautiful place.

[24/7]

We go to a local pub quite often where the couple who run it are Croatian and Bosnian, he speaks flawless English but she can’t speak any, but adores my mother in law coming in because she can converse fluently with her - I must say that to my ear, her moving from Croatian to what I assume is a Bosnian dialect of Serbian seems extremely similar. I’m definitely going to try to learn, I’m due to go over to Slovenia for the first time with all of them next year, they’re from Jesenice not far North of Bled, near the Austrian border.

There's another RAWKite who lives very, very close to there......

[ChaChaMooMoo]

I'll swing my linguistic cock on the table then - cos I'm proud of this......

Thats an impressive list mate. I always mixed up some words and grammar when I speak. Does it also affect you considering you speak so many languages?

How do you manage that? For me, when I talk German and Tamil, I inadvertently insert english words. And the constant fight with grammar is also a headache.

I want to deepen my knowledge of Spanish and I am wondering if it would complicate further my ability to be a polygot.

[Rhi]

I speak Welsh and English fluently and consider Welsh my mother tongue. It’s the language of daily life in my part of Wales. Also speak little bits of Spanish although having not used it in years, it’s mostly gone. It always comes back quickly when I’m in a Spanish speaking country for any length of time and I keep meaning to try and learn it more formally.