What languages do you speak?

[Haertig]

I wonder who can speak what here.

I am a simpleton myself, I only speak English. Two years of German way back in high school didn't stick. Of the other languages out there, I suppose Spanish would be the most useful. Probably followed by French, then German. I don't have any real inclination to learn any of these however. If you listen to the news these days, Russian or Chinese might be useful sooner rather than later as well.

One language that tweaks my interest is American Sign Language. Because with that one, I can see some personal use possibilities. As the wife and I get older, if we start to loose our hearing, Sign Language might be a big help. We currently only know one gesture to communicate with, but there's only so much information you can convey with the middle finger, no matter how much emotion you put into it. Really though, I would like to learn Sign Language. But the wife would have to learn it too (she has no interest) and I'd have to find some place to practice it. So I am probably relegated to being a simpleton for the rest of my life.

Sign Language would be useful in places where you have to be quiet as well (theaters, libraries). Or where you have to communicate over a distance and hollering at each other is not appropriate (maybe on opposite ends of a museum display room, or between the spectator seats and the player bench at a hockey game). Flags for Semaphore or flashing lights for Morse Code might be too distracting to others in the museum.

So what languages do you all know? And how do you keep yourself in practice using them?

 

[LadyLocust]

I speak garbely-goo quite well
Fluent only in English, but some Spanish & French. I love language have just never had the opportunity to take more than the couple of required college classes. I would love to learn Irish (Celtic).

 

[Amish Heart]

English. Ha Ha.
Had to learn french when we lived there about 35 years ago. Forgot alot of it.
Learning Pennsylvanian Dutch at the moment. Because that's what my family speaks.
Husband speaks german, so it's easier for him. Our middle child is fluent in german.

 

[Neb]

I studied French for 5 years and never did pass French 2.

I have been fluent in;

PDP 11 machine languages (012737 octal
Vax macro
DCL (digital command language)
C
LabVIEW

Programming languages.

I have started to study Hebrew because I want to read the old Testament in its original form. I have not made a lot of progress but I was able to figure out the street signs when I was in Jerusalem. When The Princess retirees we plan to make studying Hebrew a daily routine.

She is great with languages (beside computer languages) and can translate

German
French
Spanish
Greek

Ben

 

[Supervisor42]

I am fluent in redneck, cajun, and english.
Don't get to speak english very much though .
"Here, put my spanner in the boot of the lorry".

I will eventually have to learn to understand (not speak) some spanish.
People will use it to talk around you sometimes.

 

[Alaskajohn]

I am trying to learn English. As an Appalachian American, this is a challenge. I can converse in Spanish and French enough to order food, barter in a store, etc, but these skills are fast fading as I don't have much opportunity to do this now.

The wife was born oversees and speaks three languages fluently, plus can converse in Spanish and French like me.

 

[Bacpacker]

I speak hillbilly fluently. English just a little.
Had to go to Austria for 2 months to train for a past job. Learned enough German to get by. All the manuals for 5 automated lines were written in German. I ended up being able to read it better than speak it. Never could get the accent right.
I have learned Basic programming years ago, LabView, & Solid Works. Also learned Morse Code. One thing for sure if you don't use it regularly it will go away.

 

[jazzy]

i can do english, redneck,spanglish and ASL-american sigbn language. not claiming to be proficient but i get bv. im pretty good at finger spelling still, but my sign language has slipped alot as my eyes got bad. always loved sign language.

 

[Cascadian]

I only speak English but can see Spanish would be helpful.

 

[Cnsper]

I speak Merican.

 

[Weedygarden]

I speak English, sometimes better than others. I can speak a little Spanish, "Ciera la puerta, por favor" and a few other useful phrases. I studied Spanish in junior high and h.s. Use it or lose it.

I have also had students whose parents didn't speak English and the children's native language was Spanish, so there were Spanish conversations going on in the classroom.

I can't speak any of it, but I have learned to read some Czech, especially in birth, death and marriage records. I know even less German for the same reason.

I always wish I knew a few languages, at least Spanish, Czech and German.

 

[Patchouli]

English. Have always done well at understanding most foreign-speaking people's broken English.
One of my adult kids lived 2 years in a Spanish-speaking country and learned to speak Spanish very well as that was all that could be spoken, and came home with an accent. Now married and with one little kid, they are teaching the little one both languages.
Younger people from Spanish-speaking countries have told me they learned English by watching tv once they moved here, of course they were little kids then.

 

[Spikedriver]

I know just a little Spanish. Not enough to get by, but I'm learning. I'm also picking up some Navajo from my Navajo co-workers. I can say, "good morning", "you're the man!", "He's no good" or "worthless" and a bunch of unprintable Navajo insults...

 

[phideaux]

A little english.
A little spanish .
A little french.
A little Vietnamese.

A little piglatin , gery good.

Jim

 

[Spikedriver]

A little english.
A little spanish .
A little french.
A little Vietnamese.

A little piglatin , gery good.

Jim

Ig-pay atin-lay!

 

[Cnsper]

My grandparents had an eigth grade education. They both spoke 4 languages. German, hungarian, romanian and english. They came here in 1957 from Austria when my dad was 10 and spoke no english. Wish they would have taught me.

I can cuss in whatever language my grandpa used to use... lol

 

[BadgerLandHunter]

I can only fluently speak English. However I can swear or insult a little in Spanish, German, and White Hmong.

Don't worry I get far more practice in English than swearing in the others.

 

[backlash]

I speak Arkie, Oakie, and English.
I took a battery of tests in boot camp and one of the sections was a foreign language. The guy evaluating my scores said in all his years he had never seen someone score a zero.
I have no aptitude for foreign languages.
I scored in the upper 5% on all the other tests.

 

[Erin]

I speak English, and know enough French that I could probably get by (been studying it for years, but never use it in daily life so I need more practice). I used to know some sign language too but forgot most of that except the alphabet so I can spell out basic sentences, and I know how to ask for a few things in Spanish. Definitely want to learn more languages and become more fluent in what I already know.

 

[SheepDog]

I'm learning to communicate telepathically - that way I can say what I want and people think it's themselves.

 

[Neb]

I subscribe to this guy on YouTube to try and learn English while learning how to do some seat of the pants machining and fabricating.



If I had him and his shop in my tribe I would be doing everything I could to learn what he was saying and what he is planning.

Bonus
He has a road legal steam powered truck. Nice!

Ben

 

[DrPrepper]

I speak German and Chinese Mandarin (I was an interrogator-translator when I was active duty) I also speak a little French and Spanish (understand more than I can speak). I am trying to learn Navajo (since I live just south of the Navajo res!) My language skills are rusty, as there are not a lot of Chinese Mandarin speakers in rural Arizona, but I do get to talk to the owner of a local Chinese restaurant, so that is some practice. My next-door neighbor is German, so I get practice there, too. I need to brush up on my Chinese - after all, once the new administration is in place, they may make it our national language!

 

[Meerkat]

I wonder who can speak what here.

I am a simpleton myself, I only speak English. Two years of German way back in high school didn't stick. Of the other languages out there, I suppose Spanish would be the most useful. Probably followed by French, then German. I don't have any real inclination to learn any of these however. If you listen to the news these days, Russian or Chinese might be useful sooner rather than later as well.

One language that tweaks my interest is American Sign Language. Because with that one, I can see some personal use possibilities. As the wife and I get older, if we start to loose our hearing, Sign Language might be a big help. We currently only know one gesture to communicate with, but there's only so much information you can convey with the middle finger, no matter how much emotion you put into it. Really though, I would like to learn Sign Language. But the wife would have to learn it too (she has no interest) and I'd have to find some place to practice it. So I am probably relegated to being a simpleton for the rest of my life.

Sign Language would be useful in places where you have to be quiet as well (theaters, libraries). Or where you have to communicate over a distance and hollering at each other is not appropriate (maybe on opposite ends of a museum display room, or between the spectator seats and the player bench at a hockey game). Flags for Semaphore or flashing lights for Morse Code might be too distracting to others in the museum.

So what languages do you all know? And how do you keep yourself in practice using them?

Does pig latin count?

 

[kd4ulw]

I used to work with some Bosnian women and learned enough Yugoslavian to get slapped if I tried it on anyone else (they called me Kamo, was the closest thing to my real name from their region). Had 3 years of high school German but most of it is gone now. Very little Spanish and ASL.

 

[Morgan101]

English of course. I took Spanish in High School and College, and remember more than I ever thought I know. I took some refresher courses while working for a Spanish company. I used to spend a lot of time in Montreal and in Belgium. My attempts at French were feeble, but as Backpacker said, I could read better than I could speak, so it was helpful. Most of that is gone.

The problem we have as Americans is there is no opportunity to practice or use what you have learned. I always felt that if I was immersed in the culture I could be pretty proficient in a few months. I have a good ear, and a good memory. Accents are easy for me. Some day maybe.

 

[Alaskajohn]

The problem we have as Americans is there is no opportunity to practice or use what you have learned.

Didn‘t we fight 2 world wars and a Cold War because we didn’t want to have to learn to speak new languages? That was the reason, right?

 

[Weedygarden]

I speak German and Chinese Mandarin (I was an interrogator-translator when I was active duty) I also speak a little French and Spanish (understand more than I can speak). I am trying to learn Navajo (since I live just south of the Navajo res!) My language skills are rusty, as there are not a lot of Chinese Mandarin speakers in rural Arizona, but I do get to talk to the owner of a local Chinese restaurant, so that is some practice. My next-door neighbor is German, so I get practice there, too. I need to brush up on my Chinese - after all, once the new administration is in place, they may make it our national language!

I forgot, I studied Mandarin Chinese one semester in college. I had several Chinese friends. I probably remember one phrase, "Shih bih shih."

 

[joel]

I speak Southren redneck & some English.

 

[Sparky_D]

I spoke fluent German before I learned any English (Army Brat born in Germany. Did 2 tours there before I was 6), so TECHNICALLY, I'm an ESL (English, Second Language)...

When I'm watching old WWII movies with actors speaking German, I can some times pick out words and phrases. I've been told I should be able to pick it up again pretty easily if I take classes.

On our return to the US, we stayed with my mom's parents and they only spoke French. I learned a bit of French as well. Everyone was surprised to hear an American boy speaking French with a German accent...

I also took Spanish when we lived in Texas in the 70's. Still know a little bit and can pronounce most stuff well when reading it.

 

[Neb]

I spoke fluent German before I learned any English (Army Brat born in Germany. Did 2 tours there before I was 6), so TECHNICALLY, I'm an ESL (English, Second Language)...

When I'm watching old WWII movies with actors speaking German, I can some times pick out words and phrases. I've been told I should be able to pick it up again pretty easily if I take classes.

On our return to the US, we stayed with my mom's parents and they only spoke French. I learned a bit of French as well. Everyone was surprised to hear an American boy speaking French with a German accent...

I also took Spanish when we lived in Texas in the 70's. Still know a little bit and can pronounce most stuff well when reading it.

Air force brat born in Munich.

Left before I could talk (but that is a long story).

Ben