What languages do you speak?

[David]

I think we have quite a few Europeans here so I assume there are quite a few languages represented here. I’m curious because I love to study languages. I speak Chinese fluently (but far from perfect), and I am able to have a simple conversation in Spanish or Vietnamese, and I am working to bring those languages up.

 

[timberamayor]

English, Swedish and Spanish in that order of proficiency. I have also studied German, Italian and Russian and can understand some of the first two and maybe communicate a little but I forgot all my Russian. I'm considering studying French or Chinese or going back and re-learning Russian. I haven't decided.

 

[matty]

English and Spanish fluently, and a little Portuguese, I want to improve my Portuguese.

 

[1derpalm]

English and "Cuban Cab Driver" Spanish (aka I know how to get most of what I need or where to go, and how to tell them I have a significant other and "No: She's not Cuban., not here in cuba, still not looking for a Cubana. No, no chicos either. No weed thanks. No Coke either. How come when you dropped me here it was this price bit now you charge me more? I'll just take a Government taxi. Oh that's a much price." etc.

 

[manzanadulce]

I'm American, but I'm fluent in Spanish, and I also have a pretty decent Italian and French vocabulary and have basic conversational capacity in those 2 languages. Some German words on account of my mother's German nationality (used to be fluent in that too, but forgot everything ).

 

[MrR]

German (native)
English (fluent - with all those funny mistakes)
Spanish (creative ...)

Well, I managed to successfully communicate on a basic level with most of the Spanish people in the Barcelona area. Got better, when I realized, that about a quarter of them weren't speaking Spanish!

 

[manzanadulce]

German (native)
English (fluent - with all those funny mistakes)
Spanish (creative ...)

Well, I managed to successfully communicate on a basic level with most of the Spanish people in the Barcelona area. Got better, when I realized, that about a quarter of them weren't speaking Spanish!

Were they speaking Catalan? That’s the official language of that region, Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital city. Citizens speak Catalan and Castellano (Castilian, aka Spanish).

 

[MrR]

Yes.
It sounded somehow like I should understand it, but I understood nothing. And sometimes people at the same table were talking in Spanish at the same time.

 

[dav7802]

Did anyone learn a second language as an adult? I am trying to learn Spanish and using tapes and Rosetta Stone.

 

[DJ Yuca]

I started learning Spanish about 5 years ago. It's hard. However I have been able to find friends and acquaintances who don't speak English, so I can't be doing too badly. Good luck with it.

 

[manzanadulce]

Did anyone learn a second language as an adult? I am trying to learn Spanish and using tapes and Rosetta Stone.

i started spanish at age 13 but didn't really focus on learning it for real until i was about 19, so yes, I learned as an adult.

although those apps and programs are great for vocabulary building I really think the only way to actually learn it is to go and live for awhile in a country where you're forced to speak it and have actual conversations. also, listening to the radio and televison in spanish helps a lot, as does putting spanish subtitles on whenever possible. you have to find a way to use it in some way every day or it just won't stick.

 

[timberamayor]

Did anyone learn a second language as an adult? I am trying to learn Spanish and using tapes and Rosetta Stone.

I started at about 30, although I had studied 3 semesters of Italian a couple years before which helped me with the basic ideas of how the grammar works. I honestly learned most from song lyrics, from reading interviews and translating them and eventually when I started doing interviews for Timba.com I had to speak Spanish because so few Cuban musicians speak English. I took 5 lessons and also read 4 chapters in "Teach yourself Latin American Spanish". But mainly it was music and reading articles.

 

[1derpalm]

Did anyone learn a second language as an adult? I am trying to learn Spanish and using tapes and Rosetta Stone.

Duo Lingo is pretty good but find some Old Spanish songs (preferably of the country that you plan on frequenting, to get used to the dialect) that you like the sound of and listen religiously, find the lyrics on line and translate it as best as you can. Try singing along. I find it helps my verb conjugation and picking words out faster.

 

[Marcos]

Spanish and English, in that order. And since I live in Japan, a very small amount of Japanese (I usually let my wife do the talking in Japanese, and working towards getting my 6 year old to translate but so far poor results on that front).

I'm Puertorican so I learned English with a combination of school, cable TV, Hollywood movies, American music, video games, and magazines.

 

[DJ Yuca]

also read 4 chapters in "Teach yourself Latin American Spanish"

I started my learning with that book (and the accompanying CD). But it was only once I started doing one to one language exchanges that I could make any sense of it and motivate myself to study it more. I have also read several other grammar books - we all learn in different ways, up to a certain point, but for me personally when I start something new, particularly a language, I need to have it written down and broken down.

If/when I master Spanish I'd love to learn French, Portuguese or Italian.

 

[matty]

we all learn in different ways, up to a certain point, but for me personally when I start something new, particularly a language, I need to have it written down and broken down.
.

im total opposite, i respond really well to sounds, once i hear something i know it. but I could write stuff down all day and it just doesnt go into my brain LOL


an exception would be when chatting to people online, i find thats very good way to support your conversational spanish that gives you a chance to look up words and expressions that you dont understand.

 

[bailar y tocar]

Bilingual English and German. Fluent in Spanish
My parents were born and raised in NYC then they moved to Germany which is where I went to German only pre-school through university.

Did anyone learn a second language as an adult? I am trying to learn Spanish and using tapes and Rosetta Stone.

I did use Rosetta Stone initially. I never got to be fluent with classes, tapes or video. The best option is to date someone who only speaks Spanish. That is common in most of South America.

Add: when in conversation in real life while learning, most native speakers are fairly patient and will let you finish and try to understand in slower paced countries in South America. If you try to do that in Spain or Miami, it won't happen. If they speak English also, they will switch immediately as they are always in a hurry.

 

[matty]

The best option is to date someone who only speaks Spanish.

arguments are particularly helpful, you improve in leaps and bounds

 

[bailar y tocar]

arguments are particularly helpful, you improve in leaps and bounds

This.... and .....understand the flavor of the language to avoid the misunderstanding.

English is fairly brutal compared to Spanish and German. If one states something perceived as a fact in English and translates that literally into Spanish it is perceived as a judgement. In German one can use the 3rd person which is less judgemental. In Spanish one can state as a question which is less direct.

 

[Dissonant Harmony]

Hebrew. (Native);
English;
and some Spanish and Russian, but not to a level where I can understand a conversation. (I'm willing to improve my Russian, though).