Is English your first language?

[Duna]

Spanish is my first language. I started to learn English when I was three years, in the school. ^^

[loe]

My first language is German.
At school I was very good in English, but then I haven't used it for years, and now I'm really, really bad. :(

[farnoosh]

My first language is persian.in our school they teach Arabic,and English togather!
its so hard to speak them at the sametime of the day!!

[blazeofglory]

English is my second language. I learned it just a couple of decades ago. I wrote poems and essays in Nepali, a language I am good at, and I switched to writing in English now. Writing in English is really a tough job. I face all kinds of problems. First and foremost is mastering its grammar. I am unsure of it. I have no doubt learned a good number of words and I can manage with them. Expression also does not pose a problem despite the fact that you can not expect me now to be as good as a native speaker at expressing my thought in English. I really have to make a lot of efforts.

The one and only I chose to write in English is through it I can go across larger sections of people. Not that Nepali is not a good language. It is beautiful indeed, and even more organic than English for it is close to Sanskrit and Sanskrit is really the most scientific language as many linguists have arrived at this truth.

Despite the fact that I am so good at Nepali, and mastering English is really a very big challenge, yet I thought the challenge is worth taking as this language is getting global attention. We Asians have to learn second language to pursue higher education, and English is compulsory. Moreover it is a global language that connects us with the rest of the world. In fact it has netted us globally interconnecting, and I take this is as a positive development. After all we all are human beings and humanity is one, and there is no duality and a s such I thing English helps us to integrate globally.

I like to express things in Englsih now. But I learned English only through books, and in my part of the world communicating English is like coming upon a snake in Iceland. Yet I chose to shoulder this job.

I know I can not speak English and write in this the way a native can, and yet I am reading a lot to naturalize in Englsih.

I am an avid reader and my reading habit is in fact sharpening my skills in Englsih. I do not know how far I can go. Only time will prove it.

[Ludmila607]

My native original languaje is Spanish.I am from South America, unesfecific country situated under the capricorn tropic.I am phylosophy teacher , ready to help any student if I can(dont have the less idea if Phylosophy is included on high school studies)I like Literature and visit the Literature forums frequently.
I ve learn english through High school lessons, reading by myself and having correspondence on some foreign people.I really enjoy reading and writting in english Knowing that I have much to learn.(SEND A GOOD LOOKING TEACHER TO ME)
I enjoy music from the sixties to the new milenium(KEANE IS JUST GREAT)and try to be in touch about whats going on in music.
I recomend a music group from chile called LA LEY ... very talented.
I am ready to help students online if I can on they needs and they help me with my english in exchange.
I like to recommned the last Radio Seventeen Publication wich is a selection of new poets from all over the world made by the Royal Poetry Society.Beautiful book.
Regards from Ludmila and take a look to the Phylosophy Forums .This is a wonderful site.please!:crash:

[lilbrattyteen]

Yes. I've been learning English for 17 years now, even though I'm only 17! ;-)

[liuting]

chinese is my first lanuage~

[SlavetothePen]

English is my first language. I will soon be studying a second language for my Masters, but I have not decided which one to learn. I was thinking Latin...anybody have some suggestions?

[thelastmelon]

My first language is Swedish. We started studying English in third or fourth grade though, and I have a certificate in Cambridge Advanced English, but that doesn't make me good enough though. I hate grammar, but I love reading and writing.

I've been studying a few languages in school as well. A few years of French, one year of Spanish and German. So, I know the basics of those languages, but would probably have to study them again to really get it. I wasn't really interested in learning back then, but would be now.

Languages I would want to learn is Chinese, Swahili and now Portugese (I just got a foster-child in Cape Verde that speaks Portugese).

[lili student]

hi every body,

my mother tongue is Arabic, and i am living in k.s.a. My second language is english. I am half fluent speaker of english. After I finish studying english, I hope to study japanese, spanish,and german.

[chef]

mi primera lengua es español y mi segunda lengua es ingles... hihihihi my first language is spanish and my second is english.... =)

[Gadget Girl]

Nope. English isn't my first language. I'm still learning it though.

[Rheingold]

My first language is German, second English, third French... and I am going to learn Dutch very soon. :blush:

[rosepaoo]

firstly,i'm also a Chinese.and i understand your agony.
to say the truth,our Chinese is more difficult than English,isn't it??
practise now and you can see your progress.
go fighting :D

[rosepaoo]

Mine is a weird case, I guess. Being a chinese, I'm supposed to speak chinese as my mothertongue, like the rest of my cousins, but I grew up in an English school. I was taught both chinese and English, but because we speak english at home, my english became better. Then moving to Australia made my chinese worse... at the best i can only understand people who speak in mandarin, and can only speak a few basic words of chinese... what a disgrace. :rolleyes: all my years of studying chinese is wasted!
firstly,i'm also a Chinese.and i understand your agony.
to say the truth,our Chinese is more difficult than English,isn't it??
practise now and you can see your progress.
go fighting

[crazefest456]

um... urdu, but I learned english a few years later, I guess.

[summeronly]

My first language is Arabic, i am trying now to master English,and i am in my first steps of learning French

:)

[dongbei]

Chinese is my first language

[thegreenthing]

I'm German/Swede so I speak both languages fluently

[befida]

My mothertongue is Turkish. Now I'm studying ELT. Two years later I will be an English teacher..:)

[Chenga]

Dutch is my first language. I'm attending an international university at the moment (though its located in Netherlands) so I am used to speaking and writing in English. Third language is French and then German. I hope to find the time to upgrade my French and study French literature & philosophy in France someday

[MoonGotLost]

I was born in lithuania and i can speak lithuanian... its a pretty cool language. i can also speak espanol ;]

[Crazy_mode60]

great, anice topic
for me , Arabic is my primary language.i born in Egypt, also iam muslem. quraan is Arabic i born to communicate with people in my Arabic language
Now i study English literature and Drama but what make me study English !
As English is easy and All people now use it to communicate and do their work , to educate
computer now using english language my key board is english

buttttt what ake english is language of all world????????

as people talk, money talk, power talk...... beacause USA the ost powerful country in all worllld

Thank you and this is my first participation....

[bunker_70]

Dutch is my main language here. I am able to speak and read English without much problems. Writing in English is pretty hard for me because i barely studied it in high school. But hey I do my best ^^

[mcpacek]

My mother tongue is Polish. Why did I register here? I did it becasue I wanted to improve my English and share with my ideas about literature. For a month I have been communicating in English more often than in Polish that is becasue my dreams came true and I'm a student of English and American literature.

[Susanta]

Hello Logos,
My First Language is Bangla.:yawnb:

[abbi]

kurdish my first language but i can speak arabic & english

[mazHur]

tamaar bangla bashi ? goooood!

[suicidel]

My first language is romanian, English is my second and i've started learning it when i was 8. I've always loved it a lot more then the other languages i studied later on. right now i know only 3 foreign languages (english spanish and french) but I'm hoping to add Japanese as a fourth.

[joywind]

Dutch is my first language, I went to school in Australia for a number of years though (half a lifetime ago), I also read & speak German, and a some French

[Amigurumi]

My first language is italian.. Then I moved here in Texas 28 moths ago and I speak English fluently and write it ok. I'm attending college, want to get English major!

[mmanuelap]

My first language is brazilian Portuguese. I studied English for like, 3 years, and I think I'm doing ok writing and reading it :) I also speak french and a little bit of spanish (only because portuguese is veeeery similar, of course :lol:)

[Hira]

Nopes, Urdu.

[Nocturna]

I don't really have a first language. The first language I spoke was English, but then I moved to Spain as a child, and I believe that I speak Spanish better. Therefore, I'm think that I'm pretty close to being "perfectly bilingual" (yes, I know that doesn't technically exist :P).

[Splendour]

I speak Mandarin and a few other local dialects that sound nothing like Mandarin...and then I can speak a bit of French...hoping I won't end up forgetting all of my French....

[bouquin]

My first language is Ilonggo (Pilipino), it's what we speak at home. Then English second and Tagalog third or maybe it's a tie between those two, it's rather complicated. Then French which I learned 12 years ago but now I would say that I can read better in French than Tagalog. As I said, it's rather complicated and would need a long-winding explanation!

[Erichtho]

No, my native language is German. I've studied English and Russian in school though.

[Renrut]

most people would consider English my first language but i kind of depends on how you look at it.....I tend to feel that American Southern is my first language....but whatever.....

[Dark]

No, my first language is Italian, as I come from Italy!
Hope not to make a lot of mistakes and that you can undestand what I write!

[Hayfa Qahtani]

Arabic is my first language , english is second in work and reading too :)

[water-lily]

nope .. it's Arabic

[ex ponto]

No, it's Serbian.

[unleashed]

wow, i guessed, when i saw the topic, that by far the most of people here speak english as their first language! :o

it's somehow comforting, mine's hebrew..

[natasssha]

No , My first Language is Arabic , And the Fl or My foreign language is Frensh , I choose English by my ouwn and i am studying it in the university ' English literature'

[zyxbtx]

Hi, everybody. My mother tongue is Chinese. I'm fresh here. I want to study literature and hope you can help me with some tips or suggestions. Thanks.

[sprinks]

Wow this is so awesome!... I don't think I've ever met so many people that have different first languages! :D There's quite a few people at my school who speak other languages, but very few that have other languages as their first language!

My first language is English... saying that seems kind of boring to me as I'm fascinated by other languages (but not so good at learning them!) and so many of you have a first language that seems interesting to me, but that's because I've almost only ever been around people with English as their first language!
It's pretty cool to be in the presence of such an interesting and varied group of people! :D Great to meet you all! :D :D :D (including others with English as their first language too of course!!!)

[Amundsen]

my language is czech

[RoCKiTcZa]

My first language is Ilonggo (Pilipino), it's what we speak at home. Then English second and Tagalog third or maybe it's a tie between those two, it's rather complicated. Then French which I learned 12 years ago but now I would say that I can read better in French than Tagalog. As I said, it's rather complicated and would need a long-winding explanation!

Bouquin! :eek: I never knew you were Filipino!;)

Mabuhay, kababayan!!!

By the way, as I've said before, English is my first language, Filipino my second, and right now I have learned another one! Thanks to the Sims game I have been playing on my mobile phone, I am now familiar with Italian and am picking up quite well. :)

[Laindessiel]

I, too. English was the first language I (and Toni's) used at home when we were growing up, but since we started going to school, the Filipino language that was used in school rubbed off on us and we became familiar with the language, and started using it, much to our mom's dismay. But until now, we leave people in wonder when they say Filipino words and we won't be able to understand it. :lol:





By the way, as I've said before, English is my first language, Filipino my second, and right now I have learned another one! Thanks to the Sims game I have been playing on my mobile phone, I am now familiar with Italian and am picking up quite well. :)


Italian? Bravissimo!!! I am amazed with the language too and I try to learn it. My Italian uncle taught me last year... and because he left, he left me rusty too. :(

But I can sing in German, thanks to Toni. :lol: Tokio Hotel.

[RoCKiTcZa]

You're a lot like my best friend, then!:D Say, where do you live and where did you go to school?

Si. Italian and Spanish are very similar. :) I could teach you when I learn to construct decent sentences. :lol: You have an Italian uncle! Wow!

[Laindessiel]

You're a lot like my best friend, then!:D Say, where do you live and where did you go to school?

Really? That's a cool twosome to see! (Two Rockitcza!) :D

I live in Quezon City, Tandang Sora. Very near U.P., where I study. Where Toni studies too. :) And you?



Si. Italian and Spanish are very similar. :) You have an Italian uncle! Wow!

Very much. But the spelling plays a big difference. And also some letters in Spanish are not included in the Italian alphabet.



I could teach you when I learn to construct decent sentences.:lol:

:bawling: I guess we're on the same level. :lol: Wish I could go back to those days when I would leave people dumbfounded with my "prowess". Hihi.

Adesso capisco e parlare un po l'Italiano. :(

[RoCKiTcZa]

Tandang Sora? Goodness, that's where I live too! :D Where exactly? :)
I used to study in UPIS (are you familiar with that school? The laboratory school of UP) during those crucial elem years but moved to Philippine Science where I study right now. ;)

Which probably explains why I pick up Italian much better than Spanish. :p My mom has been trying to teach me Spanish for several years, all to very little avail!

----

I can now understand and speak Italian???

[Sir Bartholomew]

no. me first language no english. me stupid. :lol:

[Camán]

Its a tie. ;)
I have both english and swedish as my first language.
Though, I mostly use english at work and at home, me and my mini-me's, :p and all my lyrics are in english.
But when it comes to spelling.....
I'm equally useless in both . :sick:

[MAi-KSA]

my first language is Arabic

[Tally_hawk]

my first language is urdu but i use both languages...at home and school...english is almost like my mother tongue probably slightly more so since my english reading and writing is better than my urdu...

(all lessons at school are in english too) :)

[Trystan]

My first language is Welsh. I used to speak it all the time until I reached about 10 when for some reason I only used it for school. I haven't had a proper conversation in it for years . . . and consequently my Welsh vocabulary is pretty limited.

[naomi moon]

My first language is Arabic, but I use English when I am at the U and I use French in my daily life:)

[Cayenne]

My native language is Finnish. I use English all the time, in the internet, writing letters or reading but I never speak it (I mean in my every day life but obviously if I go abroad or something). Of course I make some mistakes sometimes and my language is very simple but I'd like to think my English is quite fluent anyway ;)

[Brasil]

My first language is Portuguese. I study languages just for fun, but rarely I use it in my own country.
I have a curiosity:
How does Portuguese language sounds to a foreign? What Portuguese language seems (looks like) to you?
Does Portuguese seems like spanish, italian, arabic, russian, greek...? Or no one?
Please tell me.:yawnb:

[valleyjune]

My native language is Greek. I love English and think this site is wonderful. There are so many people with great ideas and style in writing -not only native speakers. Anyway, I believe it's wonderful to be able to communicate with people with similar interests all over the world :wave:


I have a curiosity:
How does Portuguese language sounds to a foreign? What Portuguese language seems (looks like) to you?
Does Portuguese seems like spanish, italian, arabic, russian, greek...? Or no one?
Please tell me.:yawnb:
For sure it sounds like spanish to me. And probably italian. As for the other languages you mentioned, I can find no similarity, at all. I am not an expert in Portugese, of course. What do you think?

[Nyu001]

My native language is Spanish, secondary language is English. But I can bet you I don't have a good domain in both languages (meaning I might talk a bit messy). Ah well I try the best. ;)

For the previous posts: Portuguese language it have similarities of words to Spanish & Italian language. With knowledge in any of those 3 language probably a person can decode what someone else is saying in the other language, but not always will be the case though. I can understand some words or sentences from Portuguese and Italian. Those languages share some little similarities where some words practically have the same pronunciation or near of the same. But as those little words can sound the same or near of the same, there are (lots of) words that are completely different.

[TexJR]

English is not my first language. I speak Tlingit as my first! So ha! Hahahahaha.

[Pyrrho]

My first language is Romanian. English is my language number three.

[Saladin]

Nope! Norwegian/Somali is first language.

[frida_kahlo]

Turkish is my first language and I also know Zazaki because I am Zaza, I guess most of you even have not heard of any Zaza, before. I will learn Spanish this summer and I am very impatient about this :)

[romantic novel]

Hi--My first language is Arabic.However, I speak English since I was born, because I was studying in an international school. Now I am teaching literature in college. Thus I consider English as my first language because I use it most of the time

[cipherdecoy]

English is my first language, Chinese is my mother tongue.

[Hayley Zero]

My first language is Dutch, since I live in Amsterdam. I have been learning English for about six years now, so I guess I could consider it as my second language? I've got this weird thing with English; I tend to think in English and I sometimes feel like I am translating when I speak Dutch.

[Page Sniffer]

English is my native language, with a splash of watered down South-east Floridian.

[lliekamia]

Hello Everyone, lliekamia a new here.

English is not my first language, But rather, it is my 3rd language.
But I really like to use this language when I got a conversation
with my friends within or outside the country. life is worthwhile when
we know this language, because it is being used by most of the people
around the world as a medium of communication. In learning the
language very well, we must study it at English Language School. (http://abroadlanguages.com/)
could help us construct a good communication skills.

[novlist*star*]

Arabic Language is my native language..I am realy hope to be fluent in English Language..

[Anatoliy]

my native language is ukrainian (the another language i understand as good as ukrainian is russian, but my spelling in russian is really bad). i know english a little bit. and i also know a few words in german (i knew more, when a was in school, but now i've almost forgotten everything).

[dreamsbegone]

nope, though i speak 5 different languages in general
arabic, english, french , turkmen and turkish

[sofia82]

No, it is my ... Hmmmm let me see
Azeri, Persian, English, Turkish, Arabic, French (Which I forget all about it).

It is my third language.

dreamsbegone I become so curious that if we are from the same region or not :D?

[JordanW]

Yes it's my language.

[Ataxia]

it,s not my first alnguage and I hope you will forgive me my spelling and gramatic mistakes unil I improve my english skills.:blush:

[Sorceress]

Mine is an Indian Language :P

[lauristhebest]

I'm from England. ;)

[addictedtobooks]

no it's not.

[antonia1990]

no, but I like it better than my first

[TurquoiseSunset]

I'm Afrikaans actually.

Eventhough my life mostly 'happens' in Afrikaans I feel almost bi-lingual anyway. In my country we start with English in 1st grade and encounter it everywhere. I only read English books because, when it comes to reading, watching tv and listening to music, etc. English just feels more natural to me... I feel like a bit of a traitor saying that actually:blush:

I also understand Dutch and Flemish because they are so similar to Afrikaans. I hope to learn more African languages in the future though.

[Ghost Thought]

Spanish o_o

[lolie]

my first language is french...
i speak also italian, portuguese and german and try my best in english ......

[Castaway]

yup my first language is English

[Immortall708]

My language is Czech- so I am not a native speaker of the English. But I like this language very much. Because, it has many essential words. I like to use it, in writing and speaking, occasionally. It is most popular language to learn in all the world. We can use him almost everywhere with confidence. I am begginer in this language. So, I make mistakes.:) I am glad, that I have found this forum.

[Virgil]

My language is Czech- so I am not a native speaker of the English. But I like this language very much. Because, it has many essential words. I like to use it, in writing and speaking, occasionally. It is most popular language to learn in all the world. We can use him almost everywhere with confidence. I am begginer in this language. So, I make mistakes.:) I am glad, that I have found this forum.

Welcome Immortal. I hope you enjoy lit net and come back often. :)

[Alyoshka]

First language is Norwegian for me. I would call English my second language, as it is the foreign language I'm most familiar with. After one year in Germany, my German is getting better, but I would say that English is to prefer 9 out of 10 times over German. When it comes to misspelling and grammatic errors, I would like to add that I would appreciate corrections more than they would piss me off, it's a good way to improve!

[R.A]

No it is not...

But I feel it as my own language, since my study is English literature...

I love it, and I feel it so expressive...

I'm good with English....or I don't know...Maybe not:idea: :D

[Dinglingzi]

suprising!suprising~~i thought majority of people on this site speak English as their first language~I speak Chinese as my mother language~I started learning English since my age 10, and I found I was so fond of this language, my dream at that time was being a diplomat, and my passion towards learning English never gets reduced, non stop absorbing the culture relates to English,I'm so pround of the history of my own country,meanwhile love English culture ardently.I chose English literature and Linguistics as my major in University,so, now here I am surfing on this site~ and still dream about being a diplomat someday~but i think it would become true until i get rid of my laziness and to make really good effort for it~

[InspireMe]

oh my goodness i am simply left in awe at the amount of people who don't speak english as their first language! it's very inspiring.. i love languages and i hope to learn as much as possible!

obviously for me english is my first and only language, unfortunately. don't get me wrong, i love the english language, but i feel limited.
i really want to learn korean, japanese, french, italian, and even sign language.

[Lena *]

English is my third language. Russain is my mothertongue and German is my second language. And I think every of this languages have their beauty

[HoOkEdOnReAdInG]

mt firsy langualge was vhinease.

engklsidh us so hard ti learn.

[Slacker]

1st Language: Chinese (Cantonese)
2nd Language: Chinglish (Chinese+ English)
3rd Language: English (English)

[wilbur lim]

Precisely,my mother tongue is my first language,and currently I intended to upgrade my English by all means!

[bellesmile]

I speak Chinese.
Though I have been learning English for 12 years, it is a little difficult to read English poetry.

[FrancescaSelene]

My mothertongue and first language is Italian, and I have just signed in this forum to improve my English!
You know, I have been studying English at school as foreign language for twelve years, but everybody knows that you don't become fluent with a foreign language until you don't listen, speak read and write it everyday.
By now, I am trying to read and write it, waiting to spend abroad some of my next years of university...
Sorry for grammar, vocabulary or spelling mistakes! If anyone wants to correct me, I will thank him/her! ;)

[clumsy angelle]

No. I am a Filipino so basically, Filipino is my first language...

[momopi]

Mine's Filipino. :)

[Ghuyuran]

My first language is French and I'm currently learning German and Spanish aswell as perfecting my English. Eventually I intend to learn Japanese and Italian.

Yes, I have quite an interest in languages. If someone is interested in helping me with my German or Spanish every now and then, feel free to send me a P.M. In exchange I could help you with your French.

[wilbur lim]

The significance of English is vital and is learnt by humanity around the world.No one can survive devoid of communicating,no matter if your English is poor or laudable,it doesn't affect much.If people use abbreviations,improper usage,it is their disposition,they use it for swift and gobbledygook way.If another person uses fluent language,he would be touted or other gleeful transpiration,sometimes be lionized.

[monamie]

I speak chinese. I have learned english for more than 10 years. But because I seldomly use it in real life, my english is still not good. Finding this site gives some rewards of learning english, I can communicate with people who speak different languages.

:yawnb: Well...Mandarin.

[Ramesh]

I am from tamilnadu, but English has become my professional language.

[Muskaan]

English isn't my 1st language :)

[Serenity5815]

English is mine, and I still manage to screw up all the time. And I can't ever remember if "toward" or "towards" is correct. I think one might be proper in the UK or something, but I'm American, so we might do it differently.:confused:

[Bitterfly]

I've seen both in books of both countries; have looked up a rule and haven't found any... I prefer "towards" myself, finding the [s] more elegant (don't ask me why!).

My first language is French.

[maraki16]

well, mine is greek but i had been studying french for about 5 or 6 years, though i remember very few things. hopefully, i study english literature at the university so i have an almost daily interaction with the language. my skills need further improvement though!

[alghafri]

No,i speak arabic and now iam studiyng english at university

[cute kitten]

No,mine is Arabic :)

[Janine]

Yes, English is my first language and shamefully my only one....I tried French, but I was just terrible at it; I have no talent for learning other languages, unfortunately...wish I did. I commend all of you who know more than one!

[amles05]

No
Live in a small country which forces you to learn many language ( and i´m terrible at all of them)
hopefully this site will improve my skills

[mona amon]

No, I'm from the south of India and Tamil is my mother-tongue. :)

[celline]

romanian

[Sakii]

I voted No, because, I'm French. So, French is my first language.. But, English is my second one ;)

[amifielei_007]

mine is Filipino... But my second is English. In school we are required to speak in English.... Also, God knows how much I wanted to learn French... But I don't have time with my busy schedule in school...

[Scented Letters]

Wow! I did not expect there to be so many ESL members here. I think that's really interesting! I feel it adds diversity to the boards and gives chance to meet people from different countries.

My native language is English.

[cnsbyrm]

no,my first language is Turkish.English is second one.but i'm studying in the department of english language and literature.and sometimes i speak English more than Turkish.
i like learning different languages*now i can speak deutsch and russian little*but God knows how much i want to learn spanish and japanesee as well:)

[Egyptian Emy]

No
im Egyptian
so my be first language would be Arabic
but i may say my English is pretty fine (at least it allows me to enjoy reading literature without much suffering)

i do speak french little.. but determined to enhance it

Spanish would be the next language i hope to learn

[Whovian2711]

English is my first language, but I'm learning French and Spanish at school. I love learning other languages :) - it feels so satisfying when I can actually understand what people are saying when they're not speaking English.

[Mohd J]

Arabic is my mother tongue and I'm just starting studying English literature and hoping to find time to learn Spanish.

[Gustavo L.]

No, English is my second language. My mother tongue is Portuguese.

I'm studying British literature to improve my English (and, of course, because it is an amazing literature as well). I'm also studying French and Latin. =)

[ChinaRose]

My first language is chinese.

[skasian]

Nope-Babbled in Korean before English.
Interesting to note the vast diversity of ethnic groups here. Fantastic.

[scorpid]

nope, Latvian and Russian. Yes both are my primary languages.

[moonish]

No,it's not;)
My first language is persian and I might say that i'm so happy about it cause otherwise this would be rather a dream to me as it's a beautiful language and one of the hardest to learn as the second language.
The other languages i really like to learn are French and Latin which looks so far at the moment

[billionite]

I vote for a yes, but then it could be a no, as I only speak English outside of my home and the rest of the time spent in the house is speaking in Mandarin. That, I guess, could be counted as bilingual but then there's a lot of terms in English that I probably would be better at if I speak purely English. :)

[Skooter]

No. I'm from the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium so Dutch is my first language. French should be my second but my English is a lot better ^^;.

[Teeqs89]

Truthfully, I do speak english back home..with friends & my sisters..but haha we tend to mix it with our own language..
I think there is a rise in those mix languages now..especially in Asia.. the singaporeans got singlish and i cn safely say that back home, it is also a mix of english and malay..

[mystery_spell]

English is my first language. Though, I also tend to speak in bits of Spanish, French, and German depending where I am and who understands me.

[Jorine]

Nop, it is not. I am Dutch, and so Dutch is my first language. English is the second. I also speak Swedish and French and a tiny bit of German

[Remarkable]

First language Albanian.Although I'm getting pretty used to English now and it's starting to come naturally.

[LostPrincess13]

Filipino, specifically Ilonggo...:D But to be honest, people say they like me speaking English better...:)

[Zee.]

It was my second. I spoke the language of the bananas first.

[dafydd manton]

Dw i'n siarad Cymreig, or Welsh to the rest of you.

[GX4146]

Nope...

[Tsuyoiko]

English is my first language. I can understand French, Spanish and Japanese moderately well, and I know a smattering of Iban and Malay.

[rimbaud]

macedonian. I dont think anyone knows where that is :yawnb:
and im learnig french now- just to brag

[aitooh]

My first language is Romanian.
But I've been studying English since I was 7, so it's not much of a difference. Not on the net, anyway :P.
I can also speak Spanish, and a bit of Russian and French.

[shud-shee]

Russian is my mother tongue.

[badbadman]

I might be English but it doesn't mean I can write it ;)

[seanlol]

English is my first but i can speak spanish and want to learn french, german, russian, and latin.

:)

[channerhewitt]

No, my first language is Tagalog...and now my second language is English..

[ricepudding9]

Yes it is, english is my first language :)

[Ivory_Flower]

Italian is my first language, but at university I study English, Russian and French...and I'm trying to learn Finnish by myself :D

[Laïka]

My first language is French. I have learnt English at the University, and I know a little Italian and I am trying to learn German.:)

[Jack Fields]

Czech is my first language. I can also speak, read and write in Slovakian (which is basically almost the same as Czech). And I am also able to say two senteces "This cat is dirty" and " I do not understand German" in German. And I have been learnirng English since I went to basic school.

[Pryderi Agni]

No, it's not, but I speak it because I've been raised in a total literary environment where three generations of my family speak English in a distinct British accent:).

[Chris Marie]

English is my first language ,although there is alot of technical stuff I don't know aboui it.
Like writing formal letters and termpapers, stuff like that.

[dead man walkin]

My first language is Ukrainian. Second: Russian. Third: English :-)

I (like to) think that I am quite adept at conversing in English though. I may be wrong....I do have an accent, accents are not easy to get rid of.

I also made a half-hearted attempt to learn Spanish once. However, I gave up after the first few podcasts....too much work...

[hedda]

My first language is German but English is like a second mothertongue...I also speak French and I know some Spanish, too.

[Monamy]

Nope, I'm an Arabian person (Muslim so to speak) and got strangely interested in English at the age of 7. In our schools around the Middle East, English becomes a study subect, and I guess my interest in video games made learning English essensial for me.

Wrote a lot of stuff in Arabic, and I can say I'm more than Beyound Avarage in it. It was only recently, after graduating to be exact, that I began thinking "Hey, why not try writing in English?" I came up with lots of stuff, and I wouldn't be bragging if I said that one of my university's proffessors recommended me to join this forum (that's why I'm here :D)

It's really interesting to get the chance of sharing ideas and thoughts with people whom English is their first language, considering I've been around them a lot at work... they're pretty nice people:thumbs_up

[Maximilianus]

There's a Hispanophone from the cradle here, but I love English as though it were my (second) mother tongue. So if I ever make a mistake when writing, I'd appreciate to be made aware of it, though politely, of course. :nod:

[joao_oliveira]

Portuguese :)

[margarita24]

Italian speaker...
I started to learn English when I was 11 and I've always found it quite 'easy' and kinda natural, even I perfectly know I'm certainly not perfect yet...:blush:..I kept on study it till I starded University ; there I found an interest about other languages...one of those is Russian...:)

[Vladimir1917]

I'm Italian mothertoungue. I understand almost everything in english, but I don't speak so well:(. I speak Russian and a little Polish.

[jekan blazer]

i am an english speaker. in fact its my only language!!!:lol:

[Morella DuLac]

Actually no, but I'm so comfortable with it that I always think it is.

[Tyth]

Slav reporting in. One more to "No".

[Amarilis]

Wow... I thought English was the mother tongue of most of the people here and I see I was wrong... Anyway, as I am from Spain, my first language is Spanish. In fact, here in Spain you would seldom listen to somebody speaking in English... unfortunately :(

[Scheherazade]

Wow... I thought English was the mother tongue of most of the people here and I see I was wrong... Anyway, as I am from Spain, my first language is Spanish. In fact, here in Spain you would seldom listen to somebody speaking in English... unfortunately :(Welcome to the Forum, Amarilis :)

I grew up studying couple of hours of English a week at school. I think I was in my late teens when I first met a native speaker but today things are much easier thanks to technology and internet. One can meet people and chat at least virtually.

[Amarilis]

Welcome to the Forum, Amarilis :)

I grew up studying couple of hours of English a week at school. I think I was in my late teens when I first met a native speaker but today things are much easier thanks to technology and internet. One can meet people and chat at least virtually.

Thanks for the welcome :) Yes, you are right, if you are learning some foreign language and don´t know any native speaker, Internet is probably the best way to improve your learning. At least, in my case, I think I have improved a lot ;)

[King Mob]

Spanish speaker reporting. Argentina. Born and bred.

Been studying english all my life. Second language in most schools.

[Olga4real]

My native language is the language of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, my second language is the language of Petőfi (Hungarian), English is the my third language, I started learning it when I was over 30, it is far from perfection yet but I would love to improve it.

[Nikhar]

My first language is Hindi.

[mikemaster70]

speak english, but speak some french. i would love to learn italian or possibly german, they sound cool when spoken fluently!

[Delmar McGill]

I speak west coast suburban American english moderately well. It's my only language.

[HipHopAvenger]

My first language is Czech...but I am working hard to become better in English too.
Hope that this site can help me a bit with this task of mine.

Thanks for your kindness.:D

[Maximilianus]

My first language is Czech...but I am working hard to become better in English too.
Hope that this site can help me a bit with this task of mine.

Thanks for your kindness.:D
It won't help you a bit. It will help you a lot. There are many great Anglophones here who are a constant source of knowledge. You'll learn a lot, so read as many posts as you can, post your own and good luck... and welcome! :)

[Nimor]

Hello. As far as regards myself, I am Italian.
Have a nice day.

[Maximilianus]

Actually, in my case, it is the first when I am on the Web. In everyday life, outside Internet, it'd be the second.

[egale]

Mi first language is Spanish, but I have read a lot of literature in English. With great effort, because I do not have full command of those languages, I read a couple of books in French (Candide by Voltaire and Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne) and some passages in ancient Greek. I would love to learn French, German and Greek.

[warm]

Yes, English is my first language, though I am equally fluent in Chinese, my mother tongue. I've read some of the notable Chinese literature, and was actually made to memorize poems from the Tang Dynasty when I was still in Kindergarten.
I do know a bit of Japanese too; enough for me to read Totto-chan in its original form.

[I'm.Only.Human]

No, my first language is Romanian.

[Maximilianus]

No, my first language is Romanian.

Romanian is made of Slavic and Romance sounds, right?

[Olivia_Dumont]

I just joined the forum. I'm from Brazil and my first language is Portuguese. I learned English in school some forty years ago and am always trying to practice it either by reaing or chatting with native speakers. It's good to know there are many people whose first language isn't English. My mistakes won't be so noticed.

I was just wondering.. it seems that there is a large proportion of members here who do not use english as their first language, either on the internet, at home, or both.

It comes up often here that someone is taken to task on their `issues' of misspelling, punctuation or grammatical mistakes. Even though english is my first language, I myself don't pretend to be a great writer, and I'm happy when others are understanding of it, or don't single me out because of it.

There are also many other reasons why someone might have issues with their writing here including the fact that they might be blind and use speech recognition software or they might be dyslexic.

I just thought I would do a poll to see what kind of percentages there are for the use of english. We all use english on this site, but my question is, do you use english as your first language in your `real' life? :)

If you vote No, it would be interesting if you would post here what your primary language is. :nod:


--

D'oh! edited because I forgot to make the Poll `public'. If you voted in the other Poll please re-vote in this one. :D

I also speak French and am now learning German and Greek online


Mi first language is Spanish, but I have read a lot of literature in English. With great effort, because I do not have full command of those languages, I read a couple of books in French (Candide by Voltaire and Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne) and some passages in ancient Greek. I would love to learn French, German and Greek.

[Sasati]

My first language is Dutch, but English is a language I like very much and use quite a lot. I also speak German en Arabic, although I wouldn't call myself fluent.

[repercussion]

My first language is Lithuanian. A very old and difficult one. (: But also very interesting and rich with adjectives and verbs. And it sounds nice.
I can speak English pretty good, and sometimes I read books in English. I would do it more often if it they wouldn't be so hard to get and expensive...

[Lacra]

My first language is Romanian. But I love to speak English.

[rimbaud]

my first language is Macedonian, so if there are any mistakes feel free to keep them to yourself :)

[shapeshifter_]

well, my first language is Turkish

[SemperFydelys]

No, unfortunately my first language is not English. German is my first language, then I began to learn English at school, then Latin and now I'm happy that I can read many cool books.

[Olympia]

My mothertongue is Spanish, but I need to learn english because I think that currently it is essential, above all for meet people when I travel. Unfortunately I can´t speak english very well, for it I hope that writing in this forum I can improve it!

[Amoxcalli]

Dutch, although I speak both languages fluently.

[xinlixue2007]

WOW,so many friends is not speak English.

[Dr Jekyll]

:nod: That's wonderful...I love languages, I have basic knowledge of a few but I'm only fluent in English and a bit in French (plus Italian of course), I'm just too lazy to really work hard on the others I suppose...which is a shame :(

Yeah I agree with you. My mother tounge is Serbian, I fluently speak English, I am an energetic learner of Dutch, but even though I take lessons in Spanish, I really don't like Spanish at all and I know how to speak only a small portion of it (no offense to anyone that's Spanish here, I really love your country and people).

[Julkaah]

not so many English-speakers users :eek2: (i won't be so blamed for all my mistakes maybe!) I speak French but i'll hope some day I could speak English fluently (and Spanish, German, Russian...)

[MANICHAEAN]

I never realized such a large proportion of Lit Net do not have English as their mother tongue. In the 19th Century & to some extent today, the British have been a bit arrogant in assuming everyone should learn our language & it was to a large extent only by a quirk of history, that it came about as being the main international language. Its even more unfair that wheras languages such as French & German have basic rules of logic in their make up, English is riddled with exceptions to the rule.

[Phaedra's Love]

Hmm, hard to say. My first language is definitely Japanese -- I couldn't speak English until seven years ago -- but I guess I use it the most. I speak Japanese with my family, Chinese in the city (I live in Beijing) but speak English with my friends.

I read half of Harry Potter in English and the other half in Japanese :cool:

[samantha20]

pretty interesting.. and amazing, too. I myself don't speak English perfectly and voted 'no', but all here seemed to be so fluent in English, I never would have guessed more than half of the people have other languages as their mother tongue!

[OrphanPip]

I picked yes since my parents are both anglophones and it is the language I prefer to use. However, I did my primary education in French and work in French as it is the language of the majority here in Montreal.

Also, your English is just fine Sam. The important thing is to make yourself understood.

[Suely Oliveira]

Hi! I'm Brazilian, and my motherlanguage is Portuguese.

[histary]

no, my first languige is chinese. I hope in the future I can have my english novel. do you like china item article?

[A New Comb]

My first language is Serbian. My fifth, that I am currently learning, is German. Mindbogglingly beautiful.

[Forris]

I'm actually from Norway and therefore norwegian was the first language I learned.

The reason why I voted yes when asked if my first 'real' language was English is quite simple.

I didn't begin to learn any english before I was eight (the norwegian school system) but after a few years I began to read english books, and from then on I was completely taken.

Today, Reading 'is' my life. I almost always (with the exception of school related literature) read books in english. I read a lot, and all my other hobbies are in english.

English was for me the first 'real' language in my life - literature :nod:

[vegana]

My mother tongue is Italian but I grew up in a bilingual family. The only problem: my parents used English as their secret language when they didn't want me and my brother to understand...
So my English is not as ay ay ay as it should be, but I like to read books in English.

[meleny]

hey :) nope..my mothertongue is greek but I really enjoy reading books in english.. well sometimes i have to either I like or not (I usually like it:P) since I am studying english literature:P

[simion4ele]

My mother togue is Chinese.

[Coconuts]

first language is Chinese..learn English for some years and now i'm learning German~only for some day~~

[blazeofglory]

I have learned English much late and I am a late bloomer. I have a passion for it and since it is an international language with large numbers of people speaking it internationally I chose to use it as my medium of expressions. Today I know fairly workable English and now through it I have made friends with people from all over the world and I can read great literature written in this beautiful language. I know Nepali is an equally beautiful language with a richer grammar and semantic structure but what allures me to this language is I can be global and transcend all boundaries, geopolitical, cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic and the like. I do not believe in narrow geopolitical and national sentiments. I am rather anarchic when it comes to writing and I do not consider Nepal my home when I write and feel that I can be at home everywhere with peoples of all nations and cultures.

Therefore I read books in English despite the fact that my English is too poor and I know it is premature to express some complex ideas, yet the passion in me is too strong. I am a dreamer and hope one day I can writer with efficiency at par with the rest of writers in English

[Diego]

Arabic is my home language and I have been learning English 10 years ago. My life turn to be miserable every times I try to write English essays. How can I solve this problems:bawling::bawling:

[cameliamary]

My mother tongue is Vietnmese, it is difficult to me when studying English. I could nt have true pronunciation. But when i studied in USA, my voice is improve magically. It is awesome !!!
Hope when join here my skills continue better ^_~
Cheerio

Attic Ventilation Fans

[Mrig]

Hello evryone,

My name is Mrig. Just found Literature Network on the net and found it interesting. Hoping to read some good stuff and contributing if possible.

Cheers!

[VadimP]

No, English is not my first language, but it is the language that I use the most. My fist language is Russian, I live in Israel, but don't speak Hebrew yet.

[MANICHAEAN]

Vadim. I wish I could understan Russian. I only began to read Russian authors like Gogol & Turgenev in my 60s & I'm sure I'm missing half of the depth of feeling in it, however good the translation.

[changelingchild]

Hi!
I'm new to Literature Network. I was looking around to see what it's like when I found this poll. English is my native language, even though I mangle it frequently. I can't believe how many people on this site are bilingual. The only language I've studied is Spanish, and I can't do much except ask how to find the bathroom.

[Bashayer]

hi everyone >>>
Arabic is my mother languages ^^^^
but i am very good in english]]]]]]]]

[acuarium]

Hello everyone. I've just logged up. I think this site is very interesting. Well, as regards the topic of this thread, I have to say that English is not my mother tongue. I am an English student, actually a translation student. I am an Spanish native speaker from Argentina. I also study French, but I am studying the first year of a four-year program. I love learning foreign languages and I'll try to study as much languages as I can! Cheers.

[ivyivy]

my first language is chinese, iwant to make many friends here. this is my first come.

[marcolfo]

proud
mexican

[Aplus]

Although I was born in Australia my parents were both born overseas, so English is my second language.

[CaptainHatteras]

My first language is Ukrainian. English is my third language. My second is Russian and my fourth will be German.

[thoreaufan]

hello, Logos,

My primary language is Chinese (Hanyu)

[lam80]

Hola,
Estoy nueva en este sitio, mi primera lingua es el arabe. Me gusta leer Borges. Muchas graciaspor este proverbio.
Lam80

Hi All,
I was surfing the web fro an article about Philip Larkin, and got directed to this site. I found it very intersting and registered.
My first language is Arabic, my second is French, Third English, and forth Spanish.
I just adore languages. What's next? I don't know yet.

Lam80

[marauder-robijn]

Hello everyone!
I'm from Belgium and I speak Dutch at home...

[Kemathenga]

We speak German at home but a lot of English, too, since I love to read and write - and if I have the opportunity speak - in English. Also it comes in handy if I want to discuss something with my older kids the younger ones are not supposed to hear. ;-)

[nalty7]

Well i'm not a native english speaker.I speak Greek and i can read some French(i don't remember how to speak).I've been stydying english since i was 9.I will try my best to make myself clear when i post.I'm glad that most of people here speak another language.

[blazeofglory]

I am too non native of English. I have learned in my later years. I am a Nepali and I learned it when I was a college student. In fact I have learned English since I always want to broaden my knowledge level and in fact getting world class books in Nepali is hard. We have to read translations but all translated works are not good enough and most get distorted from the original text and that in fact compels me to learn a second language.

Initially I had to face difficulty in expressing my thoughts, particularly convoluted ideas and emotional quotients through English.
Of course I read books and write often in my native language too but today English has gained the international status.

In fact an international language is an utmost need as today the tempo of globalization has been geared up and without a second language it is really hard for us to be familiar with the international community and to go across people worldwide .

Today just having this strong tool of language I feel at home all over the world and without it I could not communicate with you on this forum across a linguistic barrier.

[Kassiopeia]

Hello everyone,

English isn't my first language. As I'm from Germany, German is my mother tongue. The first language I've learned at school was Latin, the second one was English and the third one was French. However, English is the only foreign language I speak quite fluently - although it's a little rusty these days and. :yawnb: I used to live in Scotland for more than 6 months and since I'm back, I didn't have the chance to speak a lot of English. So I'm glad about having found this great community as I loooove literature - AND the English language. ;)

[Partook]

My native language is Kurdish. English is my second language and I hope to improve it. I took Spanish for 3 years, but unfortunately I didn't take it seriously. :/ I am currently studying German and I hope to become proficient in this language. :D

-My first post! Woot!

[Bloomy]

Hi,
My first language is Arabic. English is my second language. I study it in college and I really hate the way we are taught English. I can understand little French and I'm looking forward to learning Italian. I just fond of languages. :rolleyes:

[mao]

I studied English for years ,but i still find my self falling into grave grammatical errors , i speak but not fluently ,because english is not my first language and i do not practice it more .i am fond with literature and i read a large number of novels in english ,but my writing still deseperate .

[Roger100]

Dutch.

[Cultivated]

I speak several languages such as Arabic, Somali, English, Dutch and Italian. However my mothertongue is Somali.

[optimisticnad]

Urm...I don't know what to say to this. My friend did her dissertatiion along this line and concluded that people like me have two first languages because we learn both at the same time more or less equally. I agree with her, English is my first language, but so is Bengali. You can have roots and wings at the same time.

[Blanket Heist]

Exclusively American English.

Gross, I know.

[cosmopolitan]

mother tongue is Bengali. but i'm an English literature student.

[clandestini]

My mother tongue is Portuguese.

[oanna]

I'm not a native English speaker... I'm speak romanian as my first language and I also speak a little french.

[Researching]

am a tamil speaker. a classical dravidian language- South India:wave::wave:

[Brad Coelho]

I'm still working on establishing a 2nd language in 'real life!' Although if you add together the segments of poor French, Turkish & Portuguese slang and some grammatically incorrect Spanish, I may have netted one?

[OliveOil]

I speak several languages such as Arabic, Somali, English, Dutch and Italian. However my mothertongue is Somali.

Yay a Somali person who speaks Somali:ciappa:


My first language is Somali as well and I hope to become very very fluent in English; I have been studying English since the age of 11.

[Snowqueen]

Well English isn't my first language and I'm still learning. I can speak Urdu and Saraiki quite fluently. I can understand Punjabi but can't speak it. I know a bit Pashto too but sadly enough, just a bit. :sad:

[BienvenuJDC]

While English is my first language, I can speak a little bit of Spanish. I have studied some of the koine Greek of the Bible. I'm learning American Sign Language. But the one I am most proud of is the eloquent language of a three year old.

[uko]

well, about me , from China, first language Chinese, Also speak some Japanese. studied English since 6, but seems never get the good part of it. Well, most time i studied languages just for exams and reading papers. kinda boring and geeky to be here ^ ^||,
anyway, nice to see u here~ love sci-fi novels and movies, in any language~

[theblacksheet]

In my case, English was technically my first language, then I learned Fookien(?) and Mandarin Chinese, then Tagalog. I'm most fluent in English, then Tagalog (because I live in the Philippines), then Fookien (thanks to my parents), and lastly Mandarin (because my school wasn't that good in teaching Mandarin) :|

Yeah... so that's my story.

[orinoco womble]

My first language is English but I live in Spain so Spanish is my primary-use language. However I also speak French and at home we often mix all three, sometimes in the same sentence, and often in the same conversation. I have a nodding acquaintance with Italian and can understand it if the speaker is Tuscan. Roman accent, not so much.

[Spatz]

The very first language I spoke in was Spanish, but I learned both that and english at around the same time.

[Miss Dashwood]

Dutch is my first language! :)

[anzki4]

I speak Finnish, English and a (very) little Swedish, because I have to read it in school(grade was 6 :)) . First language is Finnish.

[ozzyboy]

my 1st language is english, but I also speak spanish & spainglish...:banana:

[Maximilianus]

... But the one I am most proud of is the eloquent language of a three year old.

This is the most intelligent phrase I've read in the whole week http://smiles.kolobok.us/artists/just_cuz/JC_thinking.gif

[MagicalSoul]

My first language is Arabic. I speak English too because I love it, you could say that I taught myself to speak it ^_^ I can speak alittle French and intend to study it well after graduating ( that's two months away yay!).

[Weehet]

If English really is your first language why don't you use a capital E for it?

[Abras]

Yes, English is my first language (I am from the United States -- right in the middle), and I also speak Esperanto pretty fluently. Why would anyone learn that kind of language? Don't ask me -- I don't --but I began to learn it in March 2009 and now can hold conversations in it. I will probably take up another language someday -- almost definitely a European language, probably from the Romance family. I have a friend who speaks Romanian -- but who speaks that? :P -- and, of course, Spanish is the most practical where I live (but if I cared about practicality, why did I learn Esperanto?)

Jes, la angla estas mia denasklingvo (mi loĝas en Usono -- precize en la mezo), kaj mi ankaŭ parolas esperante iom flue. Kial iu lernus tian lingvon? Ne demandu -- mi ne scias -- sed mi eklernis ĝin en marto 2009 kaj nun eblas konversi per ĝi. Mi verŝajne eklernos alian lingvon iutage -- preskaŭ certe eŭropan lingvon, verŝajne latidan lingvon. Mi havas amikinon kiu parloas romane -- sed kiu parloas tion? :P) -- kaj, kompreneble, la hispana estas la plej praktika por kie mi loĝas (sed se mi zorgus pri praktikeco, kial mi lernis Esperanton?)

[magzarelli]

My first language is Swedish but i speak some english! :)

[morgana]

My first language is Spanish. I started studying English as a child and I'm fluent in it. I usually read books in that language.

[Morterogio]

English is my first language but not in the real life...
(Like...I don't talk in English with other people.)
I started with English on the time i started with computers...
They were teaching it in Kindergarden and i was first one of my age, who could make some sentences in English.
Right now when someone shows an object to me then first thing that pops into my head is it's English name and then Estonian.
I talk also Russian and i am trying to learn Japanese and Italian.

[blazeofglory]

English is my acquired language and I have been learning it nonstop hitherto now since I was twenty two, before that I did not know it. My first language is Nepali, a daughter of the Sanskrit language. It is no doubt a beautiful language and I can express my thoughts more eloquently thorough Nepali. I had a passion for English since my early childhood. The one an only reason I chose English as a second language owing mainly to the fact that this is gaining importance and momentum global scale in recent times. Of course it is through this beautiful language I can connect myself with the rest of the world. What is more over time English drew massively on so many other languages, paroles, directs, and it thus kept on advancing to a stage today that most non-English countries too have the fascination to learn. Today it has a link-language status. Even inside Nepali if a circle of educated Nepali people come together it is English they use as a medium of communication and that is the drive that promoted me to learn it. I feel a little bit comfortable with this language yet I feel I have yet to go a long way to say that I know it. Nevertheless I can take price in the fact that I can speak and write with mellifluence.

[Woland]

English

[scaltz]

If English really is your first language why don't you use a capital E for it?

This is a common mistake for every language.

Now for the thread. I don't think that English is anyone's native tongue. In fact, we all had spoken gobberish when we were still infants.
Ok I'll stop...
My mother tongue is Tagalog, a native language of the Philippines. I learned English when I was three by being curious and reading books. It is not that I prefer English over my own native language. It's just that I've been taught that English is THE language that I must learn for it is one of the mainstream society's most recurring languages. A language used in everything, from video games to business meetings. Think of me learning English as a case of "group thinking". However, I don't regret learning it, I mean I love languages!