Is English your first language?

[Logos]

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

[Jay]

Nope, first language Czech.

[NNoah3]

:wave: Logos,
My mothertongue is Spanish. I have been studying English 'seriously' for five years, but since I was in High School I studied it a little bit. Nevertheless, until now I don't speak English very well. I started to study English because I needed it for my job since I am living in a city near the border with USA, in most of the companies are requesting bilingual people. I believe that English is a 'global' language, it gave me the opportunity to know and keep in touch with people from every where. Besides that there are a lot of great writers whose their books are in English and I feel that when somebody translate these is like if they lose something.

[Jay]

Me be liking your new avy, Noah :)

Been studying English for 12 years now, still can't speak it properly after all that time though :D

[NNoah3]

I'm glad you like it Jay! This is a picture of Laguna Beach, CA.

I think that day by day we are learning something new. This is a great site for that! I enjoy reading and at the same time I am practicing my English.

[crisaor]

Nope. Spanish speaker here.

[Taliesin]

Estonian-speaker reporting in.

[subterranean]

Indonesian.

My first acquaintanced with English was when I was in 5th grade of elementary school (1991). I took courses but still my written and spoken English are embarrasing :blush:

[Koa]

Cool idea to have a poll, we know we are a lot of non natives but it's cool to have a percentage, even if just through a poll :D

As for me, Italian speaker...
I first started to learn English when I was 11 (before that I actually hated the sound of it) and I've always found it quite 'easy' and kinda natural...I've been using mostly it during these years of internet addiction (only this year I joined an Italian forum for the first time, it felt strange not to add English expressions at first), though I'm certainly not perfect yet...It's fun though :nod:

[Bongitybongbong]

English is my first language and I'm hoping to learn around six laguages.

[NNoah3]

WOW!!!
Can you imagine how powerful could be to do that?
I bet you can! :nod:
Going everywhere and being able to speak with the people in their own language.

Great Bong!

[Martha Q]

so many different languages....very very awesome......
complimenti to all those who are not mothertongue english....never would of guessed!!

[Koa]

WOW!!!
Can you imagine how powerful could be to do that?
I bet you can! :nod:
Going everywhere and being able to speak with the people in their own language.

Great Bong!

: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 :(

[Martha Q]

ostia........people tell me that thats what they always say in veneto? is that true koa?

[baddad]

I originally spoke only gibberish, and I drooled a lot.....but I grew up and became (some might argue) fluent in English. On odd occasions I speak with a pronounced slurring......or sneering .....I'm never sure anymore........

[Shea]

English is my first language, but I very much want to learn French. I happen to work for two French ladies (seperate buisnesses) who have their native friends here working with them. They all try and help me along a bit, but I still can't understand a full sentence without hearing it several times. I'm lucky to have them all though. Typically here in Florida, one works with those who can speak Spanish.

I was able to immediately identify a movie scene that was dubbed in French the other day without looking at the screen. That's a start, right?

[lover of jesus]

my first language is arabic...not english

i am trying to learn english bcz it is important in having good job so that i do my best to learn it it also it is an international language i can establish good friendship around the world

[Adelheid]

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!

[Koa]

ostia........people tell me that thats what they always say in veneto? is that true koa?

LOL it's true...well we don't say it all the time, more like old people or people who speak mostly dialect say it more... I actually started to use it after having been around Spanish people, cos they DO say that all the time (so I came home and I sounded like some kind of peasant while I was just being Spanish... :lol: ;))

Martha, I see in your profile you live in Italy??? Can I know more? ;) I suppose you speak good Italian then...

[Themis]

German's my mother tongue.

[Pensive]

Urdu is my mother tongue....

Living in Punjab, it has also taught me Punjabi.

[Martha Q]

actually koa my mothertongue is english....but i managed to get rid of that london accent of mine....
yes i live in torino now.....yes i speak italian...mind you..not very well though..... non credo si sentano le mie vere origini dall'accento.....
ostia...just checking....been asking myself for a while where they actually say that....

[Kaltrina]

nope English is not my mother tongue, eventhough I've been learning it since I was 9 and studying it for 4 years now. my mother tongue is Albanian. :D

[adilyoussef]

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? :)


Good thread! Thanks Logos. Behind any language there is a culture. Although we all use English here in these forums, the sentances we write are affected by our culture. For example, when somebody are delighted with somthing he/she might say "This warms my heart." In other cultures where the weather is hot another person might express it differently, like in my country, we say "This frozen my heart." In addition there are some "feaux amis" in a languge. For example, "sonsible" in French means sensitive, and many mix it with "sensible" which has an other meaning. That's a real problem because while discussing some issue people misundrestand each other due to simple mistakes.

In Arabic there is no capital letters. That's why some Arabic native speakers might forget using the capital letter in proper names or in the beginning of a sentance. That is a mistake I did when discussing a religious issue: I wrote "jesus" instead of "Jesus", and one of the forums member was angry with that. I'm sorry again.

English is neither my 1rst nor my 2nd language. I speek Moroccan Arabic as a native language, my second is Classical Arabic, for they are different in terms of structure, one is VSO structure and the other is sometimes VSO and SVO structure, the third langauge I speek sinse I was 6 years old is French. English is the 4th one and I've started studying it since 2001. I don't speek it a lot for that it is not used here in my country as French or Spanish are. I use it only in class, when reading a novel, or sometimes in the internet.

[Logos]

Wow the percentages when I posted this are about 60%/40% non-english/english, slightly higher than I thought!

Thank you for the examples of misinterpreted words adilyoussef :) maybe this topic will allow others to realise the diversity of cultures represented in these forums! I myself am very happy to get little bits of insight into someone eles's perception of things.

Kudos to all you people who are learning another language, it's one of the hardest things to do with a brain that is more than 5 years old. :D

[baddad]

I am constantly AMAZED at the sheer brainpower this site cradles.....amazing, amazing people inhabit this place ....I am truly humbled.....and this thread, as have so many others, has revealed insights into members that we may have otherwise missed. Gracias Logos. and kudos to all the little geniuses..........

[Themis]

For example, "sonsible" in French means sensitive, and many mix it with "sensible" which has an other meaning. That's a real problem because while discussing some issue people misundrestand each other due to simple mistakes.
.

Sensible in french isn't the same as 'sensible' in english? Oops. :blush:
(But it is the same in french as it is in german, I know that. ;) )

[Logos]

I am constantly AMAZED at the sheer brainpower this site cradles.....amazing, amazing people inhabit this place ....I am truly humbled.....and this thread, as have so many others, has revealed insights into members that we may have otherwise missed. Gracias Logos. and kudos to all the little geniuses..........

:D yup there are a number of people here who constantly surprise me with their knowledge and wealth of experience, put them all together and it's a great multi-cultural site!

[adilyoussef]

Thank you for the examples of misinterpreted words adilyoussef :) maybe this topic will allow others to realise the diversity of cultures represented in these forums! I myself am very happy to get little bits of insight into someone eles's perception of things.

Kudos to all you people who are learning another language, it's one of the hardest things to do with a brain that is more than 5 years old. :D

That is one of the reasons I've started a thread related to this issue: "Meaning of Words." You'll be so surprised to know how differently a word is percieved by people. Really we can learn a lot from each other. Just be open minded.

[Koa]

Kudos to all you people who are learning another language, it's one of the hardest things to do with a brain that is more than 5 years old. :D

Well language learning is my only skill though I started that when I was 11... and it actually seemed to become harder as I grow old, but it might also have to do that my first 2 languages learnt were English and French which are not too difficult from my point of view.


Sensible in french isn't the same as 'sensible' in english? Oops

In Italian "sensibile" means sensitive, not sensible...sensible would be something like "ragionevole". Well like adil said about French.

[Themis]

In Italian "sensibile" means sensitive, not sensible...sensible would be something like "ragionevole". Well like adil said about French.

That, of course, means nothing at all to me since my Italian is constricted to knowing how to count and recognizing the words we also adopted from latin terms. ... But I still know what you mean (God bless the dictionary!).

[samercury]

English isn't my first language nor my second

I speak Creole, then when I was began school, I started learning French. Moved here a few years ago...so now, I speak English too.

I want to learn other languages too....

[Logos]

Woah, the gap is closing, it's at 11/14 English/other now.

[baddad]

English isn't my first language nor my second

I speak Creole....

So many languages have been lost throughout the ages, Creole is threatened as well, is it not?? I don't remember where you are from Samercury, but would I be well wrong if I guessed Lousianna, Florida, or environs? Every language is a spoken record, a lost language is enlightenment lost for all of mankind.......perhaps a few words in Creole that we could all use in our day to day lives? .......too much to ask?.....too bold.....?

[topomeas]

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.

[Nightshade]

humm well my spoken first languaage is english oh and my written when i think about it as I went to an english o or was it american school? but my sisters first spoken lang is english and there first written is classical arabic.

so "sensible"in french means what sensibility in english?

they might be dyslexic.

raises hand
:D:D

[Logos]

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.

Hello topomeas, welcome!

[faith]

English isn't my first languages. My first languages are Swedish and Finnish. English would be my third languages then. I'm quite fluent, and I use it on a daily basis, but (unfortunately) only in writing.

[starrwriter]

English isn't my first languages. My first languages are Swedish and Finnish. English would be my third languages then. I'm quite fluent, and I use it on a daily basis, but (unfortunately) only in writing.
You write English very well. I'm amazed by (and envious of) people who are multi-lingual. Aside from my mother tongue, I speak and write some Spanish, but not fluently. I flunked Latin in junior high school (the only course I ever failed) and this made me gun-shy about trying to learn foreign languages. Authors who write whole books in a second language are geniuses to me.

[adilyoussef]

humm well my spoken first languaage is english oh and my written when i think about it as I went to an english o or was it american school? but my sisters first spoken lang is english and there first written is classical arabic.

so "sensible"in french means what sensibility in english?

raises hand
:D:D
"Sensible" in French means "sensitive" in English and many mix it with "sensible". We face this kind of problems a lot in translation. Dealing with languages is more like dealing with cultures.

[Nightshade]

No I means doesent sesiblity mean sensitive isnt that waht this means?

mental responsiveness and awareness
refined sensitivity to pleasurable or painful impressions; "cruelty offended his sensibility"
sensitivity: (physiology) responsiveness to external stimuli; the faculty of sensation; "sensitivity to pain"

[kilted exile]

My first language is theoretically english, however, like most Glaswegians I speak a variant of english which is generally not even understood by other english speakers. If anyone is interested in understanding the strage and senseless Glaswegian dialect more information can be found here http://www.semple.biz/hobbies/johnwalker3.htm

[Logos]

My first language is theoretically english, however, like most Glaswegians I speak a variant of english which is generally not even understood by other english speakers. If anyone is interested in understanding the strage and senseless Glaswegian dialect more information can be found here http://www.semple.biz/hobbies/johnwalker3.htm

:D great link!

[HAPPYWIND]

My mother language is Chinese, and I like it very much. My first foreign language is English, and I use it in my work sometimes. Well, I am learning Germany this year throught the BBC website.

[HAPPYWIND]

Here I meet some understanding problem: In which case do you English speakers use "take the matter to trial"? and "contingency fee"?
I think it is very hard to understand the little words like "take" for me.

[cruciverbalist]

My mother tongue is Hindi but I'm as fluent in English since I started learning English right from the age of four at school. And though I mostly use Hindi at home, I speak English as well. My writing skills in English are possibly better than my Hindi though since I generally read literature in English. I think most Indians in urban areas know atleast three languages...Hindi, English and usually their regional language.

[emily655321]

My first language is English, and I am contstantly in awe of people who become fluent—or even conversational!—in another language, especially when their first language is one very different from English. I took French classes in high school, but learned almost nothing beyond vocabulary. My hope is to learn French and German, but I seem to hit a wall when it comes to languages, where my mind fills up and I can't make sense of anything more. :rolleyes: But I can make up for it by being such a total English geek. :thumbs_up:p

HappyWind:
Those are "legal terms," words that people use in a court of law. When someone sues another person, lawyers often call it "taking the matter to trial." "Take" means the same as "bring," though it would sound strange to say, "bring the matter to trial." It's just a polite way of saying, "to open a court case against someone."

A "contingency fee" is the lawyer's payment when their client wins the trial and receives money, usually for an injury they suffered. The fee is "contingent" because the lawyer is paid a percentage of whatever the plaintiff wins, so if they win a lot, the lawyer gets paid a lot; and if they win very little, the lawyer gets paid very little.

I hope that helps.

[Logos]

Emily, English geek=cool in my books :p

Welcome to the forums HappyWind :)

Well! the percentages are almost 50/50 now, I continue to be impressed by the range of cultures and languages here :D

[Koa]

I'm actually surprised it's 50-50, it seemed to me that the number of people from non-English places was far higher...but I guess I didn't consider the many English speaking cultures that are also part of the great variety of this forum...

[Logos]

So I see it's exactly 50/50 now! :)

[michela]

My native langauge is italian,anyway i've been studying english for ages(since i was 8).I studied it at high school too, and now i'm keeping improving it at uni.
But i must admit i'm obsessionated with langauges and infact i also study Spanish and french and i've tried(just for a year) to study russian which is very fascinating but as hard as latin and i swear i've hated it at high school.
So i'm italian proud to be neapolitan but desperately in love with english...'cause i will never be as good as i'd like to be... this is my only regret!

[Anna Seis]

Changos! Spanish speaker here, too; but I would wish to understand French, English, German, Italian and Ancient Greek. Just a little bit by now, because it takes time; but I am trying, I am self teaching, but reading helps.

[Helga]

My first is Icelandic... am I the only one here?...

[starrwriter]

My first is Icelandic... am I the only one here?...
Not sure, but I recently saw an interesting TV program about Iceland on the Travel Channel. The host, Anthony Bourdain, is such a joker I didn't know if I could trust what he said. Do you receive the Travel Channel in Iceland?

[Logos]

Not sure, but I recently saw an interesting TV program about Iceland on the Travel Channel. The host, Anthony Bourdain, is such a joker I didn't know if I could trust what he said. Do you receive the Travel Channel in Iceland?

While he is indeed the mordant wit, I think he's the most exceptionally well-travelled, well-read and most entertaining `chef' there is :D

[starrwriter]

My first is Icelandic... am I the only one here?...
Miss Iceland Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir, a 21-year-old anthropology and law college student and part-time policewoman, was crowned Miss World on Saturday:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a234/starrwriter/world2.jpg

Helga, are all of you Icelandic girls this beautiful? I thought Iceland was settled by Vikings. Miss World has dark hair and doesn't look very Viking-like.

[Weeping Willow]

My first is Hebrew..
than english and for the last six months i study spanish.
Does anyone knows hebrew..

[Koa]

I thought Iceland was settled by Vikings. Miss World has dark hair and doesn't look very Viking-like.

I thought they were all blonde too...

[Anna Seis]

Helga, are all of you Icelandic girls this beautiful? I thought Iceland was settled by Vikings. Miss World has dark hair and doesn't look very Viking-like.[/QUOTE]

I have found in a German play about Sigfrido, that Brynhild, the queen of Thule, was black haired and had black eyes. Sigfried , talking to Kriemhild, says at a moment: "And I thank you for having blue eyes instead of black eyes..." and so. As a black haired woman, I was very dissapointed, and forgot the author name and virtues. I can`t remember, but I guess his name was Goebbels or something in that way.

[Anna Seis]

My first is Hebrew..
than english and for the last six months i study spanish.
Does anyone knows hebrew..

I don't know a word of Hebrew, but I know spanish acceptably.

[ibsen]

my native language is the arabic , english is a good language it is flexible and practical language but it it has so wide vocabulary , i have been learning english since about ten years but my level in english is still humble.
(by the way dont forget logos that the native english speaker are responsible for the bad english on the net they me to write u instead you and 2 /to and cuz /cause etc

[Chava]

My native languages are Danish and Norwegian. I learned Indonesian before i learnt English... so i suppose, it's my fourth language...?

[Koa]

I have found in a German play about Sigfrido, that Brynhild, the queen of Thule, was black haired and had black eyes. Sigfried , talking to Kriemhild, says at a moment: "And I thank you for having blue eyes instead of black eyes..." and so. As a black haired woman, I was very dissapointed, and forgot the author name and virtues. I can`t remember, but I guess his name was Goebbels or something in that way.

Wasn't Goebbels the Nazi minister of propaganda? That would explain that preference for blue eyes...and actually the topic of the play is kinda fitting...

Btw (off topic...) I saw on tv that Miss World...and to me she looks more Arabic than anything...or even South American... she has that kind of features... maybe she has different origins than Icelandic...

[commasplice]

My first language is Tagalog. Karay-a (one of the many dialects in the Philippines) is my third language.English is my second - I've been surrounded by it my entire life. Even though our country only has English as our second language, you'll find that the language is everywhere - media, school, slang.

It makes me sad, though, that I haven't seen a single post in this thread that says their mother tongue was Tagalog.

PS. I admire people who can speak five or more languages. I'm trying to learn French and Spanish, but I never have the time to take lessons.

PPS. I'm a new member here, and so far, this is my first serious post *grins proudly* =D

[Logos]

Welcome to the forums commasplice :)

I'm sure it's just a matter of time before there is someone else here who speaks tagalog as first language, there is a huge variety already.

[Monica]

My mother tongue is Polish, although I started learning English when I was 3, so sometimes I feel as if it was my native language. Especially as my studies are in English as well. Sometimes I'm fed up with it :D

[R.Daneel]

My native languages are Danish and Norwegian.

Norwegian only here

[miss tenderness]

nice idea this poll,i speak 2languages.

[Logos]

Hello to the newbies :)

[Alex E Art]

The language of Puskin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky!

There are more veeery good authors :)))

[Schokokeks]

My mother tongue is German. Living very close to the French border, French was my first foreign language. Second was Latin (I actually loved it, contrary to the prevailing opinion in this thread :D), and the third was English. I have also started to study Italian, but I'm so bad at it :blush: , in fact I can't even understand a dialogue or such, because Italians speak so fast! :D
As many of my friends are the children of immigrants, I know a few basic sentences in Turkish, Russian and Danish. My grandma being Dutch, I'm able to understand that language as well and I would love to really learn it, as I can't write anything..aw, so little time! :(

I think languages are one of the most fascinating aspects of one's culture and I reckon it very sad, that every day there's a language/a local dialect dying somewhere because there are just too few people who feel inclined to pass on their original language as a heritage to their children growing up in the 'modern world'.

Besides I adhere ridigly to reading books in the language they were written (as long as I'm able to...). - Translation is theft! ;)

[Logos]

A little bump to first page because there are lots of newbies lately :)

[Logos]

my native language is the arabic , english is a good language it is flexible and practical language but it it has so wide vocabulary , i have been learning english since about ten years but my level in english is still humble.
(by the way dont forget logos that the native english speaker are responsible for the bad english on the net they me to write u instead you and 2 /to and cuz /cause etc

Well I have spoken English all my life and I still don't understand a lot of chat or text speak, I find it a bit annoying :)

[IrishCanadian]

I wish I was good at languages. I was homeschooled for most of my education prior to university so I never learned a second language .. I'm English speaking through and through.

[AttorneyGonzo]

The language of Puskin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky!

There are more veeery good authors :)))

Pasternak is Russian as well, right?
Liked Dr. Zhivago, nice little tale.

Well, if we now put it this way, I might as well say I come from the same country as the author of the book that the movie "Eyes Wide Shut" was based on. And no it is not Kubrick. He only did the screenplay adaptation.

I tend to not mention my native tongue because I know for a fact that some people who are English native speakers -one can easily distinguish these learned types lol- like to correct me while indeed they are wrong without their knowing it.
Plus they want to impose their English on me, which is either American or British. They won't see that I couldn't care less if I mix both at times and choose the one that appears to be best suitable to a certain situation and closest to my first language. Also I'm sick of being told that I have an accent while those telling me have a tiny vocabulary that features such big words and phrases like "Dude" and "Where'ya at?"

[Koa]

Liked Dr. Zhivago, nice little tale.



Little tale? And it seemed a big novel to me... ;)

Yeah, I read that book you're talking about... Doppeltraum, by Schnitzler. Sorry if that gives away your mothertoungue too obviously, but we have other speakers of that around here, and noone will really correct you unless necessary (I can only remember having being corrected once, even if I welcome corrections), nor care if you speak American or British or Babylonian English... Personally I'm a purist of British, but I'm aware that there are millions of Americans around the globe...
Thankfully we don't even seem to have people whose vocabulary consists mainly of "dude" and such... ;)

[Themis]

I tend to not mention my native tongue because I know for a fact that some people who are English native speakers -one can easily distinguish these learned types lol- like to correct me while indeed they are wrong without their knowing it.


Like Koa said, most around here won't care what kind of English you speak and not correct you. Besides, I don't think your mother tongue would have anything to do with it should anyone correct you. It's what you say in English that counts, not what you could say in another language.

[Whifflingpin]

"Babylonian English"
Is that what my 18month old granddaughter speaks?

.

[Fontainhas]

First language is...Portuguese ó ié!!!

[AttorneyGonzo]

Little tale? And it seemed a big novel to me... ;)
yes you are actually right. I've got some strange, abreviated version. It's not the real thing. But I love the movie.

I have to give Kubrick some credit though. I found he kind of improved Schnitzler's Traumnovelle/ Dream Novella. He made it more into a detective story whereas Schnitzler's original was interesting from a literary point of view but didn't have that tension/suspect element. It really was as the title suggests more of a dreamy narration (with all the erotic elements :))

[ElizabethSewall]

First language: French.
Studying English in College but I guess I'll only be fluent when I live in an English speaking country.
Trying hard though... :P

[ClaesGefvenberg]

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

Hullo all,

Nope, english is but my second language. My native tounge is swedish, and I can manage a bit of french and german as well.

/Claes

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Something just occured to me: In spite of the fact that I am a native Swede, I would wager that at least 50% of my reading is in English... What about the rest of you?

/Claes

[SleepyWitch]

[off-topic]hey Claes i think your from my town's twin city :) I'm from Erlangen, Germany :) the bus i take to go to univ terminates at Eskilstuna Street.[/off-topic]

my first language is German. been studying English for God knows how many years (I'm not a mathematician :)). 100% percent of my reading (Lit, not newspapers or reference) is in English.... i'm writing my novel in English because it just feels more 'natural' ... i'm not saying my English is all that great, it's just I can't express myself in German...
anyone else feel this way?

hey, I'm surprised there's 60% non-native speakers in here. I thought i would be much less. so that probably means everybody's English is pretty good

[Themis]

i'm writing my novel in English because it just feels more 'natural' ... i'm not saying my English is all that great, it's just I can't express myself in German...
anyone else feel this way?


It's offtopic but still ...
I think writing in English is far easier than doing the same in German. In German there are much more expression, more nuances to use and I believe that makes it difficult for a lot of people to express themselves in that language. In comparison English is fairly easy. I use it lots of times myself when writing a story.

Ad Claes' question: I'd say 60, 70 % would be about right for me. I use the internet frequently and there, almost everything is in English.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

[off-topic]hey Claes i think your from my town's twin city :) I'm from Erlangen, Germany :) the bus i take to go to univ terminates at Eskilstuna Street.[/off-topic]Erlangen? Well, hello there :nod: . I haven't ever actually been there, but at least back in my flying days (late 70's to early 80's, the Erlangen visitors used to come to our local glider club and fly with us. Perhaps they still do? Anyway, I've taken many Erlangen youths for a spin over Eskilstuna. They were always great company... Really nice kids. :thumbs_up


[QUOTE=SleepyWitch]i'm not saying my English is all that great, it's just I can't express myself in German...
anyone else feel this way?
Not really, but I get your point. You're used to English, so English it is. Hardly surprising, given the circumstances. I have to say though, that you should take care not to leave your native tounge on the backburner. You will always need it, you know.


I thought i would be much less. so that probably means everybody's English is pretty goodYes, events seem to indicate that it is. Compared to other forums I have to say that I see few king size mistakes here.


Ad Claes' question: I'd say 60, 70 % would be about right for me. I use the internet frequently and there, almost everything is in English.That is certainly a factor.

All things considered, English is all around us every day, so I guess we'd better learn...

/Claes

[Logos]

oooh, exactly 40% yes, 60% no.

Not a total surprise to me, especially after being on the site for so long, I just wish that some people wouldn't make assumptions or judgements about a person's use of english in a text dominated medium :)

Although.. blatent use of text or chat speak is really irksome :lol: I've been exposed to many different languages in my life and travelled to many countries, I think it's really helped in my perception and understanding of others.

[Wirhe]

Nope, my native language is finnish, secondary english, and somewhat decend swedish. Not really proud of the last one, for swedish is that mandatory crap everyone is forced to swallow in finnish schools.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

Not really proud of the last one, for swedish is that mandatory crap everyone is forced to swallow in finnish schools.I hear you. Learning in general, and languages in particular, works a lot better if it is done on a volountary basis. We have a lot of people with finnish ancestry here in Eskilstuna btw.

/Claes

[Logos]

Just a bump for all the newbies :)

[cuppajoe_9]

Anglophone reporting.

To learn : French (I have some, but I would like to be fluent), Icelandic (I want to live there) and Russian (so I can read Russian literature in the original).

[Thorwench]

German it is (surprise, suprise), bit of French (used to be good but has deteriorated hellishly), Russian (which I intend to brush up a bit) and Latin (only for reading and writing purposes of course).
When I speak I speak British English which I prefer anyway because I have always loved the sound. My favourite accents are Glaswegian and American as spoken in the southern states (it's almost like Saxon here, it sings). And I can't watch an undubbed Kevin Costner film 'cos I cannot bear his voice and way of speaking at all.

[Madhuri]

Hindi, is my mother tounge.

I speak and think in Hindi most of the time, and I am able to put across my point in Englisn too, so, I know enough of this language to have a simple conversation. What happens in my case is, since I dont speak English much, unless required in client communication or a professional talk with someone, my thoughts are mostly in Hindi, that have to undergo a translation process and then come out as English. Or shall I say, other people can make sense of my babbling :D

As for writing, I think I am better in writing English than Hindi, as most of our studies and text books are in English (British), unless one studies in a Hindi medium school/college.

And yes, I do understand my native language, I could speak it too, but mostly with my grandparents.

I have also studied Sanskrit, but am not fluent in writing or speaking.

[OZEED]

ENGLISH Here,and Zulu. though I can't wait for January when I start French lessons.
I think its such a passionate language :ladysman:
au revior

[Netherbard]

I'm from Japan. That makes me a native speaker of Engrish.

[bazarov]

No, it's Croatian. I want to learn Russian, but it always slips away from me:bawling: . Because of that, this year I'm planing to improve my German; my English is OK, I guess.

[T.D. Anderson]

I am speaking German though many people in my country wouldn´t agree with that statement. I am living near to the french boarder so my ablities with the french language are pretty good, too.

[muhsin]

Hausa here. Do you know this language? It's almost the most propagated language in Western Africa nowadays. I'm pround of my being Hausa native speaker because of this reason and many more e.g BBC, VOA, Dutchwele, CRI, IRAN, EGYPT, etc all these international medias brodcast programs in this language. So, I can here say, in spite of Siwahili, my MT is the giant in our land-AFRICA.

[Eufrosyne]

My mother tounge is Swedish, and although I've been reading English in school for about 8 years and watching english tv almost every day, I still don't speak it as good as I would expect me to...!
It's very nice to see so many from different countries and places... When I joined I thought almost everyone would be english/american!

For how long have all of my fellow foreign-language-speakings been studying English?

[orra]

Arabic is my mother tongue. In Tunisia we use to stufy Frensh at early level in primary school and we speak both frensh and english in our everyday life. English is used to be taught at secondary school. For my case I did choose specialize in English and more specifically in literature. I love both British and American spoken English but deep inside i prefer British one

[kathita]

Thai...and I'm not so good at English too. I've been studying English since I could remember, but I don't think I improve much since I'm speaking Thai all the time. It's funny I want to speak English fluently, but everytime I see a foriegner I'll pretend that I don't know English at all.

[Leelie]

I'm from Belgium, so my mother tongue is Dutch, and I learned French, German, English and a little bit of Spanish at school. Right now I'm studying English at university level. I would still like to know Greek, Russian and something Scandinavian, but I don't think I'll ever manage on my own (without a school environment I mean).

Btw, I thought this was an all-american board, It's weird so many 'foreign' people visit it :).

[Chrysalisyah]

Mother tongue: Malay. My father worked at Malaysian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt and I was sent to international school and went to english summer classes. I wasn't that good in speaking English back then (I was 9-10 years old at the time), but I could write well. And now, I'm 17... I'm getting better at it. I love to participate in something that requires the skill of speaking in English; especially speech and public speaking. But then again, I have my times when I'd be lost for words. :smash:

[Jouzou]

Nope, my native language is finnish, secondary english, and somewhat decend swedish. Not really proud of the last one, for swedish is that mandatory crap everyone is forced to swallow in finnish schools.

Another Finnish native here. I speak moderate English, too. But my Swedish is really crap because I only went to those mandatory courses :p

To answer Eufrosyne's question, I've studied English for ten years now. And of course I have heard a lot of it in movies/TV shows and used English websites, like most people these days.

[Dimitra]

No.My mother tongue is Greek.
But I have been studying English for approximately 10!!! years!;p Still..my accent is horrible!:blush: :(
I also speak German which is my favourite language though I hate its grammar ;p and a bit of French.I think I am going to start studying Spanish,because it seems a very easy language and is very useful.Besos!;)

[Evi]

hallo, my mother language is Greek.


Evi

[miss tenderness]

:D so your 1st toungue is greek?

[Evi]

Miss Tenderness,

Yeap, my first language is Greek,i also speak English and Romanian. And i can understand French, as i had French lessons for many years but o havent practised the language for years. Last May it happened to be in Paris , so it was the first time after ages that i had to remember it again.What about you? Which is your first language?

Evi

[eventide]

No, my mother tongue is Portuguese. :)

[miss tenderness]

Miss Tenderness,

Yeap, my first language is Greek,i also speak English and Romanian. And i can understand French, as i had French lessons for many years but o havent practised the language for years. Last May it happened to be in Paris , so it was the first time after ages that i had to remember it again.What about you? Which is your first language?

Evi

my first langauge is Arabic:) nice meeting you,Evi.

you too,Eventide:)

[Neovia]

for swedish is that mandatory crap everyone is forced to swallow in finnish schools.
Many people say that they hate Swedish because it's mandatory, but so is English, which no one really seems to hate. I don't think most of Finnish students hate Swedish because it's mandatory, it just isn't in "fashion" unlike English is.

[Eulalia]

My mother tongue is Spanish, but for my job I speak English and French most of the time.

[Anastazija]

Macedonian is my mother tongue but I also speak (not perfecly, but I can have a normal chat...) English and French. And also, Bulgarian (coz it is simular to Macedonian) and I can read on Serbian, but cant talk:)

[fruity]

Cool idea to have a poll, we know we are a lot of non natives but it's cool to have a percentage, even if just through a poll :D

As for me, Italian speaker...
I first started to learn English when I was 11 (before that I actually hated the sound of it) and I've always found it quite 'easy' and kinda natural...I've been using mostly it during these years of internet addiction (only this year I joined an Italian forum for the first time, it felt strange not to add English expressions at first), though I'm certainly not perfect yet...It's fun though :nod:

LOL I know that feeling. :nod: I m dutch but I hate talking dutch online I type dubble as fast in english and got to edit all the time if I got to type in dutch as english words sneak in and only get cought when I overread my text. My online world is surely english and there my first laguage including all typo's and spelling faulths will always be english. How ever you asked after real life and in there it is still dutch.

[eventide]

I wonder if any of you guys knows Esperanto? :D

[Nightshade]

I am constantly AMAZED at the sheer brainpower this site cradles.....amazing, amazing people inhabit this place ....I am truly humbled.....and this thread, as have so many others, has revealed insights into members that we may have otherwise missed. Gracias Logos. and kudos to all the little geniuses..........

just reread this thread and thought well how true...

[apple jiang]

No,my first language is Chinese.:)

[apple jiang]

No, my mother tongue is Portuguese. :)

you know,eventide ,I have tried to learn Portuguese last year,but failed to stick on,because I think it too difficult for Chinese ,especially for me:blush: to pronunce some of your language's sound.It's a pity.

[johnnyboy]

My first language is english, but by the time I get out of school I hope to be speaking five languages: english, french, german, and I'm studying spanish (three years) and chinese (just started).

[eventide]

you know,eventide ,I have tried to learn Portuguese last year,but failed to stick on,because I think it too difficult for Chinese ,especially for me:blush: to pronunce some of your language's sound.It's a pity.
Aw, I completely understand apple jiang. :\
For a Portuguese speaker it's very difficult to learn Chinese as well -- the differences are too great. But I do know some brazilians and portuguese who can speak it, although I'm not in the position to say if they do it correctly.
Anyway, I hope you don't give up. Maybe if you practiced it by interacting with Portuguese speakers more (you can count on me, by the way), then it would get less difficult--assuming you didn't before. I'm of the opinion that almost nothing is impossible. ;D
Good luck!

[Annamariah]

Many people say that they hate Swedish because it's mandatory, but so is English, which no one really seems to hate. I don't think most of Finnish students hate Swedish because it's mandatory, it just isn't in "fashion" unlike English is.
If my memory serves me right, English is not mandatory language in Finland, though almost everyone studies it at school and it's difficult to find anyone who doesn't.

So. English is not my first language, Finnish is. :)

[Niamh]

english is my first language, even though Irish is my native language. i've been learning Irish since i was four but because i speak english everyday, i've more or less forgotting my irish. i've started to use some irishs words in my everyday speach and i'm starting to remember some of it. i also Learnt french in Secondary school but have only ever had to use it once or twice before now.
Heres a small bit of Irish. Egnore the spelling please!
Cunnas ata tu? How are you?
IS mise Niamh. Niamh is anim dom. i am Niamh/ Niamh is my name.
Cead mile Failte. A Hundred Thousand welcomes
Failte do bhaile atha cliath. welcome to Dublin
La Gra. Love
Slan go foill. goodbye for now.

:D

[kathycf]

English is my native language and sadly the only one I am fluent in. I was always interested in learning Irish and my ex husband is from Co. Donegal. All his family are still there and we visited one year for a family wedding. My then sisters in law were discussing a party they had gone to and mentioned they had "good craic". I was like "oh my! I don't use drugs!" I thought they meant crack, like crack cocaine. :blush: Yeah, they got a good laugh at me....:lol:

[Evermore]

I was brought up in a spanish country but at the same time english was my first language until I was 7 when I began to be taught both spanish and english:)

[Gracie61]

Italian here :wave:

[Virgil]

Nice to meet you Gracie. Welcome to lit net. I'm American of Italian descent. :)

[Niamh]

English is my native language and sadly the only one I am fluent in. I was always interested in learning Irish and my ex husband is from Co. Donegal. All his family are still there and we visited one year for a family wedding. My then sisters in law were discussing a party they had gone to and mentioned they had "good craic". I was like "oh my! I don't use drugs!" I thought they meant crack, like crack cocaine. :blush: Yeah, they got a good laugh at me....:lol:

Hehehe! Yup they got you alright! Theres another one that got me. When i went to college i only went about an hour away from Dublin in a place called Dundalk. One night i stayed up to go to the freshers ball and meet up a a few people from my course in the Imperial hotel bar. One of the girls kept on going on about being stoned. Obviously being from dublin i thought she meant she was high and couldn't believe she was saying it freely in a bar full of people. it wasn't till later that i discovered that in Dundalk when someone says they're stoned it means they're drunk! Woops!
:lol:

[Ranoo]

arabic is my native lang.:yawnb:

[chanitacr]

Spanish here

I know english from school and High school, but i don`t practice it at all..., and right now i`m learning French...:blush:

[godhelpme2]

I come from China, so Chinese is my first language.
Now I've been studying English for almost 10 years and i'm continuing the study of English Literature in my college.
I hope my English is not that poor. If so, i won't come into this forum.
Believe me, i can do literrally as well as other native speakers do.

[Sir_Key]

English first
but am doing Spanish GCSE and know some french after studying it for three years

[Gracie61]

Nice to meet you Gracie. Welcome to lit net. I'm American of Italian descent. :)

Italian from where?
Any other italian around here?

[seacloud49]

My native language is German, but I've been learning English since I was 10 years old (I'm now 25) and I'm studying English Literature at university, too. :) I speak a bit of French, a very tiny bit of Spanish, and I can read Dutch, but don't speak it, except for some very basic phrases for when I go to a Dutch market in a town close to my parents' home, they live near the Dutch border.

[apple jiang]

Aw, I completely understand apple jiang. :\
For a Portuguese speaker it's very difficult to learn Chinese as well -- the differences are too great. But I do know some brazilians and portuguese who can speak it, although I'm not in the position to say if they do it correctly.
Anyway, I hope you don't give up. Maybe if you practiced it by interacting with Portuguese speakers more (you can count on me, by the way), then it would get less difficult--assuming you didn't before. I'm of the opinion that almost nothing is impossible. ;D
Good luck!

Thank you for your encouraging me! I also believe that everything is possible, so ,OK, I decide to pick it up again next year, Because I really like that language.:)
and I wish you can help me then when I come across a difficulties,that would be very nice of you. :blush:

[apple jiang]

My first language is english, but by the time I get out of school I hope to be speaking five languages: english, french, german, and I'm studying spanish (three years) and chinese (just started).

you are really good at learning languages ! Hope you will get on well with Chinese!:)

[Butterfly Dream]

My First language is Spanish, but I have learned to speak English. :D

[soleann]

First language is Finnish, but my education has always been in English until lately.

[Poetess]

No, my first language is Arabic- precisely Lebanese.

The English language has become a common language all along the world.

[Yelena]

Russian is my first language.

[Litr_girl]

Newbie here,
Bengali (Bangla) is my first language, but i can speak English n Hindi as well.

[Madhuri]

So you are Indian :D I can understand Bangla. :)

[symphony]

hah! my first language is bangla as well, as it should be, since i m from Bangladesh! :)

[Madhuri]

Welcome Symphony :wave:

I just understand Bangla in bits and pieces :)

[Pensive]

Hi symphany, litr girl and all! Welcome to the forum.

We are having so many people from South Asia! :D

[ranzy]

My first language is italian

[Alexei]

My first language is Bulgarian.

[lenoka]

It would be great to speak in different languages!
My native language is russian, then i was studyin english, then german, now i'm studying spanish and trying not to forget previous languages :)

[Morad]

Good thread! Thanks Logos. Behind any language there is a culture. Although we all use English here in these forums, the sentances we write are affected by our culture. For example, when somebody are delighted with somthing he/she might say "This warms my heart." In other cultures where the weather is hot another person might express it differently, like in my country, we say "This frozen my heart." In addition there are some "feaux amis" in a languge. For example, "sonsible" in French means sensitive, and many mix it with "sensible" which has an other meaning. That's a real problem because while discussing some issue people misundrestand each other due to simple mistakes.

In Arabic there is no capital letters. That's why some Arabic native speakers might forget using the capital letter in proper names or in the beginning of a sentance. That is a mistake I did when discussing a religious issue: I wrote "jesus" instead of "Jesus", and one of the forums member was angry with that. I'm sorry again.

English is neither my 1rst nor my 2nd language. I speek Moroccan Arabic as a native language, my second is Classical Arabic, for they are different in terms of structure, one is VSO structure and the other is sometimes VSO and SVO structure, the third langauge I speek sinse I was 6 years old is French. English is the 4th one and I've started studying it since 2001. I don't speek it a lot for that it is not used here in my country as French or Spanish are. I use it only in class, when reading a novel, or sometimes in the internet.
Thank Allah I'm not the only Arabian here:D

Well Logos, English isn't my first language but I'm using it here and there on account of studying it privately. I'm studying English Literature and living in Jordan if you know it. I dare to admit I'm not that very good at it but at least I understand nearly 80-85% while reading or hearing this language. My 1st language is Arabic but as Adel says it's used as a 2nd one due to speak Jordanian Arabic. However, we all speak Arabic differently but we understand it as if we were having the same tongue!

Since two years I started to learn English, I became one of the best students at my faculty. Moreover, I do some researches to continue my studies until being a "Professor" one day if God lets me do so.

Online-literature Networks is one of the best sites I've ever met since beginning my studies and it's my home page even if I don't post here a lot. It's also my #1 English site and I like to browse member's topics and thoughts.

Thank you. :thumbs_up

[BlueRose]

my first language is Arabic, Egyptian. I've been learning English since I was 5 years old & learnt French too, but as I didn't use my French a lot, which I really regret now, not using a language makes u almost forget it!

[EarlofRochester]

Yes, English is my prime language. Learnt French, German, Italian, and Portuguese in my spare learning time

[ennison]

English is my second language but in the unenlightened State that is this country I never received a day's education in my mother tongue.

[Silvia]

My first language is Italian and I have been studying English, German and Spanish( which is the one I am quite bad at, unfortunately...) up to now.
I love languages..they really open your mind!

[Virgil]

English is my second language but in the unenlightened State that is this country I never received a day's education in my mother tongue.

That is horrible. Every country should teach it's children its language. It is your heritage. It is one of the most important things that make up you. What country are you from ennison?

[ennison]

Scotland. Tentative steps have been made in recent years to alter the state of affairs to which I referred - too late for me though.

[Logos]

Ha, my condolences ennison :p

[Cien]

English is my first language, but I'm okay at several others. I think it's amazing and wonderful that so many people here speak several languages!

[ennison]

Ha Logos your wit is lovely. I'd ask you out but an ocean separates us.

[Sway]

My first language is Chinese.But I`ve learned English for a long time.

[Miss_Hanan]

My first language is Arabic

[coulndnotI]

Well my first lanuage is Navajo.

[JCamilo]

My first language is Portuguese (There is a second language that is not english, but you people will believe it so :PP )

[ennison]

What no response to my gallantry? Guess you know that I'm too old for a toyboy and ro bhochd for a sugardaddy. But nothing ventured nothing gained as I used to say

[botkin]

My first language is Portuguese, but I've always been fluent in English because my mother is American. I've been picking up Spanish with some ease ever since I moved to Texas, and now I'm trying to learn Koine Greek.

All of which to say... no, English isn't my first language.

[sea moraine]

nopers. my native language is urdu :)

[Majo]

My first language is Dutch, and I guess my second should be French but it actually is English. ;)

[hyperborean]

I speak English as my first language.

[Weisinheimer]

English is my native tongue. I'm working on learning Hebrew right now. I love languages. I took French in high school. And I know some Spanish, because there are alot of Spanish speakers around where I live. I think it's amazing how people can learn so many different languages. I'll be lucky if I become fluent in more than one.

[NuR]

my first language is Turkish..And I know some German and English..This much...

[Mrs. Dalloway]

Catalan and Spanish as my first languages :goof:

[vin1391]

My mother toungue is Tamil(South Indian language.I have to speak English and Malayalam(another south Indian Language) at school though.And I have to study Hindi (National language at school.Thats about all the language I know.

[Demona]

my mother tongue is Russian.

[plastic]

Chinese is my first language...
so my english is not very well

[.:Shadow:.]

Yep, English would be my first.

[Janine]

English. Ashame to say I had French in highschool, but hardly recall a thing now. Never could speak it either. I wish I did know other languages like most of you wonderful smart people. I have high regard for those who are biligual or know more than two.

[Moira]

Romanian is my first language. I started studying english in high-school and then continued throughout university. I also try and sometimes succeed in speaking italian (a language i love) and a very very little bit of French ..... but the italian got in the way so ......

[manolia]

Romanian is my first language..

Hi Moira! Romanian is a beautiful language. My best friend speaks it fluently and i want her to teach me..but we do not live in the same city anymore :(
I have the impression that romanian resembles italian..am i right? I do not speak italian either but i speak english, greek(of course), french and german (i love german!).
Welcome aboard by the way!:)

[Moira]

Hi Moira! Romanian is a beautiful language. My best friend speaks it fluently and i want her to teach me..but we do not live in the same city anymore :(
I have the impression that romanian resembles italian..am i right? I do not speak italian either but i speak english, greek(of course), french and german (i love german!).
Welcome aboard by the way!:)

Hi Manolia,

Yes romanian is similar to italian. Is your friend romanian?
Greece is beautiful, i've been there once foar a one week vacation and loved it.

[manolia]

Hi Manolia,

Yes romanian is similar to italian. Is your friend romanian?
Greece is beautiful, i've been there once foar a one week vacation and loved it.

No. She is greek but she studied romanian (language and history) in the university. I know Romania is a beautiful country too. Very green and picturesque. Definately a country i want to visit!;)

[Moira]

No. She is greek but she studied romanian (language and history) in the university. I know Romania is a beautiful country too. Very green and picturesque. Definately a country i want to visit!;)

Da (yes) avem o tara frumoasa (we have a beautiful country).
You should visit it......
I love to travell too, iTunisia and Spain are on my list this year:).

[manolia]

Da (yes) avem o tara frumoasa (we have a beautiful country).
You should visit it......
I love to travell too, iTunisia and Spain are on my list this year:).

Spain..I went there 3 years ago. Barcelona and Madrid. If you visit Spain you will probably not want to quit it. Spain is beautiful. So are it's people. So warm, so friendly. So many things to see there!
Have a nice time!

[optimisticnad]

I'm from Asia so I can speak two languages but I was born and brought up in England so I'm not sure if it is my first language or not! All I know is Im grateful that I didnt have to learn it!

[thuraiya]

guess what my first language is ?
my language is arabic..
it is my second year in learning enlish ..*_^
i learning it just 2 understand the west ..(religion ," political ,social realationships" )

[Dorian Gray]

I'm Dutch so English is my second language. I'm a student English teacher though so I'm fluent. I speak German as well and a bit of Spanish and French.

[maxb]

Hi! It's my first post. My name is Maximiliano, but is too large, so my friends call me Max.
I speak spanish in my daily life.

[MissMandylion]

No, it isn't. My mother tongue is portuguese. I started learning english when I was still in primary school - didn't learn in the school itself, though. I'm basically a self taught english speaker, because one day my parents bought a computer, and got internet (oh, the old days with 56kb!). At the age of 7/8, I was this little girl running through thousands of websites dedicated to kids (you know the type..those with all sorts of silly games) - most of them in english.
Sometimes I was really annoying, asking almost uninterruptedly my parents and sister the meaning of a certain word or whole sentence.

I guess only a couple of years later I realized how playing online games and communicating with other kids in chats was important - in my school life I've always had excellent grades in English subject :).


(Recently I've tried to do the same with French, but it didn't work. I'm not smart anymore :sick:.)

[Laurette]

It's interesting to see that the majority of people aren't mother tongue speakers. I'm not one either - my mother tongue is Afrikaans, but living in South Africa means that my English is ok. I love the language for its history and its concise and elegant way of saying things.

[tamta]

I'm from Georgia, so my first language is Georgian. I speak English (I've been studying it since I was 7 :D). Right now I'm studing Russian and Spanish

I love Spanish

[pinkmoon]

My mother language is Arabic...
I like it very much, but I study English language and literature
and I like English too. And I hope to learn some Spanish toooo.;)

[Ceinwyn]

My mother tongue is Portuguese. I don't use English in my everyday life. It's useful to comunicate with people from all over the world, but I don't do it very often. I hardly ever speak the language. I've never talked to a native speaker, for instance.

I didn't expect to find so many people from different language backgrounds. I thought most of them here would be from English-speaking countries, and I would be an exception. I think I was wrong.

[brunosr]

I'm not a native speaker either and, as ceinwyn, I thought I would be an exception, hehehe.Anyway, my mother tongue is Portuguese.Ah, I do speak spanish too.

[aabbcc]

It is hard for me to think of English as of "foreign" language. Even though I have never been schooled in English, nor have I ever visited any anglophone country - let alone lived in an area where English was spoken - nor have I grown up speaking it at home as heritage language, and despite the fact I do not get to actually speak English a lot, over the years it has crept into me so profoundly that I never quite considered it "foreign". I have been studying it since I was 4 years old, and I early began to use English as medium for reading , even as medium for [i]thinking, and I always end up a bit shaken and surprised when I remember that it was actually not my native language.

My native languages were Croatian and/or Serbian* [* for cultural and personal reasons I do view them as separated languages, despite them being mutually intelligible] and Russian. The latter one is a complex issue, as I grew up outside of Russia I never quite reached a native-like command of it and in my childhood Russian has always been that neglected "secondary" native language, something reserved for relatively small circle of people and something of sporadic use, something I [i]de facto knew, but hardly ever used. In the recent years [at the moment of writing I am 17 years old] I have been using it more intensively [mainly through reading, as I have got perfect comprehension of written Russian], but I am yet to use it flawlessly myself.

Apart from these languages, I can also speak Italian reasonably well [years of formal education, and extensive reading in it and usage outside of the class].
Due to the beauties of solid old-fashioned classical education I am also taught Latin and Ancient Greek. I also study French and Modern Greek, but these two are the languages I would not dare to claim any command of [yet]. :)

[kiz_paws]

I am a dog whisperer...

just kiddin.

English is my primary language, but I have a reasonable background in French (if people don't mind communicating a bit slower, than I'd be ok, methinks...) and a wee bit of Icelandic. I tried to learn German and I tried to teach myself Spanish with books (which turned out to be a disaster, though I did make friends with a super Venezuelan who speaks English very well)...

This place is awesome, full of such a wide variety of cultures. Yup, we rock! :)

[bazarov]

My native languages were Croatian and/or Serbian* [* for cultural and personal reasons I do view them as separated languages, despite them being mutually intelligible]
AND

I had to wait until 2006. to get Zhivago on Croatian, I just didn't want to read it on Serbian; they are similar but in the essence and the sound they are so so different!

[whatsername]

I'm not sure what my first language was, my mom told me that I used to speak a bit of Serbian(since I was born in Serbia) when I was little like at the age of one or something but I seriously can't remember at all.So to me my first langauge is English(because later in my life I moved to Canada) and it's the language I speak most of the day.

[scotpgot]

Wow. I'm really impressed that so many people have English as a second (or third or fourth) language. Not only to post intelligably (sp?) but to also read, understand, and discuss English-language classics (that are sometimes not that easy to understand even for native speakers.

I speak English as a native language, and also conversational (but not quite fluent) Spanish.

[TurkeyBLT]

I learned (or mastered, ehh... not quite...) english in 2 years. Though I have so much to learn!
Think of the possibilities!
(perhaps, enthusiasm got me learning)

[toni]

Not my first, my first language is Filipino. I am more comfortable in English though. Buuut, I sing in Mandarin and Spanish but I have no idea what they mean.:lol: My sister teaches Italian to her sisters so I know a bit.

[Virgil]

What a great and diverse group we have. Kudos to all.

And I must say i have a fondness for those Filipino sisters. They are so charming!!

[mercy_mankind]

hi
my original language is arabic

[mc mayer]

nope. my original language is madrin. english is my major in university and i have touched things which are based on english, like music, movies. i favor to listen to songs, and have downloaded a huge storage in my computer. whenever i have time, i listen to the music. what a great gift, the internet brought me. enjoy music, enjoy life.

[youngdone]

my original language is chinese.and i have learned english for many years.

[Yanni Kang]

My fisrt language is chinese too.Nice to see you youngdone.

[J A S M I N E S]

my first language is arabic ..

[Durgamol]

English is not my native laguage. But i quite often use it in my everyday life. And i read a lot in English. But still make awful mistakes...:blush:

[maya3]

i suppose you could say my first langauge is french. i was born in france- my dad used to work at the embassy there and i lived in france until i was 9...i did learn english as well, but my mother is french, so i learned them both. however, my dad speaks french fluently.

[chaplin]

After reading through this thread, the fact of the absolute inferiority of the language skills of United States citizens against the rest of the world, esp. Europe, is both embarassing and saddening. Of course, it is not entirely our fault, we're only bordered by one country whose official language is not English (Mexico), and one can navigate through a large part of the world without having to learn a second language, but still, it is unfortunate and sad.

I took 6 years of German in school, but it has gradually faded out of my mind, since there is essentially no opportunity to practice it with others. I envy those people who grew up with the learning of languages, it is so vital to understanding the world and its people.

[maya3]

yes. most americans can get by with out learning another langauge because english is so predominant in our world. however in quebec.... they dont like it if you dont speak french!!!

[Anne Boleyn]

I'm Italian :)
and you won't wait so much time to see my mistakes here :D

[Anne Boleyn]

Not my first, my first language is Filipino. I am more comfortable in English though. Buuut, I sing in Mandarin and Spanish but I have no idea what they mean.:lol: My sister teaches Italian to her sisters so I know a bit.

how good you can speak a little in my own language then :)
hug!

[Lamiq]

I speak dhivehi...I started learning english at an early age though...four or five I think:D
Dhivehi is actually one of the languages on the verge of extinction....strange that...You would think that only animals are in danger of extinction....but it seems languages do too:(

[Aunty-lion]

I speak dhivehi...I started learning english at an early age though...four or five I think:D
Dhivehi is actually one of the languages on the verge of extinction....strange that...You would think that only animals are in danger of extinction....but it seems languages do too:(

Please excuse my ignorance Lamiq, but what country/people does the language of Dhivehi belong to?

I am currently learning Maori, the indigenous language of my country. It used to be considered a language on the verge of extinction, but it's had a bit of a revival (yay!) and more and more people are fluent thesedays. Me too soon I hope.

[Madhuri]

Please excuse my ignorance Lamiq, but what country/people does the language of Dhivehi belong to?


I checked on the net (YAY Google :D )and found that it is of Maldives and also spoken in Lakshadweep, India.

[Aunty-lion]

Thanks Madhuri.
My cousin in law is from the Maldives so I should have known that!!

[Ab'lo]

My first languages:
1. TOK PISIN 2. KOWAI 3. BARIM.

English is my fourth, but my primary language of every day communication as it is the official language of our country. (I have studied it for some 14 years.)
We have here 845 languages in my country of 5 million people.

[ElissaDido]

English isn't my first language. Here in the Philippines, almost each region speak a different language that may or may not resemble other languages in the country. My first language would be Waray-Waray. I also speak our national language, Filipino and of course, English. As I'm starting college, and they're teaching French, I expect I can speak that as well by the end of the year. :)

[Elly_blue]

I was raised bilingual with BOSNIAN AND DUTCH. Later on, i learned GERMAN and ENGLISH at school. But English is by far my favourite language, because I grew up watching english movies and cartoons. I sometimes even think in english.:p

[Kain Legin]

English is not my first language. Arabic is my tongue language but English is my favourite so it's the language I write with and study with at college. I learned English by translating books and reading poems and other stuff, so it is in my opinion the best language in the world. ^^

[GrayFoxDown]

English is truly my first and native language...that is, the Brooklyn, NY version of it (over which there was and still is heated debate in regard to its purpose in this world).;)

[ivy1229]

hi, everybody!
firstly, i'm not a english speaker. guess?----i'm Chinese:yawnb:
it's amazing for me to see so many various language speakers at just one time, though not face to face, I can still feel the distinces between each of us is not long, as we are all here speaking in the same language---English!
so, what a wonder the language is! by the way, i'm also learning Deutsch for the second foreign language.
anyway, i hope each of us would have a good time everyday!:)

[quasimodo1]

Yes, English first. Wish German was my second. Have absolutely minimum contact with a year of conversational German, mostly forgotten. Now I find myself fascinated with some German and French writers and translations with quality and pinache are all I can hope for at this point. By the way, do you know enough German to attempt translation of Deutche Poetry? again, welcome, quasimodo1

[ivy1229]

Yes, English first. Wish German was my second. Have absolutely minimum contact with a year of conversational German, mostly forgotten. Now I find myself fascinated with some German and French writers and translations with quality and pinache are all I can hope for at this point. By the way, do you know enough German to attempt translation of Deutche Poetry? again, welcome, quasimodo1


Thank you for your attention! it's sweet to me...
I'm glad to here again, with my new name and new image! zhang is my Chinese family name, and Ivy is my English name, so I just combine the two parts together.
i'm not sure where do you come from, maybe America? so i hope you will tell me and also that you can give me some advice on my English.
i'm sorry that maybe i'm not good enough to attempt translation of Deutsch Poetry, as i have only learned the basic reading and writing! but i'll study harder and learn better before my graduation!
again, wish all of you happy and healthy;)

[quasimodo1]

My Chinese is non-existant. If you can ask about English, in English, I can help. Anytime. quasimodo1

[kiz_paws]

Welcome, Ivy! I think your written English is great, and think it is very admirable for you to be learning even more languages (German). I tried to learn German and did not get very far. For that matter, I tried to learn Icelandic, too, and that was even more difficult. Oh well, it is all in the trying. My French is not too bad, though, which is a good thing when living in Canada. Take care, :)

[Elly_blue]

I tried to learn Icelandic, too, and that was even more difficult. Oh well, it is all in the trying.

Wow...Icelandic? I heard on tv that Icelandic is one of the most complicated languages in europe. It's great to try and learn as many languages as possible (or at least some usefull phrases and words). You never know, it can be usefull sometimes.

[Video Drone]

My first languages were Russian at home and Ukrainian at school, then when I was about 10 I came to US and started learning English. But Ukrainian is my favorite language.

[XY&Z]

No it is not.
I still have an accent, I still don't know all the grammar rules, I still misspell words, I still mispronounce words, but in a way, that's how some of us learn.

[@ Red Rose @]

my first language Arabic

but I learned English language because it is very important in our world now

thank you very much

[aldana]

SPANISH SPEAKER OVER HERE!!! :) :idea:

I'm an English teacher as a second language tough...and I'm amazed to see that the main answer to the poll is NO...that means that actually English is a really strong language around the world...it's actually second language in most countries nowadays

ps: that's neat!!! more work for us :p :thumbs_up :D

[totyfroty]

Actually, English is not my first language. My first language is Arabic
I am using English in college (studying English lit.) and with some friends on the internet .

have a nice day

[kiz_paws]

Wow...Icelandic? I heard on tv that Icelandic is one of the most complicated languages in europe. It's great to try and learn as many languages as possible (or at least some usefull phrases and words). You never know, it can be usefull sometimes.

Sorry I missed this post, Elly. My Icelandic instructor spoke about six different languages, and she said that learning Russian was the more difficult of the others that she learned. Of course that has piqued my curiosity about learning Russian.... Sounds like fun!

maya3: "however in quebec.... they dont like it if you dont speak french!!!"
that is not a normal reaction, you may have interacted with rude people, which there are never any lack of anywhere one may travel, lol. It is true that in Quebec, the language is predominantly French, but English is spoken freely and is usually not an issue. I am sorry if you have had a bad experience there, maya3. :)

[Mortis Anarchy]

I've heard that Finnish is the hardest language to pick up. When I lived in California we had neighbors that were from Finland and just the way the accents and...well everything was just so different. It seems like a really neat language though. I use English more than Spanish even though Spanish was my first language...I still use it quite a bit though.

[Annamariah]

I've heard that Finnish is the hardest language to pick up. When I lived in California we had neighbors that were from Finland and just the way the accents and...well everything was just so different. It seems like a really neat language though.

Finnish is a great language :lol:

One thing which makes Finnish difficult to learn is that we use affixes instead of pre- and postpositions.

There's something easy, too: Finnish is pronounced the same way it's written :)

[Mortis Anarchy]

Finnish is a great language :lol:

One thing which makes Finnish difficult to learn is that we use affixes instead of pre- and postpositions.

There's something easy, too: Finnish is pronounced the same way it's written :)

Oh don't get me wrong! I would love to learn it...it seems so interesting. Does it make a difference if it would be easier to learn if you knew German or a language like that??

[Annamariah]

Oh don't get me wrong! I would love to learn it...it seems so interesting. Does it make a difference if it would be easier to learn if you knew German or a language like that??

No, German hasn't much in common with Finnish. Unlike most of Europian languages, Finnish does not belong into Indo-Europian languages. Finnish belongs to Finno-Ugric languages. Knowing Estonian might help you learn Finnish :D

[Sibyl]

No, my first language is Italian. Out of all the languages I've been studying, I like English the best :) Spanish comes close after that.

[MysticalWriter]

No, my first language is Italian. Out of all the languages I've been studying, I like English the best :) Spanish comes close after that.

Oh really? Do you dream in English or your native language?

English here.

[Petruchio]

My first language is urdu.I have been studying english for as long as i can remember!I would love to learn spanish and french...but even more than that i want to learn Sindhi and Persian!and i know a bit of arabic as well!

[Koa]

Sorry I missed this post, Elly. My Icelandic instructor spoke about six different languages, and she said that learning Russian was the more difficult of the others that she learned. Of course that has piqued my curiosity about learning Russian.... Sounds like fun!


I seem to have heard that Icelandic is pretty simple instead...but maybe I'm mistaken.
Russian is difficult indeed but I learnt it (not too well though) :p It is not as bad as people picture it.


I've heard that Finnish is the hardest language to pick up. When I lived in California we had neighbors that were from Finland and just the way the accents and...well everything was just so different.

Actually, the most difficult language to learn depends on your native language. Finnish is difficult for us because of the way they construct words and sentences etc., but one of my Hungarian friends said that Finnish makes more sense to him than English (Hungarian is distantly related to Finnish and apparently they have a rather similar structure).
Similarly, Russian is not that hard if you're Polish I think...

[FrozenDuchess]

Nope, I speak Afrikaans (don't ask)...suffice it to say Leonardo DiCaprio tried the accent in Blood Diamond...

I don't speak with an accent though, and when I was overseas people seemed to think I was either British or Australian...go figure.

[Dori]

I speak English as my first language. I've been studying French for about 4 years and I have been trying to teach myself German over the past year. German is a bit easier (for an english speaking person) than French is from what I can tell.

In the future I would like to study Latin and Ancient Greek. Perhaps Russian, if I get the chance.

In a book I've read, The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone, theere was a scholar mentioned that knew somewhere around 21 languages. This may be completely fictitious though. But what an accomplishment!

[Lord of Lorien]

My first language is Turkish.I have been learning English for 6 years but it is so embarrassing that I cannot communicate with others in English easily. As a third language I would love to learn Spanish.

[Wilhelm]

My first language is Dutch, since I'm from the northern part of Belgium. My English shouldn't be too bad, because it's what I study at uni. Of course there is room for improvement, so maybe reading/posting here can improve my proficiency.

For people who don't know what Dutch looks like:
"Het is een warm voorjaar, in de klas bidden ze voor me omdat ik al meer dan tweehonderd dagen van de wereld ben."
Something like that ;)

[eiram_ael27]

I'm from Philippines so obviously my first language is filipino. But we consider english as our second language since it is part of our curriculum in school. English is also the medium frequently use everywhere but I'm not so fluent with it. I guess I can try. So please don't give me a hard time if there is something wrong about what I've wrote.

[ozbey]

My first language is Turkish.It is nice to learn English.But in our country learning English is a kind of necessity.Anyway...In near future i will learn Spanish...

[protagonist]

My first language is Turkish too.I like my language.I agreewith ozbey :) english is almost every Turkish second language...

[stephofthenight]

my first language was french...but when i was little my first word was in french and the second in german...

i eventualy leaned that its 2 diffrent languages lol i was confused as a kid i would say a ssentece in half french half german and a lil english verry amusing annoyed my parents completly

[Gänseblümchen]

My first language is german, but I improve my english and dutch. I also can speak a little bit italian, because my grandmother lives in italy. I'm really interested in languages...

[Virgil]

My first language is german, but I improve my english and dutch. I also can speak a little bit italian, because my grandmother lives in italy. I'm really interested in languages...

Welcome to lit net Ganse. I'm afraid I don't speak any German. Hopefully we can improve your english. We have several members who are from Germany.

[caffeinecups]

My first language is Tagalog/ Filipino. So glad so many others here did not grow up speaking English. And yet here we are talking about books written in English.

[RoCKiTcZa]

I am bilingual, knowing how to speak (fluently) both English and Filipino, though English was really my first language and I grew up speaking it. It was only when I started school at age six that I learned to speak the latter--I had to because most lessons were taught in the language. I can also understand some good Spanish and am very much willing to learn French. :) Many people would tell me that I have a versatile tongue as I speak English with what they'd call a "pure American accent" and even talk in American slang, but unlike other English-speaking people I don't carry that accent way up to the Filipino language zone and I talk just like everyone else.