How many languages do you speak fluently?

[Scheherazade]

How many languages do you speak fluently? Where did you learn them?

[sdr4jc]

Well, does ASL (American Sign Language) count? I know most of that, so I guess you could say I'm fluent??

[Stanislaw]

I can speak english fluently, but the other languages, I can only just speak enough to just barely get by, So, I only speaks one fluently.

[beer good]

Swedish and English, obviously. My German used to be fluent but could use some practice, and I think I could still manage to make myself understood in high school Spanish. I love languages.

[sdr4jc]

Wow!! Swedish!! I bet that's a beautiful language. Good for you!

[Anon22]

I speak spanish, english, and a little bit of french (not fluent though, just learning, need french subtitles to understand though). Spanish was my first language, then I moved here 10 years ago, and I learned english, while in the house I spoke spanish. As for French, I'm just learning it in high school, but I plan on using somehow... well... I don't plan on forgetting it (most likely will though, sadly)

[Stanislaw]

Everytime I read the title of this thread, I imagine it being spoken by the robot in Jabbas palace from star wars episode VI return of the jedi "How many languages do you speak" c3p0 "I am fluent in over 6 million forms of comunic...." "yes or no will do!"

:D b

[Petrarch's Love]

Are we counting only languages we're fluent in, or languages we can carry on a basic conversation in? I'm only fluent in English, but I can get by OK on my Italian and French (and read them fairly well) though it sometimes takes me a few days to really get back into speaking them if I haven't done so in awhile . I also have "small Latin" as Jonson said of Shakespeare, but I doubt I'll ever get the chance to speak it unless I get an audience with the pope someday or something. :D

I was curious as to how many languages people have had dreams in. I've had dreams in all the languages I've studied, including Latin (though Latin was weird because it wasn't spoken audibly in the dream. I was reading it on scrolls that emerged like captions out of the speakers' mouths :lol: ).

[daddysfiddler]

English is my first, and I'm studying sign language, and hope to some day work with the deaf. <><

[emily655321]

I'm just a silly English speaker. I studied French in high school, and Latin for one semester in college, and I have a few German language books sitting beside me on the desk, but I can't be said to speak any of those. I can read basic vocabulary, but seem to hit a wall when it comes to crossing over into the realm of conversation. I want to learn all the languages ever known to man, and read the great literature of different races, and trace them all back to the first whoopings in trees uttered by our ancestors, but I can't even manage to understand one French movie without subtitles. :(

[Pensive]

I can speak English, Urdu and Punjabi. I can't speak Punjabi and English very fluently.
My father is Urdu-speaking and my mother is Punjabi so I have learnt Urdu from father's side and Urdu is also our national language, while Punjabi is from my mother's side.

I learnt English from books and school. I was always good at languages. I mean essays, application, and this kind of stuff. I can write good Urdu essays but my Urdu hand-writing is an earthquake.

I can also understand Sirayki but I wouldn't count it as I can't speak it at all.

[Virgil]

I can speak English, Urdu and Punjabi. I can't speak Punjabi and English very fluently.
My father is Urdu-speaking and my mother is Punjabi so I have learnt Urdu from father's side and Urdu is also our national language, while Punjabi is from my mother's side.

I learnt English from books and school. I was always good at languages. I mean essays, application, and this kind of stuff. I can write good Urdu essays but my Urdu hand-writing is an earthquake.

I can also understand Sirayki but I wouldn't count it as I can't speak it at all.
Wow. And how old did you say you were? That's quite an accomplished young lady. You write english perfectly, probably better than me.

[Scheherazade]

Are we counting only languages we're fluent in, or languages we can carry on a basic conversation in? I was thinking of the languages we are fluent in when I started the thread.

[Sami]

I am completely fluent in UK-English. I’m almost fluent in Canadian-English, but I’m still learning. Until recently I thought that the Canadian/American word for “cling film” was “surround wrap” – seemed logical. It turns out that the word is actually “saran wrap” – how embarrassing! :blush:

[MexThorn]

I speak a few languages. If you can call them languages. I speak English, Spanish, Spanglish, Ghetto, Ebonics, Mexican, El Salvadorian, Yaponiase, and Wapyoass. :lol:

But fluently I can speak English and Spanish (Espanol). English is my first language. I can speak Spanish really well and read but I can't spell Spanish. I end up spelling like English and it becomes Spanglish. I learned Spanish growing up in a Mexican - El Salvadorian family. When I was 4 I went to El Salvador for the first time. The whole time I was there that first time I was lost I didn't know a lot of Spanish then and nobody there knew English. My mom is Mexican-American and my dad is El Salvadorian so growing up around a Spanish speaking family I just picked it up.

[Pensive]

And right now, I am trying to learn French. I don't think that I will be able to do so. It is very difficult.

Virgil, Thanks for the compliment but I know that your English is far more better than mine. Maybe, someday I will get better, as there is always space for hope. Anyway, thanks for the encouragement.

[ElizabethSewall]

I can speak French, English and Spanish quite fluently. I'm learning Japanese this year also but I find it tough to write or read it, yet it is easily spoken.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

How many languages do you speak fluently? Where did you learn them?I would say two: My native swedish, and UK english. It is a matter of definition, of course...

Could i pass for a native, speaking english? I doubt it, in spite of good pronounciation and a huge vocbulary.

I can get also get by quite well in french and german, but fluent? Not a hope.

/Claes

[Weeping Willow]

i'd say two...
Hebrew...
English...
This days i'm studing Spanish.. but i'm really bad at languages so... it ain't going so well...

[rachel]

i'd say two...
Hebrew...
English...
This days i'm studing Spanish.. but i'm really bad at languages so... it ain't going so well...
no that is not true. you are doing very well and you forgot one language dear Willow.you speak absolutely perfect and fluent Mushroom. Not many people can boast about that. :D

[Taliesin]

We count ourselves fluent in a language in which we can read a book so we are fluent in two- english and estonian.
We have learnt german for five or six years or so, but we can't read a book without needing to look up a word in a dictionary in every sentence.
Have been learning French for this year too, but haven't learnt much.

So:
1 language - Estonian
0,96 languages - English
0,62 languages - German
0,11 languages - French.
Summing up, we speak 2,69 languages.

[Chava]

Fluent to point of conversation, reading and writing,
English
Danish
Norwegian
Indonesian
Learning French, can converse, but mostly about the weather :)
and i like most danes presume that I can speak swedish. In any case I can understand it perfectly.

[woeful painter]

i only got two for now:
Filipino
English

Japanese is next soon, so would be French. i understand Spanish, though can't speak it fluently.

[Koa]

Do I have to count my native language when voting in the poll???

I speak Italian and I'd say my English is fluent. Sometimes I'm in doubt about whether it can be defined as fluent, because in another forum I visit some people whose English is much better than mine claim they are not fluent... :confused: ...so what should I say?
Anyway I'd say it's fluent as I can have most kind of conversations with not much hesitation, even if my spoken English is much worse than my written and I have a clear Italian accent...

Using Taliesin's category, that is ability to read a book, then I should add French, but although I can read books, I don't feel fluent as I speak quite badly and my grammar is not too good.

But I think I consider fluent a language in which I can talk almost of everything, and that would be Italian of course, and English - and almost fluent in French.

I can slowly cope with books in Russian, with a dictionary though...

I can understand Spanish but speak very little of it; I know some German but not very much, just for basic conversations and with many mistakes. And I know some basics of Hungarian, I can understand simple sentences but my making of simple sentences mostly leads to tons of mistakes.

[avidreader24]

i speak three hole languages, English, American(lol) and Pig Latin

[Mililalil XXIV]

My `isshah tum us guldaste se bhi khubsoorat ho, jo bharat ke saare auraton ko milaakar bana hai. At least to me (and preferably to none else).

[Scheherazade]

So is that all you know or can you speak it well? :)

By the way, you don't actually know what he looks like, do you? Just how he is painted later on by various artists? Or do you mean in yoru imagination?

[Mililalil XXIV]

Scheherazade, what five languages do you speak?

[Jay]

What languages do you speak, Mililalil? And what did you say before?

[rachel]

actually I speak none fluently.

[jackyyyy]

Portuguese, French, and studying Russian. I have little Latin and German left because I have no need, and you know, it kinda depends on the medium and listener. I want to include Irish and NewYork, because I can be fluent with two fingers, and totally dumb in bar conversation. hehe

[Pensive]

Scher, Isn't your mother tongue English? You live in England, right?

Hehe, my grandpa said that he would teach me Persian one day. I can understand a very few Persian words. You know that Urdu and Persian are quite alike?

[Koa]

jo bharat


That doesn't mean 'good friend', I hope?
(if it did, most theories about the world would be screwed ;))

[AimusSage]

Dutch is native, and English is fluent. I can get by in 5 or so languages.

[dreamsbegone]

well i speak arabic,english,french,turkish and turkmenian

[Mililalil XXIV]

Referring to "jo bharat":

That doesn't mean 'good friend', I hope?
(if it did, most theories about the world would be screwed ;))
Actually, Koa, I used "bharat" here as in the meaning one would find in looking up "Bhaarat" - a name, it would seem, culled from a reference to a certain family line, which came to be applied more generally to the whole country wherein that family resided traditionally. Any idea what the country is?

I think Scheherazade took the "bharat" as the proper name of the individual whose name extends to that house after whom the country in question has been often named. I think she may also have taken the two opening words - "My `isshah" - as if in the same tongue as all the rest of the sentence to follow. These two words are not only in a different tongue than all the rest (which from the third word to the end are of one language), but are not even of the same language as each other. Taken for what she may have naturally saw them to be, presuming they were of one tongue with all that followed, they might still have made much sense to the sentence even without a proper understanding - but in such a way, in fact, as to reinforce the course she seems to have taken with interpretting "bharat".

I hope I have made myself perfectly clear!

[`Im qara` ha`ish ha'aravah, yada' mah `amarti baderekh "My `isshah".]

[Koa]

Well Mil (sorry I can't seem to be able to spell all the rest of your name ;)), I atcually have just a vague clue of what language is that, but those two words resembled a lot to some Hungarian words, and since Hungarian is not really related to other languages, I was wondering if it could have this striking similarity with this language - though I perefectly know that some words are identical to words that in other language mean something completely different, and there are plenty of examples.

[Scheherazade]

I hope I have made myself perfectly clear!Unfortunately, no.

I am aware that you have used word from different languages but I assumed it was merely because you were not very fluent in the main language you used in that sentence.

'My Issah' = 'My Jesus', I should think.

And the rest of the sentence vaguely makes sense as there are run-on words because you don't seem to have a clear idea of words in that language (where one ends and next one starts) when written.

[Yomiko]

Well, my native English aside, I'm almost fluent in Spanish and Japanese. I can carry on a conversation in Japanese, but my Spanish is rusty from lack of use. Which is unfortunate, because I was very fluent in Spanish when I was using it, what with living in Florida and having relatives in south Texas.

[SleepyWitch]

We count ourselves fluent in a language in which we can read a book so we are fluent in two- english and estonian.
We have learnt german for five or six years or so, but we can't read a book without needing to look up a word in a dictionary in every sentence.
Have been learning French for this year too, but haven't learnt much.

So:
1 language - Estonian
0,96 languages - English
0,62 languages - German
0,11 languages - French.
Summing up, we speak 2,69 languages.



hum... I never learnt a single word of French and can't even say the simplest things in French but i can read and translate it well enough (as long as it's high-brow enough), because I did 7 years of Latin at school... academic French is just like Latin, only it's spelled differently and they pronounce it in a funny way....
alrite, i admit i've never tried to read a whole book in French, so I probably wouldn't pass Taliesin's test....
I only speak 2 languages fluently: English and German... oops, I've just spelled fluently "fluentyl", well,.. just because you're a linguist doesn't mean you know how to spell words and just because you can speak a language FLUENTYL doesn't mean you know how to spell it FLUENTYL either :)
I'm studying Russian right now.. the bits i already know i can say fluentyl enough, does that count? hehe, mathematically speaking, if I know 0.01% of the Russian language but can use these without tripping myself over 100%, I'm 100% fluent.
:rolleyes: SleepyWitch has gone bonkers due to too much caffeine. I'd better get back to my term paper

[myself]

i can talk very fluent arabic (at home) and very fluent english (in school) so i guess thats two, but i talk a bit of french as well, not fluently

[Mililalil XXIV]

'My Issah' = 'My Jesus', I should think.


Actually, you are right about the first word - English "my" - but the second word is Hebrew for "woman". I, however, foresaw the possibility of this substitute for a proper name as multiplying the possibilities for what one might consider the words to say and, therefore, to contribute to the sentence.

What does Pensive get out of giving it a try? It would be interesting to see how her interpretation compares with yours.



[`Im qara` ha`ish ha'aravah, yada' mah `amarti baderekh "My `isshah".]

This sentence is in a new language, with certain punctuation marks in place of full characters.

[Pensive]

My `isshah tum us guldaste se bhi khubsoorat ho, jo bharat ke saare auraton ko milaakar bana hai. At least to me (and preferably to none else).

I think that I got it a little. Does it mean "You are more beautiful than that flower vase which is formed by combining all the women from India"??

I have not understood what you mean by issah? Maybe its Jesus Christ?

[Mililalil XXIV]

Dear Koa,
since bhaarat can refer to a certain country, and bhaaratiiy to one from that place, and since in ancient times there were precedents for country men denoting their close kinship by calling one another by their common ethnic origin, using this to express equality and familiarity, you may be onto something in what you thought you noticed. The socalled "Welsh" used their older ethnic name as synonymous with "country-man". Different nations used their own ethnic names as their common word for what we use the word "man" for - but used "foriegner" type references for outsiders, who were nationally outside of their society in general. Perhaps the Huns carried a term over to Europe with them that retains a clue to their origins, and, away from their original habitat, served to remind them of old ties with kin they encountered in their new country.

Interestingly, the Huns came from further East in two waves, one wave being black, the other white - but all from one common land.


I think that I got it a little. Does it mean "You are more beautiful than that flower vase which is formed by combining all the women from India"??

I have not understood what you mean by issah? Maybe its Jesus Christ?

Very good, Pensive!

As I commented to Scheherazade, I put in "My `isshah" at the beginning as a name substitute (to not publicly give a loved one's name out). It is just really, "My woman/wife/[female] beloved", followed by virtually what you interpretted! Very good!

[SheykAbdullah]

As Mililalil suggested I'd figure I'd chime in here.

As for fluency I would say I only speak three languages English (my mother tongue) Persian (Both Farsi from Iran which I am better at and the dialect of Afghanistan Dari because I worked as an interpreter in that country, but I am not nearly as good at it. The relationship between them is kind of like mainstream English to Cockney) and Spanish.

I think it is hard to define fluency anyway because I would say that I am conversational but not fluent in French, meaning it is still somewhat difficult for me to converse in it, I am usually lost when it is used in media, and I still need a dictionary to read it. I have studied at various times Italian and Japanese (so long ago most of it is lost), and am studying Arabic and Classical Greek (Attic) now, which brings up another point; Can you be fluent in a dead language, even if you can read it without a dictionary and speak it, not that I can do either yet in Greek. As for the future I want to study Swahili and one of the click Bantu languages, Berber, one of the Nuristani languages, and maybe Pashto, just for starters ;) .

[EAP]

My `isshah tum us guldaste se bhi khubsoorat ho, jo bharat ke saare auraton ko milaakar bana hai.

:lol: :lol:

On topic,

English and Urdu.

[tn2743]

My mother tongue's Vietnamese. My English is quite fluent. I've had about 20 3-hour french lessons, but will study more intensely in the summer.

[Matilda]

I speak swedish of course, and I learn't english from Harry Potter :p

I can get by in Norwegian and danish as well, most swedes can. Though I don't know if it counts, since understand them fluently, but can't speak them myself.

[Zishad]

I speak Persian and English fluently. German, hmmm...i'm working on it. and a bit of French.

[Nightshade]

Well by Talsins standerds Im fluent in English and arbic and old english if that counts?
mind you I personally dont consider myself fluent in anything my tounge always ends up in knots see bd)

[Mililalil XXIV]

Well by Talsins standerds Im fluent in English and arbic and old english if that counts?
mind you I personally dont consider myself fluent in anything my tounge always ends up in knots see bd)
What is your Arabic dialect?

[Nightshade]

I dont have one you see all arbic is written the same in old formal quaranic arbic - that the easy one to understand you just have to understand, ok maybe not but its what I understand. Spoken is more wishy washy Id say Im fluent in Cairoish (whats a person from cairo anyway?) Gulf arbic and Tantawi arbic but that doesnt include all delta speach.

[RJbibliophil]

I speak swedish of course, and I learn't english from Harry Potter :p

I can get by in Norwegian and danish as well, most swedes can. Though I don't know if it counts, since understand them fluently, but can't speak them myself.

In that case, I speak danish and swedish!
Otherwise, I'm fluent in Norwegian and English. I admit I'm not as fluent as a Norwegian resident, but then again I haven't lived there permanently since I was six. I know a little of German, though it wouldn't be to hard to decipher, and a only slightly more Spanish.

[caspian]

I'm fluent in Turkish and Russian, English is ok, Arabic is still weak.

[Mililalil XXIV]

I dont have one you see all arbic is written the same in old formal quaranic arbic - that the easy one to understand you just have to understand, ok maybe not but its what I understand. Spoken is more wishy washy Id say Im fluent in Cairoish (whats a person from cairo anyway?) Gulf arbic and Tantawi arbic but that doesnt include all delta speach.
You really seem to have chosen a good middle path from which you furthermore seem to really get around.

[darya]

i speak arabic and english fleuntly. Although arabic is my mother tongue, i always think and speak loudly to myself in english. there's the original arabic and the slang. however the original one makes sense it's absurd to speak it in public

[Mililalil XXIV]

I don't recall whether or not anyone has mentioned knowing Welsh. If anyone does, speak up!

[Green Lady]

one, me speak fluent english... :D

I know a little bit of german, enough to ask if anyone speaks english, and stuff like that. I want to learn things like Welsh and Gaelic or something no one really speaks like Latin.

[Bakiryu]

здравствулте!

Ok, Everybody here in this forum is from different places, eh? Well I just wondered, what language do you speak and what's your favorite word from that language?


отношения


Jin

[Neo_Sephiroth]

Hmmm...Well, English is my first language. But I'm a Laotion...So I can speak three languages.

English, Laotion, and the Thai...And the Ghetto language. Can't get by without knowing a little Ghetto. Fo shizzle!

Now for survival language...Meaning knowing enough to get by (Need food, poop, etc.)...

...Ummm...Two

Hmong and Cambodian.

[Bakiryu]

Spanish is my first language, so i can pretty much understand: Italian, latin and portugese. Then Is english and french. I'm trying to learn Japanese, punjabi and russian.

[crisaor]

I can do fluent spanish and english, my italian still needs quite a lot of work.

I'd try learning french in the distant future.

[Video Drone]

I can speak 3 languages, Russian, Ukrainian, and English. But I'm not fluent in any of them. I need to read more.

[kathycf]

English, Laotion, and the Thai...And the Ghetto language. Can't get by without knowing a little Ghetto. Fo shizzle!

Now for survival language...Meaning knowing enough to get by (Need food, poop, etc.)...

...Ummm...Two

Hmong and Cambodian.

:lol: :lol: Good to see you back with us, Neo. I am sadly only fluent in English (if I can really say fluent...it is my native language) although I know teeny amounts of Portuguese, Spanish and even teenier amounts of French.

[Brigitte]

2. English and Spanish. And I went to J-school for 2 years and sped through 4 years of it. :lol: The teachers didn't want me stuck with the elementary and middle-schoolers. (: I can read/write it and speak it, but my vocabulary is limited. Needless to say, I only marked it as 2 fluent. I'm not gonna lie and say my vocab in Japanese is brilliant. :lol: Gimme wordssss. =/


Spanish is my first language, so i can pretty much understand: Italian, latin and portugese. Then Is english and french. I'm trying to learn Japanese, punjabi and russian.

Ah, same. I can pretty much understand all Italian, Latin, French, and Portuguese. Sometimes it just takes a few seconds/minutes to fully grasp the concept if I'm reading it, but Spanish really does open a lot of doors to those other languages if you understand the way words sound and what parts of words mean. (:

Japanese is pronounced just like Spanish, so it's easy peasy. :]

[Annamariah]

I can speak fluently Finnish (of course) and English. I know enough Swedish to read a book or a newspaper, if it's not very difficult text, but I don't speak it fluently.

[Madhuri]

Hindi and English. I can understand a few other Indian languages.

I would like to learn Urdu, I can understand it though, but I want to learn the written form. I really like the way it's written, and how it's read (what we have as the first page of a book is the last page in an Urdu book, and instead of writing from 'left to right' it's written 'right to left'). Also, if I get a chance I would like to learn speaking an European language, any one.

[kiobe]

Just english, and not that well:(

[Scharphedin2]

Fluent may be a tall order, but I can make myself understood in my native Danish, and I can understand (and most often be understood) by my Scandinavian neighbors in Norway and Sweden.

I can with difficulty carry a conversation in German.

I can with great difficulty spell my way through simple French texts, but speak less than 50 words, and quite often mistake spoken French for Greek.

And, finally, I manage to make myself understood in English (most of the time).

[kiobe]

Fluent may be a tall order, but I can make myself understood in my native Danish, and I can understand (and most often be understood) by my Scandinavian neighbors in Norway and Sweden.

I can with difficulty carry a conversation in German.

I can with great difficulty spell my way through simple French texts, but speak less than 50 words, and quite often mistake spoken French for Greek.

And, finally, I manage to make myself understood in English (most of the time).

This is the beauty of the E.U. Many langauges, many people.

[BibliophileTRJ]

Only English..... but if you listened to my mother, she would frequently claim that I was also fluent in Full-Mouth and Potty-Mouth.

Full-Mouth ---> English Translation
Peef pash mi duh thalt ---> Please, pass me the salt.

I won't even bother with a Potty-Mouth translation.... You all get the idea!

[Pensive]

Hindi and English. I can understand a few other Indian languages.

I would like to learn Urdu, I can understand it though, but I want to learn the written form. I really like the way it's written, and how it's read (what we have as the first page of a book is the last page in an Urdu book, and instead of writing from 'left to right' it's written 'right to left'). Also, if I get a chance I would like to learn speaking an European language, any one.

Yes, Urdu is a nice language, the words sound good in it (the way it's read as you have mentioned), at least to me. Poetry in Urdu is also beautiful! :) But it's not too easy to write it for a person who is new to this language I think. It's quite complicated. Its joining of letters (unlike English spelling) is very complex. I still make mistakes in that though I am good in it at school.

[Madhuri]

Yes, Urdu is a nice language, the words sound good in it (the way it's read as you have mentioned), at least to me. Poetry in Urdu is also beautiful! :) But it's not too easy to write it for a person who is new to this language I think. It's quite complicated. Its joining of letters (unlike English spelling) is very complex. I still make mistakes in that though I am good in it at school.

I like it :nod: it's a very polite language.

I must say that I usually speak Hinglish :p. Well, that is Hindi + English. When speaking in daily life, we talk using mostly Hindi words, and many English words. So I don't really speak pure Hindi.

[Elly_blue]

uhm...almost 4. I speak fluently Dutch, Bosnian and English. my German is just OK, but still not fluent. And considering the fact that I live in Austria now, this probably wont take long.;)

[Pensive]

I like it :nod: it's a very polite language.

I must say that I usually speak Hinglish :p. Well, that is Hindi + English. When speaking in daily life, we talk using mostly Hindi words, and many English words. So I don't really speak pure Hindi.

Heh we have this trend of Urd-English here as well, but it depends from person to person. Some people add a word or two of English in five or six sentences while others try to say just 'how are you doing, guys' and basic greetings in English. Those who know it try to impress/perhaps not by speaking just in English even in the front of those people who they know have no idea what it means.

I personally prefer to stick to one language Urdu while speaking though it's another thing English words force themselves out of my mouth at times.
I think though it might be looking okay while mixing up the two languages in a conversation, but English and Urdu can't get along while writing! We have different letters...

[XY&Z]

Fluently?
None.

Non-Fluently?
Six.

[stephofthenight]

French
English
German
Spanish
working yet not fluent on jappanise<- verry difficult the others took me maybe a year to learn but im still working on this one...grr
:p steph:)

[Virgil]

French
English
German
Spanish
working yet not fluent on jappanise<- verry difficult the others took me maybe a year to learn but im still working on this one...grr
:p steph:)

I'm impressed Steph. :thumbs_up I'm not sure I've welcomed you yet, welcome to lit net. With language skills like yours I'm sure you will enjoy it here. :)

[Dori]

I am fluent in English. I am fairly well off in French. I know a tiny bit of German (self-taught). I usually can reconize a foreign language when I see it, and I know a little bit about language families, etc. I'm going to study Latin and Ancient Greek (and perhaps French) in university when I get to that point. Perhaps I'll become a linguist.

[ozbey]

Turkish.Also English but i can't speak as an Englishman.I know Spanish but not much.I'll improve it near future..

[Pensive]

Turkish.Also English but i can't speak as an Englishman.I know Spanish but not much.I'll improve it near future..

Your avatar is again giving me shudders. Other than the Afghani girl, she is also reminding me of a girl who had been a victim of this earthquake which hit Pakistan recently....

[ozbey]

I am very sorry for all the victims of earthquake which hit Pakistan and other countries..I pray to Allah for giving them peace...

[Pensive]

I am very sorry for all the victims of earthquake which hit Pakistan and other countries..I pray to Allah for giving them peace...

Well, yes, natural disasters can hardly be helped... :(

[aabbcc]

Natively I can speak Croatian and/or Serbian (depending on whether you view them as separated languages, or as variants of the same language - however, differences exist and I do feel the difference when I switch between the two, regardless of them being mutually intelligible; also for cultural reasons I consider them to be separated languages) and Russian. I also grew up with Slovenian as my third/fourth native language, but I have not uttered a word of it since I was 9-10 years old, so I usually exclude it off my list. I understand it, but I am not an active speaker. Therefore, 3 languages here.

That of course implies that I can understand to great extent other Slavic languages, and read in them (in fact I quite often read in some of them), but I would not dare to claim that I speak them - the only Slavic languages I am fluent in are my native ones.

Other than them, Italian is my best foreign language, followed by English, both of which I would dare to say I speak fluently, though of course to varying degrees (which is also reinforced by the fact that I spent quite some time in Italy, whilst I have never been to any anglophone country). So that would be another 2, which would with the previous 3 add to 5 languages.

Due to the wonders of solid old-fashioned classical education, I was taught Latin and Ancient Greek for many years, and was also forced to study Old Church Slavonic for two years out of "religious" reasons, but really, how well can one ever speak dead languages?
They are beautiful, but they are largely uncongenial - they are the languages of some other times, some other places, and present more a burden to one's soul, to carry something so bygone inside, than another language. I am supposedly well-versed in them, if my professors are to be believed, and I can read them - OCS and Latin at least - with considerable "reading fluency" (that is, I do not need to translate them before I can read them, I can read them more-less as living languages), but those are not the languages I can use actively (well I can, in terms of writing quite laughable juvenile hexameters :D). So, not counting of those.

There are three other living languages which I studied throughout the years, but would not dare to claim any greater knowledge - let alone fluency! - of... yet, at least.

So, five languages for me so far.

[Virgil]

Anastasija, I'm very impressed. For a seventeen year old that is incredible.

[manolia]

Ancient Greek (...), but really, how well can one ever speak dead languages?
They are beautiful, but they are largely uncongenial - they are the languages of some other times, some other places, and present more a burden to one's soul, to carry something so bygone inside, than another language.

Well i keep finding statements like this one in this forum and i am really annoyed. Modern greek is in fact the continuation of ancient greek. The languages are in fact one. All modern greek words are derived from ancient greek words (apart from some words we have borrowed from our neighbours the Italians and the Turks and a few English words). In most cases, in modern greek, only the ending of the word is changed. There are a lot of different things in grammar, but that doesn't mean that the language isn't the same!!! It only means that greek is a very old language and it has changed through the centuries that have passed. Please don't presume that our language is dead!

I am not responding to you only and when i said that i was annoyed i didn't mean by you :-)

[Cicilin]

Oh so many pages that I can't finish reading within such a short time.
I wonder if anyone here can speak Chinese? As Chinese is my first language, of course I can speak it very very fluently! I learned English in school and now I am learning it by myself, whether can speak it fluently? maybe! but when I am speaking, there must be mach solecism.(Hah...) So, writing in English is easier for me. In addition, I can speak a little Japanese (only very a little!).

[aabbcc]

Well i keep finding statements like this one in this forum and i am really annoyed. Modern greek is in fact the continuation of ancient greek. The languages are in fact one. All modern greek words are derived from ancient greek words (apart from some words we have borrowed from our neighbours the Italians and the Turks and a few English words). In most cases, in modern greek, only the ending of the word is changed. There are a lot of different things in grammar, but that doesn't mean that the language isn't the same!!! It only means that greek is a very old language and it has changed through the centuries that have passed. Please don't presume that our language is dead!
I respectfully disagree, though had my Greek professor seen this thread she would have seconded every word of what you said, and slapped me for daring to claim her beloved Greek 'dead' ;)

But see, it is somewhat different when you say it, as a native speaker (I assume?), or she, who lived in Greece for years and is occupied by classical philology in life. You are amongst the people who actually speak Greek, possess larger knowledge on the subject, and who are able to view it in a context lot broader than I can.

I have two years of Modern Greek behind me, and over double as much of the Ancient one. With those little snippets of Modern Greek I learnt (but let us not fool ourselves that I actually speak it, as you can see I did not even bring it up :D ), I realised how incredibly connected they are ("duh", I hear you saying :D), of course, but they were still two quite different variants of a language for me, and I would never be able to understand Greek spoken today relying solely on the classical one (in fact, I would probably understand written kathareuousa much better than anything else), and certain things which are obvious to you might not be so obvious to me.

The "bygone" issues I brought up I had in mind more about vocabulary than anything else - as I said, the languages of some other times. How are you going to say "subway" in Ancient Greek or Latin? Or a thousand of other words related to the present-day life? Who speaks Ancient Greek or Latin as their first language today? Those are the things I had in mind rather than just "burying" the languages - they are simply historical episodes of current languages of some other times. In that precise form they are no longer used, thus the 'dead', whilst of course that throughout the centuries they developed and created some new forms of language used today.

Trust me that in Italy we hear as much about "our beloved and dear Latin" as you probably do in Greece about Ancient Greek, but even if Latin was the root of Italian, that form of the language is simply not used any longer (other than Vatican, and certain circles of language enthusiasts who would like to revive Latin), and if it is incomprehensible for an Italian speaker, and only vaguely resembles the current form, it is not the same language.
Of course that when we see Latin we recognise things, we recognise roots of our words, but we are simply not able to read much Latin without previous instruction in it.

If you can tell me than an average Greek (i.e. not somebody who studied Greek or philology at university) can read and fully understand any text ever written in various historical forms of Greek, without previous instruction in Ancient Greek, and that forming the kind of sentences they are formed in Attic Greek is a 'minor change' for them and that they can intuitively do it, and relying solely on the knowledge of current standard Modern Greek they understand everything, then I am going to take back all I said, and promise you never in my life again claim Ancient Greek to be a dead language, and I will agree that Ancient and Modern Greek are pretty much the same language, and that I am stupid for having to study them both separately as knowing one should obviously suffice for all.

Until then, I will consider that form of the language bygone, separate from the current form of Greek except in terms of being its source.
Of course I still admit it is the same language only in its various historical phases, but then again, one could make such a claim for Latin/Italian as well. The fact that all of Greek is the same language does not necessarily mean it is automatically understandable, and history can do quite a thing here. Hell, I do not understand current Italian dialects, and somebody could still claim that to be "the same language"...

I did not mean to bury your language :-) It is just that for me they really are different, at least in this stage of learning. I probably will grow to see your point with the time, but you must always keep in mind that as a native speaker you have broader and more complete view of it than I do.

[manolia]

I respectfully disagree, though had my Greek professor seen this thread she would have seconded every word of what you said, and slapped me for daring to claim her beloved Greek 'dead' ;)

She would have done well :lol: Just kidding ;) .



But see, it is somewhat different when you say it, as a native speaker (I assume?), or she, who lived in Greece for years and is occupied by classical philology in life. You are amongst the people who actually speak Greek, possess larger knowledge on the subject, and who are able to view it in a context lot broader than I can.

I know. That's why i should advise you not to jump into conclussions untill you learn the language well. It would take you years though. It's difficult (as many other languages ;) ). I bet yours is difficult too.



I have two years of Modern Greek behind me, and over double as much of the Ancient one.

Two years is a very short period for any language.



of course, but they were still two quite different variants of a language for me, and I would never be able to understand Greek spoken today relying solely on the classical one (in fact, I would probably understand written kathareuousa much better than anything else), and certain things which are obvious to you might not be so obvious to me. .

Well the difficulty a foreigner faces while learning our language and how our language sounds to his/hers ears doesn't justify your opinion about "two different variants" as you term them or prove anything about the language itself. It just shows a foreigner's efforts to learn a language. Even if you'd been studying greek for ten, nay twenty years and went to Crete or Cyprus, or Trikala or Agrinion etc etc you wouldn't be able to understand a word spoken to you. The language is still the same but the accents and pronunciation is very different. Moreover in Crete they have retained the original form of many words (i mean the ancient greek form, ending and all).



The "bygone" issues I brought up I had in mind more about vocabulary than anything else - as I said, the languages of some other times.

Exactly. It's the vocabulary that is the same!!! The grammar has changed a lot. We don't have Dativ (Δοτική) for example in modern greek. It has been replace with Σε+την or Σε +τον etc.



How are you going to say "subway" in Ancient Greek or Latin? Or a thousand of other words related to the present-day life?

Well, let me fill you in. All the new words have been constructed using ancient greek roots. For example:
Subway = Υπόγειος Σιδηρόδρομος
(Υπό + γη = υπόγειος
Σιδηρόδρομος = Σίδηρος + οδός)
second example: The sport basketball =καλαθοσφαίρηση = καλάθι +σφαίρα



Who speaks Ancient Greek or Latin as their first language today? Those are the things I had in mind rather than just "burying" the languages - they are simply historical episodes of current languages of some other times. In that precise form they are no longer used, thus the 'dead', whilst of course that throughout the centuries they developed and created some new forms of language used today.

Well, even english isn't used in the precise form as in bygone ages. No one says "Thou shalt" or "thine" anymore etc etc. Every language has a past. And every European language is old enough to have a past. The older the language the more the changes (i say European because i speak only european languages currently)



If you can tell me than an average Greek (i.e. not somebody who studied Greek or philology at university) can read and fully understand any text ever written in various historical forms of Greek, without previous instruction in Ancient Greek, and that forming the kind of sentences they are formed in Attic Greek is a 'minor change' for them and that they can intuitively do it, and relying solely on the knowledge of current standard Modern Greek they understand everything, then I am going to take back all I said, and promise you never in my life again claim Ancient Greek to be a dead language, and I will agree that Ancient and Modern Greek are pretty much the same language, and that I am stupid for having to study them both separately as knowing one should obviously suffice for all..

Well let me inform you, almost anyone i know can fully understand an ancient text. I can't speak for the entire country, only the people i know. But we are quite average greeks :lol:
I don't really care whether you change your opinion or not. That's your problem ;) But i'd advise you (if my advice is accepted) to view it as a whole and not two separate things. As a language that has evolved through the ages and is spoken by 15.000.000 (approx) of people. And if you pay attention in your ancient greek classes you'll learn modern greek perfect. Everything is connected. Everything has a continuity.

EDIT

Since you mentioned Καθαρεύουσα (Cathareuousa) which as you said is very close to ancient greek, be informed that Cathareuousa was Greece's official language since 1975. Well that explains a lot about the language NOT being dead..

[Dorian Gray]

English, Dutch, German. Bit of French and Spanish but that doesn't count.

[RoCKiTcZa]

I am fluent in English and Filipino. I can speak a little of Spanish and French.
Does secret language count? If it does, then allow me to say I am fluent in "Horse."

[syiah]

Four for me. :blush:
1. Slovenian.
2. Yugoslavian
3. English
4. German

I guess I can converse decently in Latin...but seeing as how it's a "dead" language, I shan't mention it. I can also manage to make myself understood in high school Spanish, but it's not something I flaunt...the ability is slowly fading away anyways.
I'm studying French and Japanese now, as well. :D I can read, write, and converse decently in them already, but I'm going to need a little more work before I dare call myself fluent in them.

[Oniw17]

One, but I've been trying to learn Magyar for the longest time, and pretty soon I'm going to start working on my oligo-synthetic conlang again(I stopped because it was extremely stressful).

[Gadget Girl]

Two. I only speak English and my national language and that's it. I'm currently learning how to speak French, but everytime I try, my tongue get's tired and I will stop, and I'll try the next time and the next time and the next time until I really get to know how to speak it. "Try and try until you succeed" as the saying goes!

[addictedtobooks]

How many languages do you speak?

[antonia1990]

Three

(Romanian, English and Spanish)

[Saladin]

Three:
Norwegian, somali and english.

[Silas Thorne]

Two:

English and Chinese (though I wasn't brought up in China and started learning it late. I do use it at home though.)

[Saladin]

Two:

English and Chinese (though I wasn't brought up in China and started learning it late. I do use it at home though.)

Mandarin or cantonese?

[Silas Thorne]

Mandarin. I guess I call Mandarin 'Chinese' because it is the lingua franca of nearly all of China now.:)

[MattG]

I fluently speak one language, English.

I can, rather haltingly, converse in both Spanish and Farsi though. My depth of understanding in Farsi is much better than Spanish though.

Also, I have a crazy internal dialogue that I scarcely understand.

Also, for my job, I speak SQL, CSS, HTML, ASP, C# and occasionally javascript. Does machine interaction count? :D

[clau19]

My first language is French and secound is English but thanks to school theres a course you can take to learn Spanish from 10th grade to 12 :)

[A New Comb]

Fluently: Serbian, Croatian, French, English.. and Latin. Even though it's not spoken- to be able to read/write..
Learning: German (with reckless abandon), and Russian (ah, 70% there).

[skib]

Well, I speak English . . . I just wouldn't say 'fluently.'

[Skwurll]

Just English, although I am learning Spanish in High School and want to become fluent.

[Maximilianus]

*bump*

My mom tongue (Spanish) and English, though they should be a few more by now.

I was a kid when I developed an interest in Italian, then I saw the first movie at the cinema, spoken in English, without the Spanish dubbing that is still common here in movies broadcast on TV, and I forgot Italian, therefore leaning towards English. I asked my parents to pay me classes at a language institute, because back then language teaching in our public educational system really sucked (and still does). They agreed and I began English. At first I couldn't show much language talent. I had a few big difficulties during the process, due to what I now perceive as insufficient explanations from the teachers and a general failure of the system. My grades were barely a bit over the average, which put me in a position of humble academic brilliance, but I insisted. In time, I figured most of what caused me trouble when I was a kid, and my grades also flew higher. Maybe I was just immature at the beginning. Not that I want to show off, but I became practically unbeatable in the last three years of studies, though this may comply with the reasonable explanation that the other mates did not love the language as much as I did. They were in class mostly because their parents were financially able to keep them entertained indoors, but not because they wanted to grab a knowledge out of a class.