How many languages can you understand, speak and write?

1. 81

   joween18posted 10 years ago

   Since I got bored on Facebook, and cannot sleep (it's 4:44AM here), I decided to create this forum to discuss how many hubbers can speak many languages.
   
   I am actually born in the Philippines, and particularly living in the second largest island called Mindanao, I can literally speak 3 languages, which is: Tagalog, Bisaya(Cebuano) and English. Although, I can understand very little Japanese since I became used to it by watching Anime.. hehe
   
   So is there any hubbers out there that are multilingual (I'm sure there were)? Please share your information here
   
   And can someone provide me an answer for this "stupid" question..
   About how many languages can a human learn?

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   1. 98

      DrMark1961posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I am multilingual.
      I have known people that speak 6 languages fluently, but I think it gets confusing after that. Most people that speak that many languages are not fluent in all subjects-that is, they know the fourth or fifth language only for work, and use one or two mother tongues for chatting.

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   2. 0

      Daniella Lopezposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I am fluent in English, Spanish, and ASL (American Sign Language). I also have a working knowledge of Greek, French, and Italian. I am hoping to perfect on the latter three, as well as learn Russian from my husband (a former Russian linguist). We're raising our children to be multilingual. Our children are under the age of 3 and are both knowledgeable in Spanish, English, ASL, and Russian.

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2. 68

   Zachary Baselposted 10 years ago

   I only know one language fluently, and that is English. However, I know a little Mandarin Chinese.
   
   How many languages can a human learn? I think that depends a lot on how young the learner begins to learn and be around the other languages. This is why many Europeans know multiple languages, because they are in close proximity to several different languages. They are in contact with these languages more frequently at a young age than say an American.
   
   I would imagine in order to master some languages on the level of native fluency it is absolutely critical that the learner begins to learn at an early age. Otherwise, their vocal muscles will never develop in the way which is needed for them to speak on a native level.
   
   So, I guess the answer to your question is that it depends.

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3. 87

   Nell Roseposted 10 years ago

   I speak English because I come from...wait for it...England! lol! But i can speak a little french too.

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4. 86

   mdgardnerposted 10 years ago

   Only English for me. I took 2 years of Spanish in high school and one year of Spanish and French in college. I was pretty good in Spanish but after a while if you don't use it you lose it. I wish I had stuck with it.

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5. 85

   crazyhorsesghostposted 10 years ago

   I speak most Sioux dialects, Cherokee, Russian, French, and English. English was my second language. French was spoken in my childhood home as was Sioux and Cherokee. I lived in Russia several times while in the U.S. Navy. I worked in the embassy in Moscow twice.
   
   I did not learn English until I was 7 going on 8 and it was one of the hardest things I ever did.
   
   I speak all of the above languages perfectly and I have a working knowledge of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Mandarin Chinese.

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6. 61

   Haj09posted 10 years ago

   I speak three languages! Arabic, French and English. I also understand a little bit of turkish ^_^

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7. 86

   Cari Kay 11posted 10 years ago

   I was a German linguist.  I took 4 1/2 years of French and taught myself enough Russian to get around comfortably in Russia.  I enjoy learning languages.

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8. 97

   RonElFranposted 10 years ago

   I once was good enough in Spanish to teach it at a community college. But that was years ago. I've lost most of my abilities with the language through lack of use .

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9. 0

   Ben Frickposted 10 years ago

   I'm fluent in English, a little rusty at Spanish (mainly with vocab, not grammar), and I'm currently taking an "Intro to Japanese" class. Both Spanish and Japanese make much more sense than English, both with spelling and grammar.

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10. 60

    C.V.Rajanposted 10 years ago

    Tamil (My mother tongue), English and Malayalam. And a little of broken Hindi!

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11. 60

    Chauncey St Clairposted 10 years ago

    Understand: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
    Speak: English, French, Spanish
    Write: English, French

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12. 91

    Sue Adamsposted 10 years ago

    Born in Budapest - Hungary
    Primary school in Paris - France
    Secondary school in Amsterdam - Holland
    Worked as a dancer in Berlin - Germany
    Moved to London - England
    Now I live in Spain
    
    I forgot my mother tongue Hungarian, but my circumstantial history still leaves me fluent in 5 languages: French, Dutch, German, English and Spanish.

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    1. 81

       joween18posted 10 years agoin reply to this

       WOW! I wish I could learn some of that.

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13. 46

    pateludayposted 10 years ago

    I can speak and write English, Hindi and Gujarati as a person staying in India.

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14. 76

    koerakoonlaneposted 10 years ago

    Wow, there's some crazy and very surprising language knowledge here.
    
    I myself, born and raised in Estonia, I naturally speak Estonian as a first language. I've had 12 years of intensive English studies, so I'm pretty happy with my English skills. On top of that I also studies German and Russian, 6 years each but never managed to learn to speak either of them.
    
    During later years of primary school I started studying Japanese, then went on to live there for half a year and then study it in university, I used to speak it as my second foreign language, but these times I speak French a lot better as I've been living in France for over 4 years now.
    
    Interestingly, in France I've also begun to speak Russian a bit as at my workplace (I'm a salesperson) we get a lots of Russian customers, so I've been joking around with them in my broken Russian, so now, almost 10 years after ending my Russian studies I speak it better than I ever did during school time. It seems like even if you completely forget a foreign language you can always revive it with some effort.
    
    And on my to-do list I have Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese. Don't know yet what will I do to learn them, but I know for sure I don't want to go through language courses, need something a lot more efficient. Academic language learning programs are easily the worst and least rewarding ways of studying languages, but they are pretty important to get a certain basic knowledge which will help later if for example one would be to live in a country where they speak the language and wants to learn it through communication with the locals.

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    1. 81

       joween18posted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Wow.... some interesting language skills you have there..
       I'm hoping to learn some Mandarin chinese though..

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15. 0

    Manasi4posted 10 years ago

    i am wondering where did my last comment go

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16. 0

    Manasi4posted 10 years ago

    i can speak 5 languages english, hindi, marathi and konkani and gujarati and understand punjabi too

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17. 81

    joween18posted 10 years ago

    Wow.... I never known some of the languages posted here... Can someone teach me some translation of this famous line:
    
    "I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH"
    
    BTW, if you translate that to TAGALOG, it would go like:
    "Mahal na Mahal Kita" or  "Mahal Kita"
    
    and in BISAYA, it would go like:
    "Gihigugma kaayo ta ka"
    
    

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18. 89

    Cheeky Kidposted 10 years ago

    Well, since I'm also Filipino, I also know three. English, Filipino, and Kapampangan.

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19. 87

    lbrummerposted 10 years ago

    Sadly, the only language I can speak is English. I studied Latin, because it was mandatory,  in high school (graduated 57 yrs. ago) and the only phrase that I made an effort to remember was, “Ego amo te.”   Which I thought might come in handy sometime.  I hate to tell you that the occasion never came up, or the opportunity, for me to use the phrase.  I’ve erased it from my Bucket List.

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20. 80

    bibliopolaposted 10 years ago

    I speak Turkish as I am from Istanbul Turkey, my English is fluent also I can understand easy text in French and German.

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21. 76

    neosurkposted 10 years ago

    I can read and write English, Nepali (native speaker) and Hindi. I do understand a little Urdu too.

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22. 93

    IslandBitesposted 10 years ago

    Spanish, English and Italian. Also, a little Portuguese and French.

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23. 61

    firstdayposted 10 years ago

    I speak English, as I am from America.  My English is improving from writing on here.  I have tried to learn Spanish and a little Hindi.  I think it is great others speak so many languages.

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24. 66

    Dano Gilletteposted 10 years ago

    I am from Utah, but I lived in El Salvador for 2 years and also in Mexico for a couple months. I know speak fluent spanish.
    I often question how well I speak english. My grammar no very good!

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25. 67

    Katiadejuanposted 10 years ago

    Hi there!
    
    I am from Barcelona, and therefore my mother tongues are Spanish and Catalan. I also speak fluently English, Portuguese, French, and Italian, and currently I am learning Dutch, Norwegian, German and Danish, which I am already able to understand any written text but still need to improve my speaking and writing skills.

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26. 59

    AaronBurtonposted 10 years ago

    1 lol

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27. 80

    savateuseposted 10 years ago

    Well, English is my first language, but I do have to communicate a lot in French these days. I can understand French reasonably well, but sometimes I struggle with vocab.

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