How many languages do you speak?

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   CollBposted 13 years ago

   Why is it also important to know about your culture?
   
   I speak 2 languages, other than English and know basic words in 2 others.

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      RachaelLeflerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'm pretty good, close to fluent, in French. In Paris I was able to stumble through a conversation with a non-English speaking native, at least. Next I want to study Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and German. I took a year of German in high school. Russian and Arabic I think would be neat to learn but they also look very difficult. Mostly the writing in those languages is scary. Chinese writing also looks hard because it's not syllabic like Japanese or Korean writing, but where you have to memorize hundreds to even thousands of characters.

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         CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Excellent!  Good luck and I hope you become fluent in all of them.  It's worth pursuing if you like learning foreign languages.
         
         My French is conversational.  I tried to learn to read Chinese when I was very young but found it extremely difficult and yes memorising 3000 characters, at least, is something to ponder over, although my Chinese is quite good!  I also know a few other languages but only use them if I have to!

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      Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      English, Indonesian, Galela, a bit of Tok Pigin--so three plus a little bit.

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         CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That is remarkable!  Congrats and it's commendable you knowing some, from what I can only presume, difficult languages to learn!

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            Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, it took years of living there and in particular analysis of the one that is a minority language.

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      kimberlyslyricsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      two
      english
      sign
      

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         CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Sign language is one I find fascinating and it is commendable you knowing how to sign!  Good on you!

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2. 92

   habeeposted 13 years ago

   Does "Southern" count as a different language? It should!

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      CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Haha.  I know what you mean, as I find the Scottish accent really difficult to understand so I can understand how you feel when you hear a different dialect and think they are speaking in another language .

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      1. 88

         IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I am Scottish and have minimal difficulty understanding regional dialects throughout the UK (though one or two really stretch me).
         
         I live in Spain now where I am pretty well fluent in the language and one day this English guy starting taking the Mick out of Scottish accent.
         
         I replied in a few lines of Spanish and the silence was deafening.
         
         It is not OK to slag someone else's dialect when you can't speak the local language of whatever European country you happen to be living in.
         
         I so admire the Europeans, especially those from Germany, Holland, Belgium and all around that region. Most can speak up to 5 languages.
         
         Those of us from the UK should hang our heads in shame. A lot has to do with our pathetic education system that doesn't prioritize the learning of languages.
         
         By the way, the only Spanish words I knew before I moved to Spain were hola, gratias, por favor and adios.
         
         I tried to get on courses but they weren't available.

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            CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            A few dialects in the UK really stretch me even in a work related situation!
            
            It is commendable that you've learnt Spanish really well and be able to use it in your life and yes good for those who know a number of languages.
            
            Learning different languages can be very practical.

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3. 60

   Madeposted 13 years ago

   Swedish, English, Finnish and German - that's four, but I also speak some varieties of Swedish.

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      CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That is superb!  Congrats.  It's always good to know how to communicate in other languages as it can comes in handy if you need it for work.

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4. 81

   Trish_Mposted 13 years ago

   Hi
   
   I always enjoyed learning languages.
   
   I studied French and German to A' level, at school, plus some Italian ~ and I am still able to cope with conversations in France.
   
   Unfortunately, I have forgotten a lot of the German.
   
   I have picked up some Spanish, though, as a result of spending holidays in Spain, and I have a smattering of some other languages ~ just bits and pieces.

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      CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yes it is good to have an interest that is enjoyable and practical as well.
      
      Going on holiday to a foreign country  (if you can afford to, in these times of recession!) can be much more 'meaningful' and being able to buy local food and grocery can make that trip really worthwhile.

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5. 92

   habeeposted 13 years ago

   I know a pretty good bit of Spanish. I was fluent years ago when I was dating a guy from Colombia, but when you don't speak it regularly, you forget a lot of it.

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      CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I agree that if you don't speak the language much, you can forget a lot of the basic words, even, in a short space of time. 
      
      However, it can be easily picked up again, for once learnt, never forgotten!  (Jajaja!)

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6. 73

   lone77starposted 13 years ago

   I'd love to learn more languages. I'm pretty slow at it, though. Obviously, I know English, but I have a little experience with Spanish... just enough to get myself into trouble.
   
   I know a smattering of words in Basque, Russian and Cebuano. And I've forgotten most of what I learned, years ago in the first two. Currently, I live in Cebu, so Cebuano is my current target.
   
   I also have used over 20 programming languages, though I'm relatively fluent in perhaps only 5 or 6. My most fluent are VB.Net, VB6, HTML, Javascript, PHP, and C, but I've also done some work in C++, Java and C#. I also have had experience with Cobol, CICS, IMS, JCL, and BAL on the mainframe. I love the bits and bytes kind of work. I've also become quite adept at assembly language on the PC, poking hardware to do things it didn't know it could do.
   
   I'd love to increase my fluency with Cebuano and Spanish, then learn Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Basque, Ancient Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Perhaps I'd like to learn Tamazight, too, language of the Saharan Amazigh (Berbers).
   
   If God gives me another 60 years, I might just do that.

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      CollBposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Sounds like an amazing achievement that you know that many programming languages.  I only know 2, Cobol and Fortran (a little).
      
      Yes there's so many languages that we can learn if we find that interesting; the ones you've listed here are equally astonishing to even say!
      
      Culturally it's enriching to know other languages and what can be just as rewarding is being able to get by in at least two of them!

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         Freegoldmanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I speak 2-american english and english.wish i could speak ALIEN or spirit

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7. 79

   LuisEGonzalezposted 13 years ago

   English, Spanish & Spanglish ( which is a by product of living in Miami!)

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      IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Oooh, I speak Spanglish too!! Anyway, yo tengo que ir!

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         AEvansposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         por que'? lololo Izzy No alero tan r'apidamente. mi computadora doesn't tien la adecuada sighn. lololololo

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            IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            ROFL!! A girl after my own heart

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               AEvansposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               (((((Big Hugs))))

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                  IzzyMposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  A ti tambien, sweetheart
                  
                  I was actually going to say " you too, corino" but for the life of I cannot figure out how to get the ~ sign above the n.
                  
                  Used to use Google translate, but where on earth is it? Google isn't offering language tools, it seems. Hope that'a a temporary measure, because I use a British English keyboard and really don't know how to find those odd accents and signs.

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                     AEvansposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     I use an American keyboard and can't find the simbolos either! Geez they make it so complicado! lolololo

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8. 75

   AEvansposted 13 years ago

   English and Spanish but I am working on fluently speaking Italian and Japanese too!  Although Italian is so similiar to Spanish. lololo!   Japanese sounds a little odd coming from me, but nonetheless I enjoy learning it.

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9. 74

   kschimmelposted 13 years ago

   I can "speak" basic American Sign Language.  Although I can read/understand German, I can't carry on much of a conversation.
   
   I'd love to learn Italian, French and Klingon:)

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10. 53

    kmackey32posted 13 years ago

    1...English...

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11. 0

    4youreyesposted 13 years ago

    I speak English but if you ask my husband it's a foreign language.

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12. 60

    CHRIS57posted 13 years ago

    My collection of languages holds English, German, Russian and French. For my English and German i certainly pass as native speaker (Born in Germany, raised in the US).
    Russian natives rate me to be from some former soviet baltic countries (Estonia or Latvia), fairly fluent in Russian but with noticable accent.
    My French always gives native speakers a smile, but i get along quite well, they tell me i speak French with a strong anglosaxon accent.
    With my school latin i can follow in writing most Roman languages (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian). Speaking the Roman languages is difficult for me, especially Portuguese.
    To really get along anywhere on this planet i would have to add Arabic and Mandarin.

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13. 55

    thomasluesposted 13 years ago

    I speak Dutch,French and English.Also a bit German, and I'd love to learn Russian.
    
    online school

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14. 59

    Bharatthapaposted 12 years ago

    Fluently:-English,Hindi,Nepalese & Urdu.
    For survival:-Punjabi, Bhojpuri,haryanvi and spanish(and learning it too).

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15. 80

    mega1posted 12 years ago

    I have just enuf English to write some for HubPages.

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