How many languages do you speak?

[Great Polar Bear]

I speak English, Hindi, French and Punjabi. I want to learn Mandarin soon.

[under-cover]

Isn't it typical that me being English I only speak one language fluently.... However, I would say I have a pretty good command of French and can converse fairly easily... but not fluent yet

[Klauu]

I speak hungarian, swedish, english and some german too

[peter wai]

Chinese and English, that's it. Basically if you are in Hong Kong you hardly have a third choice.

[Blackcurrant]

Just thinking of under-cover's comment (previous to this one) -- it is not "how many languages" I speak, but how much more I can gain by speaking one other language well. Here, very much the order : Quality over quantity...

Really.

And then the memories that accrue with the language, as the years go by and you get a little more lived experience in it each time. French is not the Eiffel Tower, cafés and shopping in Paris. Those commercial picture postcard cut outs, if you learn the language later in life, at school, are gradually replaced by more important things.

For example: It is the cow**** one slips on as a child racing across fields of roaring insects on a hot summer day. One's angry (French, and now long-dead) grandmother, wielding a bristly brush, cleaning your formerly pristine shoes, now dunged up. The peculiarly pronounced chirp of a French 6-hear old. The tang of gaulloises and clink of glasses in some out-of-the-way "Hôtel", where the local farmers still gather.. Then, ... there is the sudden grasp of the subjunctive - not as another grammatical item to dutifully learn at school but as a mind-shifting event, as a once unperceived large chunk of the world swims into existence, invented. A disturbing feeling, at first, but then exhilirating as you mess around with the what'-could-be's or the simultaneous may-or-may-not-be's. A sort of Alice-in -Wonderland universe. Anyway, you can list your languages as accomplishments on a CV or live them. Or both.

It is worth mastering one at least.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Blackcurrant

[under-cover]

Just thinking of under-cover's comment (previous to this one) -- it is not "how many languages" I speak, but how much more I can gain by speaking one other language well. Here, very much the order : Quality over quantity...

Really.

And then the memories that accrue with the language, as the years go by and you get a little more lived experience in it each time. French is not the Eiffel Tower, cafés and shopping in Paris. Those commercial picture postcard cut outs, if you learn the language later in life, at school, are gradually replaced by more important things.

For example: It is the cow**** one slips on as a child racing across fields of roaring insects on a hot summer day. One's angry (French, and now long-dead) grandmother, wielding a bristly brush, cleaning your formerly pristine shoes, now dunged up. The peculiarly pronounced chirp of a French 6-hear old speaking to you with unexpected familiarity. The tang of gaulloises and clink of glasses in some out-of-the-way "Hôtel" by the side of the road, where the local farmers still gather.. Then, ... there is the dawning of the subjunctive - not as another grammatical item to dutifully learn at school but as a sudden mind-shifting conception of things, that once-glimpsed makes you realize that a chunk of the world exists only if your grammar invents it. A sort of Alice-in -Wonderland universe. A disturbing feeling, at first, but then exhilirating as you mess around with the what'-could-be's or the simultaneous may-or-may-not-be's. Anyway, you can list your languages as accomplishments on a CV or live them. Or both.

It is worth mastering one at least.

I love love love what you have said!! This is why I love languages so much and am so eager to learn more and more and more! Thank you for this

[Zarathustra]

I speak three, but can spit some words in two more languages as well, for a grand total of fivish.

[Sockminister]

I speak German, Swedish and English fluently. More than that I know quite some French (learning it as a foreign language) and I also had Spanish for a year. Really admire people who know many languages, wish I did.

[Sceptyczka]

I speak Polish, Danish and English fluently and also German quite well. I have been learning French for a year but I had to stop because of IB (mostly) so now I'm learning really basic Spanish and Russian (as a part of Creativity in CAS).

Edited November 25, 2013 by Sceptyczka

[IBmajjsan]

I am fluent in Swedish and English, and I know some French (I've been studying it for 5 years now), but I'm definitely not fluent in French! I wish I could speak more languages!

[jaxine]

I speak Mandarin, English, Malay, Hokkien (Chinese dialect) and a tiny bit of Thai

[Abdelbari]

I speak, write and read: English, French and Arabic fluently

[Vilma]

I can speak, read and write Finnish, English and German all quite fluently.

My Spanish and Swedish are not that strong but i'd cope with them.

I've just started Russian and French so they're definitely not fluent. Yet..

[mariekur]

I speak German, English and French fluently and i can speak some Russian and Swedish. I'm also fluent in Latin but nobody speaks it anymore.

[Guest ryuk1]

Turkish (mother tongue)

English (fluent)

French (upper-intermediate)

Does understanding basic Italian,Spanish,Latin writing and Turkish dialects count? So jealous of all the people here who speak like 93883 languages.

Edited December 10, 2013 by ryuk1

[IB*Dropout]

Fluently, I only speak two languages. I speak American English due to the fact that it is my native language and vernacular. I am naturally fluent in regards to speaking Spanish due to the fact that mother is from Panama. To be honest with you, Spanish was the only class that I received an "A" in when I was in the IBDP due to the fact that I had an advantage when I started the class. Additionally, the teacher just happened to be one of those rare IB teachers at the Tri-County International Academy at Wooster High School who would care about your education. She actually had a great structure and attitude toward her class. Many of you will find this to be humorous, however, when I dropped the IBDP, I had an open-oriented enrollment at Wooster High School, therefore, if I would have stayed at Wooster High School, then I would not have been eligible to take AP Spanish in the case of the next academic-oriented year. Tyler Keener and the guidance counselor said that it was because of my grammar, not the comprehension of communication, however, I was eligible at my former school. Additionally, I was told that I would have the ability to take an exam that would determine my skills, however, that was never issued at all. Even after that, they still did not realize that I have never had any grammar-oriented issues at all in the language class. Records show that my grades have exceeded over a 100% in the language. Yeah, the Tri-County International Academy's IBDP and Wooster High School can really screw you in terms of your academics in the case that you would choose to leave the IB program. I am glad that I was able to leave those corrupt entities for another open-oriented entity. I am now eligible for AP Spanish, which is great, however, I am planning to go through with the PSEOP as of right now.

Edited December 11, 2013 by IB*Dropout

[Brett]

Two - English and French. I'm enrolled for Spanish next semester, so I'll decide after that whether or not to continue with it. After high school, I'd like to learn Swedish as a hobby (I loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and I want to move to Sweden at some point in the future).

[Champ219]

Unfortunately I can only fluently speak English. And it shames me, so.

I learn French and can converse in it, learnt Dutch and try hard to keep it up (but its so difficult because I don't have many Dutch friends anymore), and I am slowly picking up the basics of Spanish.

I am also aiming to learn Polish during university

[Encord]

I speak 5 languages although 2 are local languages.

Anyway, I speak English, French and currently learning some Spanish.

[stainedglasseyes]

I speak English, Spanish (mother tongue), French and I'm currently learning Portuguese. Spanish isn't impossible to learn, but it has like 87325823758923 verb conjugations, which makes it a bit complex. As well, the accent is a bit complicated for a lot of people, but it can be accomplished with hard work and practice. Besides, in Spanish you might get confused with the words and meanings. We have MANY ways of saying only 1 thing (in just one country), which usually messes up with non-native speakers. As if it wasn't enough, take that meaning/word thing and multiply it by 21 countries (just like those vocabulary differences between the US and the UK, but more extreme and times 21). Many words have extremely different meanings depending on where you go, which drives some non-native speakers crazy when they're trying to practice and go to different countries. However, as I said, it might be a bit difficult, but with practice and hard work you can speak Spanish quite good. It is a beautiful language, so i'm glad you want to learn it!