Based on the conversation in this thread:  http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=14428.new#quickreply

 

I wonder how many of you understand (speak, read & write) a language, other than English and what would you define your level:  tourist, moderate, fluent?

 

Was this "native" language at home?  Learned in school and continued speaking Chinese?  Interested in a particular country and learned the language?

 

Grew up learning basic Arabic, Spanish, and Japanese.  Now it's simply Spanish with a few phrases frome each language + French, German, etc.

You might want to add Polish to that list, smart guy. I'm learning it by osmosis--my wife and kids are bilingual--and have a vocabulary of several hundred words and a few dozen phrases. Basically, I know enough to know when I'm in trouble.

 

Words and phrases in Arabic, German, French and Latin, but nothing that amounts to more than a clever party trick. I, like so many Americans, am a victim of our schools when it comes to foreign language education.

 

EDIT:

 

Dzekuje bardzo, Pan Sense.

You might want to add Polish to that list, smart guy. I'm learning it by osmosis--my wife and kids are bilingual--and have a vocabulary of several hundred words and a few dozen phrases. Basically, I know enough to know when I'm in trouble.

 

Words and phrases in Arabic, German, French and Latin, but nothing that amounts to more than a clever party trick. I, like so many Americans, am a victim of our schools when it comes to foreign language education.

 

Done!

 

You're experience sounds exactly like my Dad.  My parents have been married for ever and yet he knows (or pretends not to know) very little Spanish.  When my mother would go into what my Dad calls "charo" mode, he knew he was in trouble.  I can remember sitting at the breakfast table and my mother talking to my brother and I in Spanish and my father saying "what did your mother just say?" or "tell you mother I said...." and before one of us could say something she would respond in Spanish to his comment.  I can remember once time my parents had a huge fight that lasted about two weeks and my mother instructed me, my brother and the maid not to speak English.  That was like the war of the Roses.  It was all so dysfunctional.   :oops:

 

Why are you a victim?  Did your school not offer language courses?

At least as recently as the early 80s, public schools in Michigan didn't expose students to foreign language until age 12, and even then, it was a trimester (yes, TRImester) of French, a trimester of Spanish, and then a trimester of home economics. There was no further requirement until high school, and then, it was only a 2-year mandatory.

 

Waiting until middle school to teach a foreign language is virtually pointless. Prior to age 12, language acquisition comes easy, but after that point, developmentally, it becomes very, very difficult. This has been proved conclusively (Noam Chomsky's other achievement, outside of giving conservatives a chronic case of the hives). This is why people who immigrated as kids speak without an accent, and people who immigrated and learned English in their teens will always carry some accent with them their entire lives. Henry Kissinger anyone?

 

So there: victim. I can (and will) learn Polish fluently, but not without years of labor, and never well enough to really dive headlong into the culture in any meaningful way.

 

And yes, the missus threatens to go on English strike. It'll be a few years before the kids will go show solidarity with her. By then, it won't be a problem for me.

 

But even then, the kids and I will have a secret weapon: Try as she might, my wife cannot decipher Pig Latin.

El Spanisho

I learned some Japanese when I was younger but I forgot most of it. I took Spanish in H.S. but not enough to sustain a conversation.

I speak/read Spanish somewhere between the "tourist" and "moderate" level. I know more than "el baño por favor" but whenever someone speaks Spanish to me, I usually have to say "NOOOO rapidamente, no comprendo!". I also know a lot of Yiddish terms for a goyim.

I lived in Japan for almost two years and took spanish in high school.

But now I would barely pass in tourist mode... but I would not get lost.

I learned some Japanese when I was younger but I forgot most of it. I took Spanish in H.S. but not enough to sustain a conversation.

 

Japanese is a language I would love to conquer.

 

Spanish came natural for the obvious reason, and luckily I was never identified as Latino in High School or College like some of my cousins as they were barred from taking Spanish.

 

My mom & Grandmother speak Portuguese so over the years I learned some words.  Once I learned Latin, Portuguese, French and Italian sort of just "came to me" so to speak.

 

I speak/read Spanish somewhere between the "tourist" and "moderate" level. I know more than "el baño por favor" but whenever someone speaks Spanish to me, I usually have to say "NOOOO rapidamente, no comprendo!".

 

They talk so fast it sounds like they are yelling at you right?  LOL  Puerto Rican and Dominican women are the worst!  They speak at a rate of a million words a minute.

 

Living in San Francisco, speaking another language in addition to English is pretty advantageous, given the demographics.  Most of the people here speak at least some English, but quite a few are not fluent, and are embarrassed to use it, fearing that they will be misunderstood.  Luckily I learned Spanish when I was in high school, along with German.  Probably use Spanish 20-25% of the day, and am always "fine tuning".  After living here in SF a few years, I studied Mandarin Chinese.  Not as difficult as one would think, and certainly useful.  I'm not fluent by any stretch of imagination. Cantonese would be even more useful. 

After high school I moved to Holland for school and learned Dutch, which I still read daily and speak fairly often to friends here. Am nearly as comfortable in Dutch as English, but of course I have an accent.  The main thing is to keep using it and not be shy, or uncomfortable with making mistakes.  That's the best way to learn. 

I guess you can tell I'm a language nerd.  :speech: Currently I'm learning Frisian, and I studied Irish for about 2 years.  Once in a while it gets totally f#cked up in my mind and my Spanish comes out Dutch.  Using a Spanish word mid-sentence here won't even be noticed, as most do it--especially when swearing!

Luckily my parents were extremely supportive and open to other cultures, so much so that we hosted exchange students in our home for many years. 

Yet again I ramble on and on.....

Once in a while it gets totally f#cked up in my mind and my Spanish comes out Dutch.  Using a Spanish word mid-sentence here won't even be noticed, as most do it--especially when swearing!

 

SFSpike, Wow!  That is so cool!

 

I know that feeling about mixing up languages, earlier in the year, I was returning to NYC from Paris on an Air France flight and I wanted to ask the FA something.  I knew what I wanted to say in French next thing I know Italian came out of my mouth.  The FA looked at the women, next to me and said, "I wish they'd learn French"  I was so embarrassed.

 

Occasionally, in NY I get tripped up on Spanglish "phrases" that are very NY-centric and I'm like  :wtf: My assistant is NewYorican and on occasion when "chisme" I can get confused by his Bronx-Born spanglish.  The guy I'm dating is half Mexican and west coast "Spanglish" is a whole 'nother beast.  Whenever, he speaks in Spanish with his friends I get about half of what they're saying. 

 

Just a week ago, we we're going to a party near Pepperdine and got lost so his friend (who is Salvadorian) ask me to hand him the "mopear".  I was like, what is that?  He was like the map.  I was like do you mean "el mapa".  Then he proceed to "spelear" ("spell" in Mexican spanglish) "mopear" for my clarification.  I was like, lets stick to English.

I was up to "moderate" in French and Italian at various points, but since I never use them I have forgotten most of both (though I swear that I am fluent in Italian when I'm really drunk, or maybe when I'm really drunk I swear that I am fluent in Italian).

I was really good in French in high school, even winning a couple of awards.  Now I'm to a point where I can understand a passable amount of words if I have the proper context, and I can't speak it at all.

You should hear some of the Spanglish used around here.  And because people are from everywhere, not just Mexico or Central America, it can really get interesting.  Occasionally in our employee cafeteria the conversation comes to a complete halt and puzzled looks lead to an English word being thrown in to make a point.  The Peruvians are the easiest for me to follow--nice, crispy Spanish without a bunch of slang and Anglicisms thrown in. 

I do think my English is getting worse, though.  Literally I have been on the metro going to work and haven't heard a single word of English being spoken.  Usually I love it, but sometimes I feel like I'm not just in another country, but another planet.  That passes quickly and I bring myself back to reality thanking my lucky stars that a bumpkin like me from the south end of Columbus can be exposed to so much and not feel threatened or intimidated.

Studied Arabic for a while, can read, write and speak it, but still with a very limited vocabulary, and listening requires someone speaking it very, very slowly...

 

...and then I can read some French, but listening is right out.

 

At least as recently as the early 80s, public schools in Michigan didn't expose students to foreign language until age 12, and even then, it was a trimester (yes, TRImester) of French, a trimester of Spanish, and then a trimester of home economics. There was no further requirement until high school, and then, it was only a 2-year mandatory.

 

 

Ferndale started me on French in Kindergarden.

 

My vocab is superb (I can slaughter my way through reading something) but my syntax is horrible.

i wanted to check the 'English only' box, but I suppose I understand some French.  Call me Gregoire. 

I'm fluent in Spanglish!

You're from south Florida. English is a foreign language.

At least as recently as the early 80s, public schools in Michigan didn't expose students to foreign language until age 12, and even then, it was a trimester (yes, TRImester) of French, a trimester of Spanish, and then a trimester of home economics. There was no further requirement until high school, and then, it was only a 2-year mandatory.

 

 

Ferndale started me on French in Kindergarden.

 

 

Only because of that clerical error that had you listed as "exchange student."

I'm fluent in Spanglish!

I bet you are!  :evil:

You're from south Florida. English is a foreign language.

OK

I would have thought the Pope would know Latin?

I lived and worked in Latin America for 3.5 years, so I consider myself fluent in Spanish.

How many Languages do you understand?

 

This requires a quantitative answer.

 

After seven years of Spanish courses, I am at a tourist level.

 

I can't carry on much of a conversation, but I can conjugate verbs in dozens of tenses. Irregulars too!  :-(

I would have thought the Pope would know Latin?

 

carpe canum.

Sieze the dog?

So who are our Japanese speakers?

Sieze the dog?

 

si senor

The only Japanese I can think of is counting to ten but that's from taking Karate.

So who are our Japanese speakers?

Domo Arigato (Mr. Roboto)

 

Bah. Japanese isn't important. Who cares about that landlocked island full of socially inept people.

I think it's interesting that French figures so prominently in U.S. foreign language education. In a lot of high schools, I think French serves as the main alternative to Spanish, with German and Latin sometimes offered as additional choices (and other languages generally only available in particularly large or well-funded schools). And while I'm glad to have taken several years of French, it seems less practical than Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, etc. when looking at immigration trends in the U.S., and prevalence of languages worldwide, particulary as French dialects in Central America and Africa differ so much from in France that I probably wouldn't be able to understand someone from Cote d'Ivoire or Haiti anyway.

Outside of Mandarin and Spanish I don't see others as being very relevant. Of course there are a lot of people coming into the U.S from socialist countries but most of them already know English. I think Americans are generally clueless about geography. We don't know nearly as much about where other countries are nor do we know much about their social, political, and economic context but we still have arguably the best education system in the world; our priorities for the most part are good.

I think it's interesting that French figures so prominently in U.S. foreign language education. In a lot of high schools, I think French serves as the main alternative to Spanish, with German and Latin sometimes offered as additional choices (and other languages generally only available in particularly large or well-funded schools).

 

That's a great point.  I know in my time in Junior High School the only languages offered were, French, Italian and Spanish.  But we didn't have a large or specialized Language center. 

 

If you wanted to take German, Chinese, Latin, Japanese or Russian you could take it at Heights and it would count as credit.  Heights had a huge foreign language program enhance by a large foreign exchange student program.  I have to double check with my cousins but IIRC Cleveland Heights offered foreign language programs in their elementary schools back in the 70's.

I took 4 years of French at Brunstucky,a couple summer courses at Tri-C during college, and lived in Paris for 5 months.  I could move there and never speak English again but it'd take awhile to fully understand tv.  Speaking and writing are the easiest for me.  I wish I new Spanish!  I take the little Spanish I know and try to borrow from French but it really doesn't work! :lol: 5 years at IIT with a lot of Mexican friends and nothing! :| My grandma is Okinawan and she's fluent in Japanese and Okinawan but I don't know anything besides the basics and "you are very rude". 

 

 

Spanish and French were the only foreign languages available at my high school.  It may be because Spanish is so widely spoken in the western hemisphere and French was considered the international language up until quite recently(thus "lingua franca").  Or it may be because Spanish and French are the two other major national languages in North America.

So who are our Japanese speakers?

 

Sumimasen, Konichiwa.          (Excuse me, hello)

Hajimemashite.                    (Nice to meet you.)

Tukareta.                            (I am tired.

Sayonara, MyTwoSense-san.  (Goodbye, MyTwoSence, my friend)

So who are our Japanese speakers?

 

Sumimasen, Konichiwa.          (Excuse me, hello)

Sayonara, MyTwoSense-san.  (Goodbye, MyTwoSense, my friend)

I know those two "phrase" as my direct report in tokyo.  My staff in Tokyo always email/address me MTS-san.  lol

 

Japanese seems so hard and foreign languages usually come so easy to me.  :x

 

Where/when/why did you learn Japanese?  I'm totally fascinated by the language.

i am fumbling around with japanese since we're going next summer. i pull my little phrasebook out on the subway when i am commuting instead of reading the dubious news in those awful tabloids that pass for newspapers in nyc.

 

i am jealous musky. wakarimasen nihongo!

At least as recently as the early 80s, public schools in Michigan didn't expose students to foreign language until age 12, and even then, it was a trimester (yes, TRImester) of French, a trimester of Spanish, and then a trimester of home economics. There was no further requirement until high school, and then, it was only a 2-year mandatory.

 

 

Ferndale started me on French in Kindergarden.

 

 

Only because of that clerical error that had you listed as "exchange student."

 

not that it matters, depending on which elementary you went to, you learned either french, spanish or german. Once in high school you could continue or take up russian or japanese.

^ I guess Birmingam Public Schools weren't all they were made out to be.

In my hometown, foreign language wasn't offered until your freshman year of high school - the options were Spanish, German and French.

^How do you say...insanity?

Spanish = tourist level understanding

 

German = moderate level understanding

In my hometown, foreign language wasn't offered until your freshman year of high school - the options were Spanish, German and French.

 

Same thing for us, same three options, same frickin' insanity...

 

"^How do you say...insanity?"

 

Now, now, my high school experience was just fine...

 

So who are our Japanese speakers?

 

Sumimasen, Konichiwa.          (Excuse me, hello)

Sayonara, MyTwoSense-san.  (Goodbye, MyTwoSense, my friend)

I know those two "phrase" as my direct report in tokyo.  My staff in Tokyo always email/address me MTS-san.  lol

 

Japanese seems so hard and foreign languages usually come so easy to me.  :x

 

Where/when/why did you learn Japanese?  I'm totally fascinated by the language.

 

I lived there for almost two years. Assimilation.

 

 

 

 

 

i am jealous musky. wakarimasen nihongo!

 

 

That's ok. You'll pick it up when you are there.

 

 

i am jealous musky. wakarimasen nihongo!

 

 

That's ok. You'll pick it up when you are there.

 

 

 

oh yeah sure i will - lol!

 

Living in NYC, I speak enough Spanish to have a slow conversation.  I studied French in High School and college but I don't remember a darn thing.

 

count as credit.  Heights had a huge foreign language program enhance by a large foreign exchange student program.  I have to double check with my cousins but IIRC Cleveland Heights offered foreign language programs in their elementary schools back in the 70's.

 

Yes, in my day, elementary school (grades 4-6) students learned basic words in Spanish, Italian and French.  Although now, they offer 5 or six languages starting in 2nd grade in Cleveland Heights schools.

 

When I was at Heights the foreign language department was large and Heights had many foreign exchange students, mostly Asian.  Also, many of the students were children of doctors, scientist & researchers working in University circle, so we had lots of native German, Italian, Russian and Spanish speaking students. 

bump

I'm-a espeaking some spanish. But, like Mayday, I'm somewhere in between "Mi lapiz es grande y amarillo" and "Perdóneme, señor, pero querría preguntar en cuanto a si usted se siente que la inclusión de España en la Unión Europea ha proporcionado un empujo al desarrollo económico del país."