Are you multilingual?

[TinyTim]

When one considers the number of multiple language speakers worldwide, I am in the small minority who speak only one language.

Are you fluent In more than one language? How many? What languages?

Bonus: If you could magically acquire instant fluency in another language, which one would you choose and why? I would pick Euskara, spoken by Basques, because (1) It is the oldest language in the world and (2) I'd be able to visit the land --and speak like a native--where my ancestors were from before moving to the American Colonies in the mid 1700s

 

[Lefonque]

We speak two languages. English and German. My wife and daughter are both German nationals. I am Australian. My wife is also a German teacher so at home we speak both English and German. We live in Australia so English most other times. Although being born in England, London to be specific many can’t understand my accent. That’s okay because I have only lived here 50 years innit.

 

[Ligeti]

Being Belgian (and not of the youngest generation), I speak Dutch and French. And I understand German enough to watch the news of a sitcom in German. My spoken German is good enough for conversations during holidays, not for a professional conversation. And English. And just enough Italian to move around freely in Italy.
If I could pick another language, it'd be Arab or Chinese. Just to open an extra door to the culture and people.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I speak only English fluently. My lovely wife is fluent in English, Tagalog, Spanish, and her native tongue which is Ilocano. I have been learning Tagalog and know the basics plus a few romantic phrases suitable for lambing in response to tampo. I would like to be fluent in Tagalog which although not necessary in the Philippines is much appreciated. We intend to retire to Luzon in Northern Philippines in a few years time.

 

[Contact_vs_Feedback]

I speak Hindi and English languages fluently.

I can understand Chhattisgarhi, Gujarati to some extent.

Bonus language :
I'd like to be able to attain fluency in Mandarin.

 

[Tomo]

I speak English and German. German is my first language but for the past 35 years I have spoken mainly English. I am afraid that as the only German speaker in the house and our friendship circle, I have little chance of passing this language onto my children.

I studied French at school but never really used it. I can get by on holiday and recognize a few words in films but that’s it. With language you have to use it or loose it.

I would like to learn Japanese as a bonus language. I always get on well with Japanese people and am interested in their culture.

 

[Rushman2112]

English is my mother tongue and hence rubbish at languages. I can get by in French, have a grasp of basic Indonesian and some Thai (lived in Jakarta 4 years and Bangkok 3). Thai is hard as it's all tones and if you get the tone wrong you are speaking garbage. It's possible to make a sensible sentence from "mai mai mai mai mai" using the right tones to say "new wood doesn't burn, does it?". My Indonesian should be better as my wife is from Sumatra but her English is excellent and she even knows how to use sarcasm and irony effectively.

After 14 years in Singapore I have not got past Gong Xi Fa Cai (Happy New Lunar Year).

Bonus, would like to be better with French. I tried lessons here and at the outset I said I was not interested in taking exams and the like, all I wanted was to be able to survive in France. First lesson (with a French guy) he wanted to debate "is it better to be loved or feared?" - the old Machiavelli chestnut. In French. I said that I would not have that conversation with any of my friends in English let alone in a branch of Darty buying a toaster and after a few more similar episodes I binned it.

 

[Ivo4u2]

English
German
Dutch

Maybe Chinese as an extra

 

[Trollky]

I was born and raised in Norway but moved to the UK in '87. English has been my main language for a long time so my Norwegian is a bit rusty.

If I could add to my language roster it would be either Italian or Portuguese.

 

[member 119848]

I am French.
I spent my childhood abroad so English became my second language.
10 years ago I moved to Germany and since then has German become my daily language. I wish I could have taught French to my kids but it didn´t work out well. It´s a shame that they can´t even speak with their French family members, but it´s all my fault.

And the language that I would love to speak... Dutch! Because Dutch sounds so cool

 

[Billski]

My first language is English, which I use all the time.
I took German in college . I have no need to speak it, but I could easily get better at it.

 

[martym]

Yes.
English and Spanish
At home we speak English
At work we speak Spanish probably 99% of the time.

 

[Old School TSD]

Technically I am and I think many are without realizing...
If you select multi-lingual when building or editing your LinkedIn profile Ebonics is one of the languages you can select.
So, I is bilingual after living for 5 years in West Philly .
If I could wake up a master of a second language it would have to be French. It just sounds beautiful and I'd like to be able to speak it next time I visit.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I can understand and be understood in Italian and French, though I'm fluent in neither- that is, I can't think in Italian or French, and have to figure out what I'm going to say before speaking. I can read Spanish, and could probably order a meal or get a hotel room or give a taxi driver directions in Spanish if I had to, but I've never had to do so thus far.

I read Latin each day, and have done so for many years. I can think in Latin.

I have a weird relationship with Irish. I learned it from my mother, so I can speak it fluently. But because I never read it prior to adulthood I have difficulty writing it. I'm also extremely self conscious speaking Irish, because I speak with what Connemara people call a "Boston blas;" that is, a really harsh Boston accent that despite my fluency immediately marks me as a Yank.

I wish I could speak Russian and (modern) Hebrew, and I wish I had studied Greek in school, but I didn't.

 

[dimab]

English, Russian and Hebrew.
Italian will probably be the next one - just like the sound of it.

 

[martym]

My oldest seems to pick up new languages in her sleep.

 

[SharpieB]

I speak a bit of French. I can understand enough to read the contents of a Kraft Dinner mac and cheese box and order certain foods in a restaurant. We put my daughter in French Immersion and she is getting pretty fluent and she is 8.

I speak enough Spanish to order beer and tacos and find a bathroom when on vacation as well.

 

[arano]

German is my mother tongue

Pretty fluent in:
English
Danish (not writing)
Japanese (not writing and reading)

basic:
Italian
French
Latin

learning right now after moving:
Bavarian

 

[karacha]

I speak English and south Slavic languages. I used to be fluent in German, but not anymore. I think I could easily get better at it if I tried. I'd like to learn Spanish next.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

I can speak Polish.

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