Languages

[CahillsCornerFlag]

Always been interested in learning a language, but the parrot fashion method never let anything stick. Bought a Paul Noble audio book set (Spanish) the other day and going through it now, it's great fun and you're taught how to actually construct useful sentences rather than just writing list upon list of words down that you never remember.

So anyway, how many of you speak more than just the Queens English? I almost added 'Merican for our friends across the pond but I'll keep it simple and serious. How many of you have tried to learn a language or hope to?

Anyone who has learnt a non European language/language with a different alphabet gets extra man points, especially if they weren't born there.

 

[toffee matt]

Ich spreche Deutsche

 

[wm02]

Fluent in German, can understand Polish but can't speak it. Learned the German through school and then living in Germany. Picked up the Polish as we're raising our kids to be bilingual so it's spoken a lot by my wife.

 

[sbbefc]

Cymraeg

 

[Sapie88]

I tried learning German, got quite good and recognised lots of words could probably have a crack at translating it written down.

Gave up in the end though.

 

[toffee matt]

@bignev23 is big on the languages...

 

[Dutch Toffee]

English
German. At least can understand and read everything. Speaking is a bit more difficult, writing a disaster.
Limburgs. Well it's a dialect really, but it counts as an officially recognised language over here.

 

[Woolly Blue]

Liga Ellinika

 

[Sapie88]

For anyone who has learnt a new language, how did you go about it? I don't fancy spending loads on Rosetta Stone.

 

[malfosse]

Learned Latin and French in school, I also tried to self learn Old English. I found out i'm not a very good teacher or student.

 

[Billy Dean]

Got to fluency in Spanish before moving to Germany. Can speak pretty good Deutsch now. Used to speak v good French and Italian but lost pretty much all of it now.

Admire people who can speak several languages fluently. Worked with an Italian girl once who could effortlessly switch between English, German, French and Spanish without getting confused or making mistakes. Mental.

 

[AndyC]

Can get myself from a to b, get a hotel room, order meals and other day-to-day things in French, German and Russian, but nowhere close to fluency in any of them. Learned a bit of Arabic when working in north-east Africa, but cannot write or read a word of it. I'd encourage everyone to try and learn at least one foreign language, it opens up a whole new world of opportunity.

 

[CahillsCornerFlag]

When I said can speak in the original post, I meant to a half decent level/get by not just fluently. It all counts to a degree, if you're conversational you're doing very well in that language.

 

[Billy Dean]

For anyone who has learnt a new language, how did you go about it? I don't fancy spending loads on Rosetta Stone.

Evening classes maybe? Pretty sure they cost a lot less than Rosetta Stone

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Mluvim Cesky. Kind of anyway. 18 months of learning thus far. Tough language. It's been a mixture of evening classes, sites such as www.memrise.com and talking to the other half.

Recently started watching English movies with Czech subtitles on to see if that helps.

Re evening classes, mine cost about £200 for a term, of which there are around 10 2 hour lessons in each. You've got to do more than that though I think (or I do anyway).