Do You Speak Any Language Other Than English?

[Calboner]

(as opposed to Israelis, who will quickly switch to English when you make the slightest mistake in Hebrew).

I think that will happen anyplace where a lot of people speak English in addition to their native language. It has certainly happened to me a lot in Italy and in France (speaking Italian and French, respectively, and not Hebrew, of course). In most situations, people want to exchange specific information, and if they can effect that more quickly by switching languages they will do so rather than give you a chance to practice your foreign-language skills. Also, in most cases, I'm sure that they mean to make things easier for the foreigner by speaking his or her language.

I speak Reformed Egyptian the language of the Sacred Plates buried by Yonkel in NY state. Its very hard to learn because it lacks verbs and adjectives. I spent a year with the Rosetta Stone program just trying to find the ablatives

If this is a joke, I don't get it. "Yonkel"? You mean maybe "Joseph Smith"?

 

[mako shark]

Couldn't speak hardly a word of English going into first grade. 40years later, I can speak very little French! People never would guess that I learned English as a second language and I joke about that occasionally.

 

[maxcok]

If this is a joke, I don't get it. "Yonkel"? You mean maybe "Joseph Smith"?

I think it's iddishyay, but I'm not sure, I only speak igpay atinlay.

 

[buzzrider7]

I'm professionally fluent in Japanese, conversationally proficient in French, Spanish and Italian, and can hold basic conversations (when drunk) in Swedish, Mandarin and rudimentary Korean.

I miss the days when it seemed like I was always surrounded by people who spoke other langauges and we'd always bounce around from one to another. Now I only seem to have English-speaking monoglots around me. :frown1: Maybe it's time to go abroad again for a while...

 

[cameltoelover]

Yes, I speak the language of love. lol

 

[D_Alastair Pisspoore]

I think it's iddishyay, but I'm not sure, I only speak igpay atinlay.

Impressive.....it is Yiddish. My Yiddish is basic but I think it means idiot. Why does it seem that all the Yiddish words used in modern English lexicon are derogatory.

 

[maxcok]

Impressive.....it is Yiddish. My Yiddish is basic but I think it means idiot. Why does it seem that all the Yiddish words used in modern English lexicon are derogatory.

I actually thought it meant a kind of generic name, like any Tom, Dick or Harry.
But what do I know, I don't speak Yiddish. I'm not even ewishjay.

 

[chrwl007]

Our mother tongue is Afrikaans, but I'm perfectly bilingual.

Ik lees en spreek Nederlands redelijk goed, maar schrijven is een beetje moeilijk als gevolg van de gewoonte om de woorden in Afrikaans te schrijven. :redface:

 

[156159]

I am not fluent in any other languages but I do understand a little Spanish provided that they speak slowly enough for me to make out the words. Mexican and Central American Spanish tends to be spoken at a more rapid pace than Spanish spoken elsewhere and that is mostly what I hear here in New Mexico.

 

[156159]

Double post, my apologies.

 

[156159]

:biggrin1: Well, I kept thinking "french skin is a condom," then I remembered, it's "French letter" that means "condom." I read French better than I speak it, and my listening & comprehension is near zero. It's a tricky language, with all those silent letters and especially with all those silent words and phrases.

I don't know any Nigerian (I don't even know if that's a language unto itself) but usually, if I am around a person on a regular basis, and that person speaks another language besides English, I try to learn a little.

I worked at a university a few years back, and one of our students was from Uganda. She was teaching me a few phrases in Luganda, and all I remember is pronounced "chee-KAH-tay". It means "hello" or "what's up."

I worked with a woman from Eritrea. I'm not sure which of their languages she spoke, but apparently Eritrea has about 6 predominant languages.

Not to be rude but Nigerian is not an actual language. I should know because my parents are Nigerians of Igbo ethnicity and they only speak Igbo to each other but are also fluent in English. As to original post, my grandfather in addition to Igbo spoke English, Yoruba, Hausa so he could converse with the majority of Nigerians as these languages corresponds to the largest ethnic groups in the country.

I should get my act together and learn at some of these languages so I can actually have a conversation with my relatives. I really shouldn't have to speak through an interpreter to do this.