Thread: Learning a new language

Anyone speak any other languages besides the best one (English)?

Anyone ever learn another language in their adulthood? How long did it take you to become fluent?

I speak Swahili. Welsh, Arabic, French and English.

I learnt them all while I was a kid, either cradle lamguAges or living in the country. I suspect I'd find it really hard to learn a lAnguage as an adult or in a classroom!

Originally Posted by Beanflicker

Anyone speak any other languages besides the best one (English)?

Anyone ever learn another language in their adulthood? How long did it take you to become fluent?

Yo hablo espanol amigo. It didn't take long to learn...I'm betting if I just took a little time I could do well in most of the Romantic languages as they follow the same formats they just conjugate verbs differently and different mixes of 26 letters are making up the words.


When I traveled to France I picked up a bit of French, nothing huge or anything. I would love to be fluent in that.


I was a bartender at an authentic Mexican restaurant which helped out tremendously in how comfortable I felt speaking the language. I was and still am good at picking up other conversations, but the speed in which you have to think to hold conversations it's like working out, if you stay in the gym you're good but if you leave your mind starts to atrophy from not using that skill. Good news is it comes back in a heartbeat once you start using it again.

I'm speaking norwegian, danish, some finish, still struggling with english, read spanish in school but im over that now, Then english comes in many types, like, american, proper english, and australian english, and asian english..... same goes with spanish .

Originally Posted by X

I speak Swahili. Welsh, Arabic, French and English.

I learnt them all while I was a kid, either cradle lamguAges or living in the country. I suspect I'd find it really hard to learn a lAnguage as an adult or in a classroom!

I suspect you're not kidding... but I'll bet you get a lot of raised eyebrows when you mention that one.


Seriously though, that's admirable.
I know two languages (English, Spanish) and wish I knew more.

I wish I spoke Spanish; it is embarrassing that I do not. My paternal grandparents only spoke Croatian and my parents spoke it at home. I can't speak that either.
When it comes to learning languages I think I might be stupid.

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

I wish I spoke Spanish; it is embarrassing that I do not. My paternal grandparents only spoke Croatian and my parents spoke it at home. I can't speak that either.
When it comes to learning languages I think I might be stupid.

My wife could've learned Dutch from her father, but she squandered that opportunity. Some of us just don't put enough importance on knowing other languages until later in life. Learning one as an adult is I think 10 times harder.

I'm still learning English I can get by with the minimal in Spanish and some German. Most of the Spanish I learned when we were put on buses and sent to Fresno or Stockton for weeks and cannot be repeated unless you want to get punched

Learning a new language as an adult is difficult. I study Korean, but because I speak only English in my work, I don't think I will ever be able to converse in Korean really well. In fact, this year I haven't been at the books very much at all and it shows. It's very hard to sit down and memorise things after a hard day at work. You just want to read a book or try and unwind. Language learning IMO is best learned with friends of similar ability who can encourage one another both inside and outside the classroom. You need the discipline of someone to guide you and explain things to you, but you also need the motivation and drive beyond the classroom and friends will help a lot in that regard.

Miles, isn't it easier to teach English to the natives if you speak their language, just curious. I speak Chinese.

Originally Posted by TitoFan

Originally Posted by X

I speak Swahili. Welsh, Arabic, French and English.

I learnt them all while I was a kid, either cradle lamguAges or living in the country. I suspect I'd find it really hard to learn a lAnguage as an adult or in a classroom!

I suspect you're not kidding... but I'll bet you get a lot of raised eyebrows when you mention that one.


Seriously though, that's admirable.
I know two languages (English, Spanish) and wish I knew more.

lol, no I'm not kidding. Swahili was my first and real language when I was a kid in Tanzania. Sadly, I speak a few languages, but not too many of them are very useful!

Originally Posted by walrus

Miles, isn't it easier to teach English to the natives if you speak their language, just curious. I speak Chinese.

In some senses yes, in other senses no. When I was teaching little children, they were almost like sponges in that they could pick up vocabulary and sentence structures very effectively without really needing their native language. If I were to speak Korean all the time, I wouldn't have been in a job. Parents would complain. However, you try to keep a balance so that there are local teachers offering native language support in their classes.

At a tertiary level, I am expected to use my native tongue pretty much all the time. In the classes that I am in charge of (higher level classes) students expect their teacher to be a native speaker. I act accordingly. In a lower proficiency class I have dual role with a Korean teacher. We have clearly defined distinct roles. We cover similar material, but using different methods. In this case, learners could use more Korean, but if I were to just be using a lot of grammar translation myself then I wouldn't be doing my job as they have two types of teacher. I know a lot more Korean than I let on, but at work it is best to not let that mask slip because students will try to speak to you in Korean, they then think they can get lazy in class that way, and so it is best not to go down that path. You are talking a good decade of public school and private school education with more advanced students. They are usually sick of being told about grammar in their native tongue and that is why there is such a demand for native speakers.

Can you speak Chinese fluently? I know some Korean and I have completed textbooks on my own, but I am realistic about my proficiency. I'm similar to my lower level classes and their English. I make mistakes, I am halting, but enough to get by. Usually a person will talk down their ability to speak a language as the truth is we barely even know our own. Me too.

I'm trying to learn Spanish and French now, I have the Rosetta Stone's and Duolingo hahaha!

Originally Posted by Gandalf

Originally Posted by walrus

Miles, isn't it easier to teach English to the natives if you speak their language, just curious. I speak Chinese.

In some senses yes, in other senses no. When I was teaching little children, they were almost like sponges in that they could pick up vocabulary and sentence structures very effectively without really needing their native language. If I were to speak Korean all the time, I wouldn't have been in a job. Parents would complain. However, you try to keep a balance so that there are local teachers offering native language support in their classes.

At a tertiary level, I am expected to use my native tongue pretty much all the time. In the classes that I am in charge of (higher level classes) students expect their teacher to be a native speaker. I act accordingly. In a lower proficiency class I have dual role with a Korean teacher. We have clearly defined distinct roles. We cover similar material, but using different methods. In this case, learners could use more Korean, but if I were to just be using a lot of grammar translation myself then I wouldn't be doing my job as they have two types of teacher. I know a lot more Korean than I let on, but at work it is best to not let that mask slip because students will try to speak to you in Korean, they then think they can get lazy in class that way, and so it is best not to go down that path. You are talking a good decade of public school and private school education with more advanced students. They are usually sick of being told about grammar in their native tongue and that is why there is such a demand for native speakers.

Can you speak Chinese fluently? I know some Korean and I have completed textbooks on my own, but I am realistic about my proficiency. I'm similar to my lower level classes and their English. I make mistakes, I am halting, but enough to get by. Usually a person will talk down their ability to speak a language as the truth is we barely even know our own. Me too.

No I wouldn't say I'm completely fluent but I do try to use it everyday. It's a very intense language but I think learning any foreign language is intense

Good for you. I think trying is the main thing. Like you say, learning a language is hard, so just making progress is enough for me. I feel the same about students. As long as I can see they are trying and some progress is being made, then that is all you can ask. Im lucky in that I can study in the long vacations, but in the term time I can barely look at my own language learning. 300 papers to grade this week alone and really hot in class. You just want to rest. Improvement is the overall goal but it is a lifelong journey.