How many of you...

P

pixie9

Cathlete
....speak other languages other than English? Right now I'm TRYING to learn German but it's going very slowly. I've had like 4 years of French (but can't speak it of course) and I've had 2 years of German (in high school). So, anybody out there bilingual or more? I know pixiesis (my sis) speaks perfect French.

Carolyn
 
I took five years of French and spent a summer in Paris and still can't speak a word of it!

I am fluent in American Sign Language, though.

Allison
 
I'm trying to learn Italian. My vocabulary is coming along but I couldn't put a sentence together if my life depended on it;( . I know a big part of my problem is not having a class or conversation group where I can hear the spoken language. I can read words but I'm totally lost when I tune into Italian radio online -- I can't decipher a single word ;( .

My DH is fluent in German with a Hessian accent. I've tried to learn German and I thought it was extremely hard. My mouth cannot make those guttural sounds.

Carolyn, are you taking a class or using CD's or CD-ROMS?
 
well, I speak Kiswahili, which is the language we speak in Tanzania where i come from. To me English is my second language. Well my husband is from Kenya but he speaks bad kiswahili and it is messing up my swahili. When people from my country here me speak swahili sometime they tell me i use some funny words because i have to listen to my husband speak and i am starting to speak like him.

violet
 
I have been thinking about learning a second language with one of those Rosetta Stone software programs. They are expensive (and the last time I checked they didn't have anything available for us unfortunate Vista users)x( But I may give it a try eventually. Has anyone used this program?


MissL
 
I can read french fluently. I can speak it but my accent is not very good. But I can read anything. I have been teaching DS, 6 french and his accent is amazing!
LD
 
Michele,

Thanks much for the info! This definitely gives me options. And good luck to if you decide to go ahead with it.


MissL
 
MissL,

Most of the homeschoolers I know don't think Rosetta Stone is worth the money or is very good with teaching another language. Rosetta Stone takes an immersion approach. If you like a more part to whole approach, skip Rosetta Stone.
 
I'm learning how to speak Thai. It's my mother's native tongue. My father learned it as an adult. It's an inflected language; meaning different tones (high, high to low, low to high, medium) of the same word have different meanings. I pretty much have that down since I've heard it all my life. What's difficult is learning how to read and write in it since English translations are not uniform across the board. For instance, I use two different books and both have different English phonograms for the same Thai character.

I'm also learning Latin along with my dd. We use both ecclesiastical and classical pronunciation. She's great with switching back and forth. I do better with ecclesiastical.

BTW, I had 4 years of Spanish and couldn't hold a conversation in Spanish if my life depended on it!
 
Hey Michele!

I just finished my first course of Italian, and it was great. You'd think that with my mother being Italian, I could just learn from her, but I suppose I need more structure. The class was a ton of work, done independently long distance, but I learned a lot. That first step is the worst, I think.

The only reason I haven't started the next class is because I am applying to colleges now, and I don't know if they'll allow me to be taking courses from other colleges.

I have been taking Spanish classes for YEARS, but I still can't speak. A few years ago, I could understand and read it very well, but being able to SPEAK is such a big step. I'm too insecure, I think.

Someday, though, I swear, I will be fluent :D Immersing yourself in the language and culture is the key, truly. I went to Italy for 1 month a few years ago without having studied Italian at all. By the time I left, I understood quite a bit, was able to imitate the accents very well, and could speak a few words. And I wasn't trying. So once you study for awhile, I think the only way to really succeed is to just get out there and live it. Easier said than done, I know.

Sara
 
I know:
French (fluent)
Spanish (can get along in most situations, and used to teach 1st and some 2nd year classes)
I've also studied Italian for reading knowledge, and can get the gist of what one says if they speak slowly.
I've tried German several times (first, when I was living in France for a year, and I tried a learn-on-your-own cassette program for French peeps learning German (and I still remember "Ich bin nicht allein" and "es gibt ein Rabe im Garten" and other rather useless phrases). Then I took 3 semesters of German here and there with friends who teach it. But I can't remember much of a blessed thing: it just never stuck with me.

Does 'Cat' count? I'm pretty fluent in it. LOL!
 
I am German! I was born and raised in Germany! English is my second language. My DH dad is form Italy!

Belinda
 
I was born and raised in Germany, English is my second language. It is getting harder and harder for me though to speak German, my DH is American, kids don't speak much German and most of my friends are American.

I took 8 years of French in high school, French and English actually were my majors, but my French is pretty rusty now :)

My Mom is from Sweden, when she is mad at me she usually yells at me in Swedish, so I understand and speak the not so nice words }( I can follow a slow conversation and can read books in Swedish. Speaking it is a totally different story though :)

Wow, Carolyn you took German in highschool?? It's a difficult language to learn!!! Just be patient and try to talk and listen to native speakers, all over sudden it will click and you'll be fluent. Are you living in Germany now?

Good luck!

Carola
 
>I'm trying to learn Italian. My vocabulary is coming along
>but I couldn't put a sentence together if my life depended on
>it;( . I know a big part of my problem is not having a class
>or conversation group where I can hear the spoken language. I
>can read words but I'm totally lost when I tune into Italian
>radio online -- I can't decipher a single word ;( .
>
>My DH is fluent in German with a Hessian accent. I've tried to
>learn German and I thought it was extremely hard. My mouth
>cannot make those guttural sounds.
>
>Carolyn, are you taking a class or using CD's or CD-ROMS?

Michele,
I'm taking classes here (non credit, offered for military and family members), but I'm planning on buying the rosetta stone software to supplement my class. I think my German is going better than if I were home in the States, as I hear it everywhere being in Germany and all.:)
Too bad you just can't immerse yourself with Italian in Italy.:)

C
 
I was born and raised in Germany, English is my second language. It is getting harder and harder for me though to speak German, my DH is American, kids don't speak much German and most of my friends are American.

Hallo Carola,
wie kannst du deine Muttersprache verlernen? Auch wenn ich 20 Jahre in Amerika leben wuerde, deutsch ist und bleibt meine Muttersprache! Du hast doch noch eine Mutter die in Deutschland lebt?
Mein Sohn (18) will kein deutsch sprechen, aber er kann deutsch wenn er will! Meine Tochter (21) spricht fluent Deutsch und Englisch! Da mein Mann ja in der Army ist, bin ich auch nur unter Amerikanern aber spreche noch wie zuvor Deutsch! Mach mir keine Angst das ich mein Deutsch in ein paar Jahre verliere!
Ich lese auch taeglich die deutsche Zeitung im Internet!


Viele Gruesse
Belinda
 
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