How many foreign languages you actually know?Is it enough?

@aliki123 (122)
Greece
July 14, 2010 4:43pm CST
I know only two actually French and English ,French was a choice in highschool as a second foreign language ,I liked it so I studied for three more years after highschool.In English I managed to get a degree but I do not use it frequently in my everyday life so I must improve it .Anyway I was thinking that lately in my country is not enough to get a decent job by knowing only 2 foreign languages I have friends that are also studying german and chinese ,chinese are very popular recently ,I will probably choose chinese, too.
2 people like this
30 responses
@mysdianait (66009)
• Italy
14 Jul 10
I am English but I moved to Italy many years ago. I speak and write both languages fluently and probably am more fluent when talking in Italian now because I use it daily. These are enough for me. I work in an hotel and if we have foreign guests the majority of them speak English and we can comunicate so I have no reason to learn another one now.
1 person likes this
@mysdianait (66009)
• Italy
15 Jul 10
Ciao paesana! Seems there are quite a few of us here. We must have a party!
• Italy
15 Jul 10
Hi Mysdianait, I'm American, but I have lived in Italy for nearly 25 years, so like you I can speak Italian as fluently, or perhaps more fluently than English. At times I am not aware of which of the two languages I am speaking or thinking. I think I still write better in English than I do in Italian. I do most of my day to day communicating in Italian.
@aliki123 (122)
• Greece
15 Jul 10
Wow Italy that is great I have relatives there ,they are so close I want to visit but I do not have the time and money ,In which city are you in Italy?
1 person likes this
15 Jul 10
I am a native Chinese speaker and know English and Japanese as foreign languages.I haven't used Japanese for about two years and can just remember simple and daily expression. However I find it necessary to manage it again.As for English, I have been practicing and improving it ,but still needs further more. Most of the time lanugages are just kinds of tools and other skills are also important.
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15 Jul 10
For your "envy" I would have to find the forgotten Japanse back again.It is a hard work and I will put it into action as soon as possible. Two weeks ago I got my graduation certificate...missing days in school so much
15 Jul 10
You're right,the languages are just sorts of tools for communication.But sometime knowing one or two foreign languages are so important.I "envy" you can know Japanese,and English is used great.I also be improving my English.are you still in school?
@chiyosan (30184)
• Philippines
14 Jul 10
i know how to speak my native chinese language but i can't write them. i know english too and it is foreign to me... :D and i speak Tagalog. i would love to learn mandarin though :D
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• Philippines
15 Jul 10
hi chiyosan..wow 9877..when you say native language, it means that's what you have spoken since birth, right? it doesn't matter if your parents are chinese or not, but the Chinese language been the language you're familiar with since birth? I assume it's Filipino/Tagalog =) This is one of the things that actually confuses me regarding language.. When a teacher asks a Filipino of Chinese parents what his native language is and yes he's been speaking Filipino since birth and just learned Chinese maybe at 8 years old or so, then I consider his native language to be Filipino. If a Filipino was born in the US and has grown up speaking the English language, then I consider his native language to be English. Can someone shed some light? lol
• United States
14 Jul 10
I know two and a dialect. I can speak English and Tagalog, and also another Filipino dialect called Ilocano. I think Chinese would be the next big thing in US since everything here is made in China. I took Spanish in high school but now I can't even make up a sentence even though I Aced that class.
1 person likes this
@aliki123 (122)
• Greece
15 Jul 10
I know what you mean when you say that Chinese is the next big thing,I live in Greece and I noticed that the last five years more and more choose it for a second language.I want to learn too,but they say that is a quiet difficult language for Greeks!!!
@katiesueg (257)
• Italy
15 Jul 10
I speak English and Italian fluently since English is my native language but I have lived in Italy for many years and I use Italian every day for all of my communicating. I had Spanish in High School and got good grades in it, but I would find it difficult to say more than hello in Spanish now. I got a degree in French and my French is decidedly better than my Spanish but I have forgotten so much since I have not had to use it for years. I have self taught myself a little German when my son had to study it a school, but I would definitely have a hard time surviving with it in a German speaking country.
@jerikjames (1041)
• Philippines
14 Jul 10
I also know two. English and German. I studied German in college. I kind of had no choice with it. I mean, I really opted to choose Italian so I studied both Italian and German for one semester. However, due to schedule problems, I was forced to continue my German lessons. I don't regret it really. It was a very hard language to learn, but I enjoyed it. Why don't you try it? You know French already, and German and French has a couple of borrowed words. =) Like Etage and Toilette. =)
1 person likes this
@aliki123 (122)
• Greece
15 Jul 10
I had also as a choice German or French in highschool, I choose French I actually thought that French were easier do be honest.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
15 Jul 10
I learned French in elementary and high school. I took a Japanese class in grade eleven, I don't remember that much of it. I also took a Cantonese class, after I graduated from high school, with my sister. On a day to day basis, I only speak English, so I don't use the other languages that often. Some of my relatives took Spanish or Japanese in high school. One of my sisters learned Latin :)
@o0jopak0o (6394)
• Philippines
15 Jul 10
i know 2, and i think i need to learn a couple more if i want to travel the world.
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
15 Jul 10
Enough? It's never enough :-) I know English and German well, I've learned both in school and I've stayed 5 semesters in Austria and studied German at the university. Since I'm Norwegian I can read Swedish and Dansih without having to learn it. Understanding it when they talk is normally not a problem even though it doesn't work the other way around: Danes and Swedes often find it difficult understanding spoken Norwegian. I can read French and Icelandic, I could possibly also manage a few sentences but not so much that it'd be an interesting conversation. Through the Icelandic I can also read Faroese, it's quite funny to know but really quite useless as they all speak Danish (and they speak it much clearer than the Danes). I've planned to see some more movies in Icelandic and French this autumn, plus read some more books to better my passive understanding of them. And I should learn some Finnish as I'm visiting friends in Finland at least once a year and it's annoying to know only the first 6 numbers and the really bad words ...
@hristo95 (100)
• Bulgaria
15 Jul 10
I know three languages . They are Bulgarian , English and Russion . I think they are not enought to be success in the life . I have to learn some other languages . The languagee who I want to learn are French and Chinas . They likeme more ant many people use them. This is my response for this discussion . I holp I help .
• China
15 Jul 10
I just know two Chinese and English. You know in China, all the people from very young age begin learn English. And in my age,just from 12 years-old learn, there are almost 10 years,but my English is not very good. It looks like the other countries people more gift and smart on learn forein languages.haha,we can learn from each other on this web.
• China
15 Jul 10
Hi,I'm chinese too!We have learned english 13 years until now,but our english is very poor due to exam-oriented education in china.As for work and my furture,i begin to learn english as a languages not as exam tool.So i join mylot and make firends and respond discussion and write message in here. i glad to make firend with you,can I?
15 Jul 10
I'm chinese too!It's so glad to meet you both,you're the first friends i have meet in "mylot"web.i can't deny the lose education in china,specially in english.i also to make friend with you,can i?
@Muteki (114)
• Japan
14 Jul 10
I relocated to Japan about 10 years ago so I speak, read and write the language. I find it usefully since there r so few englist speakers here. Another useful thing is the fact that it has a similar writing structure to Chinese, so when I'm in China I can make out signs notices etc but the spoken language is completely different. Maybe I should take that up as a third language.
1 person likes this
@mdude53 (29)
• Romania
15 Jul 10
I also know English and French. I'd love to learn few others: german, portuguese and japanese. I'd like to know some words from many different languages, since I want to travel around the world, but I know it's quite difficult to achive this.
• Philippines
16 Jul 10
I only know 3 languages and it is English, Tagalog and Cebuano. Cebuano is my first language. I must say that I still need to improve my English because I'm not that fluent and it is also very important especially when applying for a job here in our country.
• China
15 Jul 10
I know only two foreign languages, English and Japanese. The former was my major in college and the latter my second foreign language. My work now is closely connected with English, so I use it everyday. Japanese is not frequently used, but I keep learning it. I'm interested in learning foreign languages and getting to know about foreign culture. I'm thinking of learning more foreign languaes such as French, German etc. It won't be easy, of course, to become proficient in a language. It requires lots of time, commitment and discipline.
@Simon1223 (903)
• China
15 Jul 10
I don't know what's the meaning of "know". I could speak English for I began to learn it in elementary school. Nowadays I could communicate with others in English for daily purpose. I used to learn German for one year, but for I have little opportunity using it, I could only speak some simple words. In my view, language is a tool which could help you understand the culture of a country. The more language you know, the more knowledge you would have. But the problem is that many people lack good environment to practice the foreign language they're learning.
• Philippines
15 Jul 10
My first language was English, and I must say that it's still the language I'm most fluent in. Then, I learned Chinese and Filipino, although I can't read Chinese. I took French in college, and I'm learning Japanese now. So, that's one native language and four foreign ones. I have to get better though! At times, I feel like my vocabulary is never enough
15 Jul 10
Actually,i know two languages as chinese and english,English is my choice to be learned since i was in highschool.Chinese is my native language,I am happy to heard that many friends are studying chinese.chinese is amazing language,thousand kinds of interesting and knowledges are hidding in Chinese.The history for almost five thousand years was constructed by ancient legends,Romances, beautiful stories and poetry.You can take a travel in this wonderful-land.Welcome to study chinese,welcome come to China.
15 Jul 10
I know two languages,Chinese and English.Chinese is my second language which i started to learn it in my highschool.Chinese is my native language ~ ~
• Philippines
15 Jul 10
well, the most necessary language to learn and for me easiest by far is English. It is very very important for anybody. I also know how to speak in Hindi and also in the Filipino language. Also a bit of Korean and Japanese. If you're a tourist on a foreign country, then it is necessary for one to learn even a bit of the country's language or just carry a dictionary for emergencies in a foreign country. But having a vast knowledge of many languages earns points once you are looking for a job. No harm done if one wants to learn more languages. He/She just wants to have more knowledge or he/she is bored. haha! :)