What language do you speak?

[GTM]

Seems like there is an interest amoungst many forum members to retire or travel to international destinations.

One major delema I see is the language barrier. Besides English what languages can you get by with even if its just a little bit.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Croatian. My parents are from there and immigrated to Canada. I can speak it, write it and read it.

I'm not fluent by any means but when we were in Croatia a couple of years ago some of the locals commented on how I could speak both Croatian and English so well?

 

[Marshac]

I have heard that 's one of the most difficult languages to learn.

I speak spanish, and try to speak english.

 

[laurence]

Know about 500 words in Spanish, about 20,000 words less than Dear Mom, much to her chagrin. But I understand about three times as many. I think the best thing she gave me was a little education in the art of accent.

 

[justin]

Spanish - good (used to be great) - I can understand Spanish soap operas with ease.

French - basic, could get by on vacation in French-speaking countries

Italian - Can understand spoken and written language on a basic level (due to Spanish knowledge) - couldn't speak it without a guidebook

Thai dialect called "Nya" (not sure of spelling there) - very basic - wife and her family speak it, so I've picked up some from family conversations (wife speaks english too!)

Greek - I know the alphabet (engineer nerd)

I'd like to improve on all of these, since the study of other languages interests me.

 

[brewer12345]

Sadly, just english for me.  I can manage the basics ("Beer, please", "check, please", "where is the bathroom?" and "thank you") in German, French and Spanish.  I can usually get the gist of what my buddy's family is talking about in their dialect Italian simply because I have heard it for so many years and have the Latin vocabulary. That's about it.  I studied Latin in high school, so I missed spoken languages.  When I downshift or retire, learning at least Spanish is going to be a high priority for me.

 

[ProfHaroldHill]

Somebody famous, maybe Carl Sandberg, said you need to know how to say only three things in any language. I believe that they are something like "How much?" "I'll take ham and eggs" and "Do you love me?"

HH

 

[REWahoo]

"I'll take ham and eggs"

Probably not too helpful if you are speaking Hebrew or Farsi...

 

[Sheryl]

Similar to Brewer, With a few hours of brushing up I could/can muddle through the basics in Spanish, French and Mandarin.   Never been fluent enough to carry on more than a primative conversation in any of them.  And language slips away so fast without regular opportunities to use it!

 

[TromboneAl]

Swedish. Learned it because my wife is Swedish.

 

[yelnad]

I can speak, write, and read Spanish fluently. Because of that I can get by in Italian speaking places.

I can manage to get around in German. I can read the basics in French.

I also can chat in American Sign Language.

 

[jefipius]

Portuguese, Spanish, and of course, English.

 

[Martha]

Besides English, I am fluent in Marklar.

 

[uncledrz]

spanish -- creo que bastante

french -- un peu

uncledrz

 

[Nords]

At the age of 13, before starting 9th grade, I had to choose a language course. This being 1970s Pittsburgh, the choices were Spanish or French.

The Spanish teacher was a huge, surly, old battleax. I believe at that point she'd been teaching for 80 or 90 years. She yelled at her students, gave way too much homework, and expected them to actually learn what she was teaching them. Her reputation spread far & wide among terrified high school students.

The French teacher was rumored to have posed in Playboy. Her reputation also spread far & wide among a somewhat different group of students & parents.

You can guess which language I chose to study for the next six years. I even have top marks in a Defense Language Proficiency exam. However I've never had a reason to use it and I've never lived in a country where it was spoken. About all I can say is that it got me through the mandatory language requirements and it taught me how to speak better English.

My spouse spent five years studying Spanish. Her first duty station after college was... Spain. That was followed by Portugal (the Azores), Monterey, Hawaii, & San Diego. She's hardly ever stopped using her Spanish.

If I had to do it all over again I'd choose Spanish or Japanese-- languages that I might actually use someday.

 

[Sheryl]

I went to an informational session about the Peace Corps last night. I found it interesting that they have more Spanish-speakers than they know what to do with, but are activlely seeking French-speakers. I guess French is spoken in quite a few African countries.

 

[MJ]

un petit peu francais, and I do mean a little
ein besil yiddish
and half decent english.

I was born in France and came here when I turned 8. I made a great effort to learn english and to forgot my french by no longer speaking it, but I think english never took hold as I still don't feel comfortable with it. I sometimes reverse my words like the romance languages do.

c'est dommage.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Besides English, I am fluent in Marklar. 

When I was a younger man, besides our native tongue, I spoke
the language of love. I was fluent but often ended up in the
effluent as a result. A mixed blessing for sure

JG

 

[HFWR]

Lazy, illiterate Merkin here...

Took Latin in high school, nearly 40 yrs. ago...

I have been described, though, as a cunning linguist!!

 

[grumpy]

I I took two years of high school Spanish and then spent the summer of 1964 living with a Mexican family under an informal student exchange progam. I became pretty fluent and though I have not used my Spanish much in the intervening years I find that I can still communicate pretty effectively. I just have to use the phrases mas despacio por favor and otra vez por favor frequently.

Grumpy

 

[wabmester]

Took Latin in high school, nearly 40 yrs. ago...

Agricolae et puellae sont pulchrae.

Sorry, that's about all I retained.

 

[bearkeley]

We're considering Costa Rica as one of the places to retire to, so I'm learning more and more spanish each day. Not a need in that country, but I would like to eventually get "immersed" in their culture...

I also speak Tagalog fluently...(Philippine language). It won't make a difference really, though since the National language is actually English...if you visit one of the 7,000 islands, the locals would most likely speak English before they speak Tagalog...guess I better brush up on my English skills a bit more since we're considering a visit to the Philippine Islands outside Manila soon!

 

[GTM]

I think Spanish will probably be the most useful language for English speakers in travel and ER.

I ofter wonder how those in Thailand communicate with the locals.

Do you know any Thai?
I would think it would be a hard language to learn.

 

[HKMike]

Hi,

Swedish (because I am Swedish)

Danish (because I lived in Denmark for 10 years)

English, German and French (because unless you wish to limit your communication and business opportunities to 9 million Swedes and 5 million Danes, you learn other languages)

In the process of learning Thai. Been married for 8 years, but haven't bothered to learn beyond the basics as we haven't lived in Thailand. As we are moving there on November 15, this boy is going "back to school".

 

[Dreamer]

I had 3 years of French in high school. Definitely do not remember it!

Dreamer