Anyone speak more than two languages

[EL72]

I've spoken French and English since learning to talk. I also speak Hebrew fluently so that's three - and I'm not European. I can get by in Spanish but need to brush up.

 

[MCsommerreid]

Originally Posted by Journeyman

To me, "fluent" means effectively native speaker level. Perhaps other people are using different definitions of fluent, such as "can communicate effectively and be widely understood".

I think that might be how "fluent" is currently being used these days. Perhaps a little more advanced than "can communicate effectively", like "can read, write, and speak to a master level". Lately I've seen "native" used as a level implying complete or near complete knowledge of cultural aspects of a language, even by people who are obviously not native speakers.

 

[Big Pun]

English, Gaelic, and butchered Spanish.

 

[amerikajinda]

English, a little Korean and a little Japanese.

 

[adambparker]

English (native language), fluent Hebrew (read, write, speak), proficient reading knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin (not as strong as Greek), high school French (could still get by in a taxi, in a pinch), learning Italian. Reading knowledge of a couple ancient semitic languages (but again not as strong as Greek).

 

[modern_leifeng]

English and Mandarin with rusty French on the side. I have some Hebrew skills and studied Russian off and on.

 

[LabelKing]

Rarely one meets an old white person who can speak Shanghai-nese. These are usually Jews who were born in Shanghai during the '30s.

There was a large influx of European Jews to Shanghai during the '30s because China was one of the few countries, apparently, that had a lax immigration policy for Jews.

 

[Pezzaturra]

Originally Posted by Lucky Strike

Being Norwegian, I also understand Swedish and Danish quite well, the Scandinavian languages are quite close.

Most Scandinavians are supposedly quite fluent in English. Much of the reason for this is that the Scandiavian languages are too small to have television and films dubbed, so you get the original languages, with subtitles in your own. Portugal, for example, has the same situation WRT dubbing, apparently, whereas Germany/France/Italy/Spain does not. The Portuguese generally speak English very well, the Spanish, not so much.

Also, I speak some German and a very little French.

Isn't Swedish very close to English in that that it is Germanic language and it has very large English(French) vocabulary?
I always find English words among written Swedish.

I have heard that Hungarian and Danish are among the hardests to master.

 

[skyman]

Originally Posted by Pezzaturra

Isn't Swedish very close to English in that that it is Germanic language and it has very large English(French) vocabulary?
I always find English words among written Swedish.

I have heard that Hungarian and Danish are among the hardests to master.

Swedish is similar to English in the same way that a rock is similar to cheese,

I speak English, Welsh, and French.

 

[vitaminc]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Rarely one meets an old white person who can speak Shanghai-nese. These are usually Jews who were born in Shanghai during the '30s.

There was a large influx of European Jews to Shanghai during the '30s because China was one of the few countries, apparently, that had a lax immigration policy for Jews.

Not to be confused with Jewish Chinese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews

 

[Big Pun]

Have the oppurtunity to learn Chinese in school. Might try it.

 

[Orpheus]

Originally Posted by skyman

Swedish is similar to English in the same way that a rock is similar to cheese,

This is wrong.

I speak English and have a nice hold on French if not "fluent". Was taught in high school and am still a little intimidated by how quickly the French speak. Am lightweight.

 

[skyman]

Originally Posted by Orpheus

This is wrong.

I speak English and have a nice hold on French if not "fluent". Was taught in high school and am still a little intimidated by how quickly the French speak. Am lightweight.

Wut?

I said swedish not french?
Plus I know people who speak Swedish, know a few lines and it is very different from English. Although alot of English is derived from French.

 

[Lel]

English, French, Vietnamese.

Except I suck at two of them, would like to pick up another but I want to be more proficient in French before I do.

 

[Orpheus]

Originally Posted by skyman

Wut?

I said swedish not french?
Plus I know people who speak Swedish, know a few lines and it is very different from English. Although alot of English is derived from French.

Genetically, both English and Swedish are Germanic languages, so they are more "related" than English and French - though English has many, many loan words from French, French is actually a daughter language of Latin, whereas English is not. So from a linguistic perspective English is similar to Swedish.

Sorry for being snobby, linguistics has always interested me.