I’m fluent in 4 languages AMA

[MotherFuckingLanguages]

Questions in title

wow so you're fluent in Mandarin Chinese? or Cantonese?

did you spend time in China?

I spent a year living with five languages - my native English, Japanese (year-out in Tokyo at a language school), everyday German as an au-pair for a German family, tutoring the German kids in French, and also studying Spanish for an exam I had failed at uni the year before
I never knew what was going to come out of my mouth
but I wasn't fluent in all the non-native languages by any means - maybe German and Japanese because I was using them every day.

I am now native level in Japanese (lived here for nearly 30 years) but have lost fluency in German, French and Spanish, although I can understand them fairly well.

Is my wine cooler fixable?

If you weren't a teacher how else would you be putting your languages to good use?

Another MFL teacher here! Are you planning to learn any more languages? If so,which would you most like to learn?

We’re a OPOL family and trilingual. It’s the norm for us.

Same here OP (but rather more obscure languages). It is very normal in other parts of the world.

Parker how does OPOL work with three languages? I am fluent in 4 and now living in country 5. Dc are in school learning local language but dh and I only have incredibly basic skills in it and feel we’re not much help. Speaking English is a huge impediment to learning it though has everyone switched to English as soon as you show any weakness!

I'm not parker but presumably OPOL in two non-local languages with DC learning the third language at school/nursery?

But people speak Catalan in Barcelona don't they?
I'm still struggling to see how a year in Barcelona makes you fluent in Spanish, German and another language (which one)?
I don't think it's possible to get fluent in a language without extended/repeated visits to the country or having a parent (or someone else in regular contact) who speaks the language fluently.
However, perhaps I have a different definition of "fluent".

DH is French Canadian, I’m from Belgium- Flemish and we live in London. English isn’t spoken at home. DT’s learnt English at nursery. DD is now doing languages at Uni. She added Spanish and German whilst she was at school and is currently learning Russia. She is hoping to work as a translator at the EU or UN.

about OPOL in more than two languages - not my situation, but I have a friend who is Swedish, his wife is Japanese, but they speak English together, so they speak to their DS OPOL plus family language English (and Japanese at local nursery school for the DS)

@AnotherEmma Although Catalan is spoken in Barcelona the predominant language spoken in the city is Spanish. Unfortunately Barcelona has attracted so many immigrants from other areas of Spain and further afield that many residents of Barcelona speak better Spanish than catalan and many people who were born and raised in the city consider Spanish to be their mother tongue. Throughout Catalonia Barcelona is generally looked down upon and mocked because of the poor Catalan skills in the city.

@AnotherEmma

I don't think it's possible to get fluent in a language without extended/repeated visits to the country or having a parent (or someone else in regular contact) who speaks the language fluently.
However, perhaps I have a different definition of "fluent"

same

Llave de dongle - have you seen the one Ronnie fruit shop sketch? Only it has a dongle sketch and I show it most years in Spain and have yet to meet a Spaniard who knows the work dongle. The double entendre gets lost and they just go with a heavily accented "pendrive."

My question is - have you lived in one of those countries? When did you realise you were fluent?

I class fluent as being able to read, write and speak the language at the same level as your birth language.

I agree with TateRose and AnotherEmma

I was fluent in 3 languages having spent a lot of time in those 3 countries, and studying languages at uni.

I now consider myself to be bilingual (English (mother tongue) & French - I live in France and use it at work, home and everywhere basically) with a good level in German. I know I could become fluent again in German but I'd need to spend time there again.

I class fluent as being able to read, write and speak the language at the same level as your birth language.

^this

Also - switching between languages - how are you at that? Any tricks?

My DC are trilingual and it's amazing watching the effortless switch. I speak reasonably well in a few languages but living near a border and crossing over regularly I can't go into the other language (which I speak!) at all! It is so frustrating as I'm fluent to listen but just about manage to get out a couple of words.

Good point about switching languages. I know several bilingual people (including myself and my DC) and the switch is effortless.
We're used to it, but I did have some people quiz me about how it could possibly work at the dinner table with more than one language. Very easily was my answer.

Question for OP:
Do you find it frustrating only using basic level language at work?
Are the kids in your classes motivated to learn languages?

So am I. At playtime (international school) we sometimes used to speak to each other in one language but reply in another (don't know why we started this 😂)

@Marinetta
Oh I see, very interesting! Thanks.

@Parker231
"I class fluent as being able to read, write and speak the language at the same level as your birth language."
Hmmm, i would define it differently. It is very difficult to speak another language to the same level as your "birth" language (side note - what is birth language, is it the mother's language or dominant language in country of birth?). If someone does, I would call then bilingual/multilingual.
I think "fluent" is a lower level of proficiency but it still means that someone is able to communicate effectively (orally and in writing) in various contexts - everyday, social, professional. To achieve that you do need to have lived in the country or at least visited regularly and/or for prolonged periods - or speak the language with a parent.

I am fluent in French (I've studied it, lived there, speak it daily with DH and visit France regularly) but I absolutely do not speak it to the same level as I speak English.

We are hoping to raise our son bilingual ie speaking both languages to the same level, but there's a lot to consider to give him the best chance of achieving that.

What does OPOL mean and how does everyone just automatically know what it means?!

OPOL - one parent, one language.

how does everyone just automatically know what it means?!

I guess on a thread about multilingualism, OPOL will be familiar to those of us with kids who are bilingual etc. or those folk who speak several languages themselves from childhood...

@MotherFuckingLanguages where are you? lots of interesting questions on here

What level do modern language students reach in the common European framework if they get an A at A Level?