If you were fluent in another language, what would it be?

[FurrySlipperBoots]

I was born in Germany (my parents lived in Darmstadt for 8 years, and had my brother and sister there too) but we came back to the UK when I was just 5 weeks old. I WISH they'd brought us up as bilingual. They still talk German to each other on occasion and watch German films/read German books. I officially learnt at school but the teacher was crap and I have no brain for languages so I've forgotten all but the most simple words. It would really have opened doors for me if I'd been brought up understanding it. If I had a magic wand and could pick just one other language to be fluent in, it'd be German.

What about you? How many languages do you speak already and which new one would you choose? Why?

You do not need to have a head for languages. You just need motivation, time and the ability to laugh at yourself.

If it is German you'd like to learn: Duolingo, Babel, Memrise, FutureLearn all offer free online courses that take you to a level where you can start using the language freely and get on via books, DVDs, German version of Mumsnet etc.

I would love to speak Russian.

That's really sad OP, what a wasted opportunity

I live in a Greek-speaking country and know the language fairly well but we have a massive Russian population here who are very important to the economy. English is the second language but Russian is slowly overtaking. I pick bits up and can read some Russian as there are some similarities to Greek.

I speak French pretty well (live in France for three months a year). I can chat to people, have a laugh in the local pub, explain myself clearly in shops or to workmen etc and have French friends. It's still a long way off being perfect however, and if a few French people are speaking rapidly together I tend to lose track a bit, so I'm probably proficient rather than fluent according to generally recognised assessment levels.

I can also speak very basic Italian. Enough to cope in shops, restaurants etc or ask directions or speak in simple terms about my job, home or family. Approaching a C at GCSE level maybe.

If you offered me the chance of magically getting my Italian up to the level of my French - which I could probably do by working hard for the next five years or so - or becoming very fluent in French I'd probably choose the second option. I'm still trying to progress by reading French novels and watching French TV but seem to have plateaued somewhat and probably should be doing some focused study if I want to improve further.

I don't blame you OP for regretting not having had the opportunity to be bilingual. It would be the most amazing gift.

I speak a couple of languages very well and know enough to get by in about another five.

I agree with @Prokupatuscrakedatus you just need to set aside some time and use the available free resources to get yourself to a decent beginners level. Last year I went from no German to around 700 words in 3 weeks of around one hour a day.

It's worth pointing out though that I have forgotten a lot of the German since I spopped practicing it.

This year I want to learn enough arabic to get by with.

I'd like to be able to speak German - I have ancestors who came to the UK from Germany in the mid 1800's and it would make me feel more connected to my genes.

Welsh. My mother is fluent, my dad speaks a bit. It was my first language. I grew up with a Welsh language primary school in the village I lived in. My grandmother was of a generation which felt (wrongly) that a Welsh language education was inferior and talked my parents out of sending us there. I lost most of my Welsh. I can get by but will never be truly bilingual now.

I speak some Russian (Russian DH) but the case system still trips me up, two +years in. I wish I was fluent. On the other hand, 20 minutes of Russian Peppa Pig with DD every night is working wonders.

I’m fluent in profanity 😜

I can speak Turkish so largely manage reading Azeri and communicating by listening hard. I can get by in French. I would love to make my French as fluent as it can be and pick up Spanish and Italian along the way having studied both at school and would love to learn Russian and Armenian.

Netball Arabic is hard! My ex husband is a Syrian Kurd; he spoke both Kurdish and Arabic but was unable to write Kurdish in the Latin alphabet (it was forbidden in schools). He refused to teach me Arabic but it was the only language he could write in. He also spoke Greek fluently (learnt it as an asylum seeker) but never mastered the alphabet.

DH speaks Arabic and I've studied it for years as have DDs. We are ok at it but would love to spend more time studying it so I can be fluent. So, Arabic.

Lived in Japan for a few years and taught English and learnt Japanese, loved that language too. Phonetic and not as difficult to learn as you would think.

Learning a language isn't exactly a once-only opportunity OP

You can start learning German now, or any other language

I wished I was fluent in German, so I went to live in Germany and learned the language, then used German in my job, got my Goethe Institute certificates...it was fun

Have also learned Spanish the same way

And English!

Even did Swedish for a bit

You can pick up a language to learn at any time in your life

Like Nike says: Just do it

Personally I hope to learn Portuguese at some point in the future too

Oh. Italian🇮🇹. The most romantic language

Japanese or French, they are the countries I travel to the most so makes sense...I know enough french to ask for things in shops and so on, but I’m not at a very high standard

LesLavandes l'm with you on that one. lt's just beautiful.

Another for Italian, life sounds beautiful in that language!

I consider myself fluent in English and Spanish. I understand Italian and French but I can't speak it.
In defence of your parents, raising a bilingual child can be hard and you get so much s>€^ from people.
My child is bilingual.
I have heard it all by now "poor thing, how confusing" "how will he learn English?" "I hope you are teaching him English" {this one from strangers}
Etc.

I would love to know Japanese and French.

Whilst it is true you can learn at any age, there is only a small window in which your muscles can get trained to produce specific sounds unless you get very good training, so you will still have an accent and won't sound "bilingual"

@HelmutFrontbut I do see the alphabet as a bigger challenge in learning arabic than the other languages I have studied. I don't currently intend to learn to read or write, just to speak but as I have never learned a language before without being able to visualise the written word as I speak it I have no idea how it will go.

Helmut I think we live in the same country if not town!
I have tried to learn Greek many times with numerous teachers but I find it so incredibly hard.
I can read and write, speak and understand a fair bit but I'm a very long way from fluent.
I wish there was an easy way!

I speak English and German.
I think I would otherwise most like to know sign language. I always find it fascinating when I see people signing to each other.

I forgot to answer your question - with a magic wand: all of them.
More realistically: Russian, Turkish, Indonesian and Chinese.

I think my English is passable, my Italian and Dutch are rusty, my French has diminished to a very basic level. I am working towards A2 level in Russian, Turkish, Frisian and Norwegian - I simply love languages.

BSL

I grew up French/ English bilingual and I did Spanish and Russian at uni. All 3 could do with a good brush up but they'd come back if I lived there. It is frustrating though how quickly they go when not used regularly.

I did a module of BSL at uni and found it very difficult making that transition from spoken language to sign but it would be such a useful skill to have.

German so many great works of literature to read

I studied German and live in Deutschland now, am very fluent in the language but not native standard, and of course my accent always gives me away. But I have German friends, and communicate in this language most days at work. I can also understand the notoriously challenging local dialect.

I can speak French and Russian but am so rusty now, it’s really just a “get by” level now. I’d love to be fluent in these languages, and also Lithuanian, Welsh and Gaelic.