To ask if you speak a second language?

[ethelfleda]

And if so, which language and how you learned/How long it took to become fluent?

I would love to learn Spanish but have no idea where to start!

My mum is from russia and so I grew up speaking both russian and english although I have little use for it.

Italian. Studied it here but became fluent spending a few months living as an au pair with a family who didn’t speak English. Spending a year studying in Italy was also beneficial. Watching films, tv and trying to learn songs in the language once you get to a certain level is good practice!

Yes, Mandarin Chinese. Lived in Asia for many years and then decided to do a degree in it.

I can get by in french but not fluent.

French and German. I learned bits at school then now I live in Luxembourg where they are pretty helpful. I think if you are just learning for the sake of it it would be hard to become fluent, unless you are using it very regularly. I'd start with maybe duolingo and then look for a language class locally. Then once you can speak a bit look for a language exchange. There might be facebook groups if you live in a bit city.

Yes, I’m fluent in crap aparantly

BSL - not fluent but can have a good conversation.

Yes, French. I learned at school and got an A* but when I met DH I realised this meant nothing and in fact I hardly knew anything! (DH is French). I am fluent now (C1 level) after living and working in a French-speaking place for the last 7 years and of course being married to a native speaker helps too (most of his family don't speak English).

I think that living and working in the language is what really gets you to fluently as you're forced to use it to function.

Portuguese. I'm still learning. My partner is from Algarve (we now live here), we started off by learning the words for different foods and writing these out on the shopping lists etc when we were in UK, i also spent a lot of time with his mum who speaks no English and learning how to make a few dishes with her. i also knew a few sayings but it also helped that there were a bit Portuguese community where i lived so we would socialize with other people and i would pick up words from the conversations. Now that i live here i've attended a course that i had to do for 3 months mon-fri 5-8 every day, that was hard! I'm going to start this again in April. I find listening to the radio helps, also the news, i can read most of the headlines and understand what's being said, as long as it's not too fast. The main way i've learned though is just by listening to people to talk and asking what different words mean if i don't know. You should also have confidence in speaking, i found as soon as i started to speak a little more i wasn't scared of saying something wrong and found people are helpful in letting you know the correct way of saving something etc..

Fluent in Italian, studied it at uni amd went on a year abroad but never, ever use it. Conversational French. I can read a fair bit of Latin too, studied it at school.

One foreign language - Spanish (rusty).

One language that is indiginous to the British isles but isn’t English.

French. Started at school, then college, then did a degree. Also did Italian a level and a year of German so can speak a bit of those. My friend lived in Spain for a while so picked up some of that when I was visiting (plus it's similar to Italian). In college my friend taught me some Icelandic but my knowledge of that is really basic. I find languages easy to learn though.

A-level French...does that count?
Punjabi - from ex-DP!

I would love to learn Spanish but have no idea where to start!

Get a good Learn Spanish type book, carry it around with you everywhere you go (maybe not the shower) and also start one to one lessons. At least one hour a week - more if you have time. If you do the lessons online (face to face via Skype or Google Hangout) it will be a hell of a lot cheaper.

In fact I know a very good online Spanish teacher, and I would be happy to PM you her details.

Or you can find a local class - but you will learn at a far, far slower pace. One to one is infinitely superior.

French, learnt at school and continued afterwards, Portuguese as I’ve lived here for nearly 15 years. In fact I’ve just passed the Portuguese language exam which I need as part of the process of becoming a Portuguese citizen - hopefully in a few months I’ll have my Portuguese passport!

I can get by in Hungarian. Should be fluent but my Hungarian dad stopped talking in that language when I was about 3. He failed to give me the gift of being bilingual. Make sure if you can pass languages on to your kids that you do!!!!

Finnish. My mum tried to teach it to me as a child but I didn't pick up much (mainly because my brother would always translate for me) but I moved to Finland ten years ago and attended immigrant school for a year and a half where I learnt grammar basics (not very well) but didn't really become conversational until a few years ago after I moved to a small town where people don't speak English so quickly or freely.

Conversational Spanish, on and off for a few yrs but more consistent this last year.
Went to Spain and spoke loads and with very little miscommunication but at home and practicing or being forced to speak it I am more stilted and less confidant.

About to start a beginners course at college although I'm passed that stage imo but it's something I need/want to do.

There's a free podcast called coffee break Spanish which is really great and can use memrise app too which is a good start.
Look at italki for free language exchange or tutoring when you get to that stage.

This thread has given me the push to get back into learning French - I've emailed the local college about their next block of evening classes.

DH always says what a shame it is that I lack confidence using the language on holiday. He's right - it's a waste and I should get back to it while I still have a decent base.

I speak German to about B2/C1 level. I did the standard grade as a kid, then 3 or 4 years of conversation classes, then an intensive 10 week course a couple of years ago. I also live in Germany I hate learning languages, it takes ages and I am deeply unmotivated. But if you live in the country it goes in eventually...

DH speaks four languages between very well and fluent. I'm crap, but I can pick out random words from all of them. And I can understand I lot more than I can speak. He uses them a lot in general conversation, it is rather irritating

Spanish. I lived in Madrid for 3 years. I wouldn't say I'm fluent, but I can more than get by. DC are both fluent though.

Spudlet I tried to start a chat thread in Italian but nobody answered and I felt a bit like Gugliemo no-amici . Here it is, if you're interested!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3102730-Allora-chattiamo-anche-in-italiano

I can understand basic conversational Turkish but am terrified of speaking it 😂😂 my partner is Turkish but speaks very decent English, his family speak little to no English so I'm desperate to learn. I had a couple of months of 1 to 1 twice a week but teacher then moved abroad, so I'm now using a language app (babbel) to learn the basics. Practising with my partner is fine, but he can't explain WHY things are wrong (grammar rules etc) because his English is good but not fluent. I only want to learn so I can get to know his family better, it's incredibly awkward when my partner has to translate EVERY single word 🙈🙈

Using it is the key. It doesn't work just to learn/study something, you need to get yourself into a space where you're using it, however crudely. It's like playing football or parenting, it's a skill, not knowledge. You'll never get good at football unless you get out on the field, and you might think you're parent of the year when you're pregnant and have read 7 parenting books but you find out very quickly when the baby arrives that your book-learning can only give you the beginnings, it is exactly the same with languages.