A question about native English speakers and foreign languages

[DelphineMarineaux]

Hello!
I'm not a native English speaker so please bear with the mistakes and errors I might make.

I would like to ask native English speakers (particularly those that have only grown up speaking English) if you are proficient or fluent in any other language than English? As in, can you proficiently read, write, understand and communicate in another language aside from English? If so, may I ask where you learned whatever foreign language you know from?

I don't live in an English speaking country so I'm also curious to know how much education kids in English speaking countries get in foreign languages at school? And are the kids learning foreign languages on a high level? As in when they graduate from school, are they able to proficiently read, write, understand and communicate in a / several foreign language(s)?

Aaand a little bonus question: If you don't know any foreign languages, but had the opportunity to learn any foreign language in the world, which would you choose and why?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I’m fluent in Hungarian only because both my parents are Hungarian. My mum would only speak to me in Hungarian and went to school speaking it with very little English. My db was the same, and learnt at play school how to speak English apart from a few choice swear words he picked up.
The schools in England are quite random with which languages are taught. My dds are learning French at school, but I have a feeling that PE and French take a back burner when other activities are on.

Thank you to the pps who have put me right about teaching in schools. My experience was with my own children a few years ago. I could not get the school to organise French classes even though there was a School exchange scheme to Northern France every year.
My apologies for misleading people.

I do think languages are much easier for some than others, and it’s not all about the teaching. I studied 2 European languages to GCSE, took 1 of them to A level and added a Russian GCSE, then taught myself a Far Eastern language while working overseas for a year during my degree. Through my job I’ve also gained 2 Middle Eastern languages. I love learning new languages, but my brain is able to identify patterns that help me remember grammar and vocabulary, which makes it relatively easy.
Skill fade is enormous though, it’s very much use it or lose it!

I got As in French and German GCSE 30 years ago, but didn't study them beyond that level. I can read the languages much better than I can speak them or understand speech.

I'd describe my level of proficiency as 'can get by on holiday'. I've found Germany in particular is receptive when the native Germans can see you are making the effort with the language, and they will speak slowly and help you with the word you need, rather than switching to English.

I’m not from the Uk, native English speaker. I speak two other languages fluently, and three more to a good conversational level. I’d like to learn Russian and to improve my Arabic.

I think there’s a deeply weird attitude to bring anything other than monoglot in most of the UK — it’s more than the schools language provision, it’s also a fixed idea that learning languages is both very hard and embarrassing and also useless if you’re a native English speaker. There are also some entrenched ideas about languages having a hierarchy — a lot of my British Asian friends and acquaintances, even though they speak Punjabi or Urdu or Gujerati at home, don’t ‘count’ those as making them multilingual.

I am at a ‘can get by‘ level in 3 European languages, two I learnt at school and the 3rd when living abroad. I’m currently learning a 4th out of personal interest, using online materials at the moment but plan to invest in lessons once I’ve picked up a bit more.

So many interesting and surprising replies from everyone, thank you so much! I'm really happy to read that so many English-speaking people have an interest and passion for other languages even though, as many of you say, you're in a position where you don't necessarily need to learn any other languages as you can get by in most parts of the world with your native tongue.

Also super interesting to hear which languages you all want to learn, or are in the proces of learning!

I speak French and German, sort of fluently, but not perfect! I have forgotten some, but I find it soon comes back if I use the language regularly again. I did them at school, along with Latin, and then did a degree in languages because I really enjoy them. I would say that I don't really know many other people, apart from those I studied with, who enjoy languages. I don't think languages are very popular in schools at the moment, which I think is a shame.

I would say that most children leaving school are not fluent in any foreign languages, unless they are really dedicated to learning them.

OP, you may not be a native speaker, but your English is excellent!

If I could learn another language, it would be Russian, I love the sound of it.

not proficient, but did A level french, I can still read it pretty well and just about watch a french film without subs, but my speaking is terrible. I found this out because my husband is Algerian and as I don't speak Arabic I had to speak some french on holiday in Algiers. It wasn't pretty !

The language curriculum in the UK is really poor, I’m not a native English speaker, but moved to the UK when I was 8, so I followed the British (well English) education system.

Our secondary school offered french and german, we learned about subjunctives etc, but the English curriculum was so poor we didn’t know what that was.

I’m fluent in Urdu, Balti and English, I also know a decent amount of BSL and arabic, I’m learning Swedish at the moment.

I mainly speak Urdu to my son, so he is pretty good at it, he also speaks English and BSL, like me hes learning Swedish.

My husband is learning BSL and Urdu.

Learning any second language is a really useful thing to do, the UK just doesn’t value it enough, its almost seen as pointless by ignorant people.

The only British born people I know who speak a second language are either Welsh, or their parents aren’t native Brits.

I can manage basic french - I could shop, travel, hold a basic conversation etc. My reading and writing is far stronger than my spoken french.

Learned and school and university but its been years so have forgotten most.

I can do 'holiday spanish' - order food etc and help my son with his Spanish homework.

Learned on duolingo.

I'm amused at the number of people on this thread who consider themselves 'fluent' in a language after having studied it to A Level and not used it since. Fluency in a language is classed as being able to carry out spontaneous, flexible and complex conversation with very little hesitation and few errors. It's not being able to order a drink at the bar with confidence! True fluency is only really acquired after spending a significant amount of time in a country where the language is spoken, or spending a lot of time around native speakers where you're hearing and speaking in the language on a regular basis. True fluency is impossible to achieve after a few years of school education in the UK. MFL teaching in this country is dire and has been for too many years. The focus on grammar to the detriment of real world language skills in the early years of teaching means that many children can gain a GCSE while knowing very little vocabulary other than their main verb conjugations and their hobbies. It makes me very sad. There was a big drive a few years ago now to make MFL mandatory in primary schools, but that was dropped very quickly after they struggled to hire enough teachers. For me, that was a huge missed opportunity.

I'm English, but speak fluent French due to having worked in France for 6 years. I wouldn't say I'm bilingual, as I never think in French, but I can cope in most situations unless there's very specific vocabulary being used (for example if I had to take my car to the garage and explain a mechanical problem, I'd need to take a dictionary with me), can watch film and TV in French, read novels in French, etc. I love being able to speak another language, and it has given me a wonderful insight into my relationship with my own language, as well as a better understanding of French culture. I did A Level French, which gave me a good grounding of the basics, but it didn't really prepare me at all for being able to communicate fluently in the language in the real world. It was only using the language every day with French people and being surrounded by the language that enabled me to develop my skills to fluency. I also did German and Latin at school, but can't remember much of either now, which is a shame. You really do lose it if you don't use it!

British people are lazy when it comes to learning languages as the default second language of most non-English speakers is English. It's hard to feel motivated to learn another language when everyone else can already speak your language far better than you'll ever be able to speak theirs! So much of Western culture is produced in English that the exposure of non-English speakers to English is considerable within their own countries. If we want to make British people better at languages, we have to be more willing to expose ourselves to non-English language culture. Non-English language TV series and films are considered 'niche' here, whereas in non-English speaking countries, the majority of their film and TV is in English with subtitles. Likewise with music. We need to be more open to the cultural output of other countries in order to attune ourselves to other languages and make it more desirable for young people to learn them.

My bucket list language is Russian. One day!

I can get by in French, German and Spanish and by extension have a stab at a few words in Dutch, Portuguese and Italian where there are similarities. I learned all 3 languages at school and have some family who speak one or two of each, so some home practice too.

I love the process of language learning as much as any practical application, which I think helps, as many posters have pointed out most English speakers have no real NEED to learn another language.

If I could learn another language it would be Dutch, as it's a country I love and would like to spend more time in in the future.

I have O Level French and Ancient Greek. When I was teaching one of the mothers, who spoke perfect English with no trace of the local accent, told me she came here to get married at the age of 16. I asked her if she had learnt English at school. No she hadn't, she learnt it here by watching television.

I did French and German at school to standard grade level and got top grades (4 years of french and 2 of german), but wasn't part of a family who could afford to go abroad on holidays... so never got to use them!

I think it's a little different now, with netflix etc allowing access to different spoken languages (or at least subtitles), but I think for a lot of people it just isn't possible to retain the language learned in school.

At University one of my flatmates was German, but my attempt to speak to her in German was just met with laughter... that didn't help either!

I’m amused at the number of people on this thread who consider themselves 'fluent' in a language after having studied it to A Level and not used it since.

What, the number none? I haven’t seen any one say that. The vast majority have said either that they studied at school but wouldn’t call themselves proficient/ fluent. Some say they studied at school and then went in to live in the country or study at uni. A few say that they studied at school and are fluent, but don’t say it was just because of A Level or that they haven’t used it since.

Sorry, an errant either in that post

It's so much easier now you can change the languages on streaming services.

I used to watch the Spanish dub of DVDs, sometimes with subtitles, sometimes without which I thought was useful, but not all of them have it — I've watched a lot of Bewitched (or Hechizada) in Spanish because it was a series that actually had dubbed and subtitles versions.

I have Spanish and French O Levels both grade A (I know, I'm old). But I never got the impression our teachers were teaching us the language. They were teaching us about the language (if that makes sense). So, what sorts of sounds, the grammar, but without ever thinking we'd, you know, actually be able to USE it with real people. They never imparted any belief we could actually become proficient. In those days the exams were negatively marked, you lost marks for every mistake, in every section including the oral. Such a wasted opportunity. I'm teaching myself German and after about 18 months work spread over 3 years (corona has been very distracting) I can make my German penfriend laugh at my jokes in German. It took just a few weeks get to the same level as I was in French after 5 years and Spanish after 4.

I learned some french & Spanish in secondary school. I got an a-level in the french & spent quite a bit of time in france at a relative's holiday house, so could use it fairly well in a social context, however I got worse and worse through my 20s because attempts to actually use it were useless because the French speakers always spoke better English than my French.

In general though Britain has essentially given up on foreign language provision. English is the lingua franca of the world so in a business context where you might have people of 3 or 4 mother tongues, everything tends to be in English as that's the only thing everyone understands. As an English speaker I've typically found I get few opportunities to practise other languages.

If I could be proficient in another language it would be chinese, Arabic or Spanish.

I can't speak a foreign language. I studied French in secondary school up until year 9 but didn't take it at GCSE level. I hate that I can't speak a foreign language and wish I'd been pushed more to do it when I was younger. I think it goes back to the (general) arrogant view of the English and this idea that "winning" a war 80(ish) years ago means everybody should speak English. I've already bought little bits so that my son & I can learn to speak French together once he's a little bit older

When I'm in context, I'm near enough fluent in French - easy conversation and most of my vocab holes correspond with those I have in English - specific cuts of meat beyond the obvious, fish, technical car stuff. There's also things I know in French but not English (skiing stuff).

If there's a French film on I don't need the subtitles, even with a Marseilles accent (Taxi).

The thing that made me fluent was my year abroad almost entirely immersed in French - didn't live with other English students but stayed in halls.

A-level taught me most of the necessary grammar, studies plus other activities improved my working vocabulary, and I still read trashy fiction in French as the inevitable typos and American spellings piss me off less (probably because I don't see them!)

I did French at O Level and find it useful on holiday. I also did German for a year and when I took it back up again I could remember one sentence. Have been plugging away for years and am now B2ish. My plans to spend a longer period of time there have been scuppered by Brexit.

Language provision in the UK is not good but it’s not surprising. English is the international language of the internet, film, science, computing etc. Many/most other countries teach English as their second language and those learners have enormous advantages over UK based English speakers trying to learn other languages.

That said it’s easier to learn other languages than ever with an enormous amount of online material.

@TheDistortion

I’m amused at the number of people on this thread who consider themselves 'fluent' in a language after having studied it to A Level and not used it since.

What, the number none? I haven’t seen any one say that. The vast majority have said either that they studied at school but wouldn’t call themselves proficient/ fluent. Some say they studied at school and then went in to live in the country or study at uni. A few say that they studied at school and are fluent, but don’t say it was just because of A Level or that they haven’t used it since.

I was speaking in generalities rather than specifics. I only skim read the posts, to be honest, but a few claims of fluency without anything other than school experience stood out to me. This is because false claims of fluency in languages is a bugbear of mine for professional reasons. Having worked in a job where I had to hire people for whom fluency in French was a mandatory requirement - and then had to sit through many an awkward interview in which people who believed themselves to be fluent due to having done an A Level many moons ago struggled to haltingly put a sentence together - has made me very sensitive to exaggerated claims of fluency!

I also think a lot of people genuinely don't understand what fluency means in foreign language terms. The European Framework for Languages, which sets the standard for foreign language exams, considers people to be fluent when they have reached C1 standard, which is broadly the level of a university student in the language. That's a very advanced level of language learning. As such, the word fluent is bandied about far too frequently for my liking, and it sets up totally false expectations for someone's language ability if they claim fluency when they're actually far from it.

I do appreciate I am a total pedant when it comes to this though, so apologies for my pernickety post.

A tip for refreshing rusty school language skills before a holiday is to watch the relevant foreign-language dubbed version of a film you know well. As it's a film you know, you can follow it easily and practice trying to decode word-for-word what the actors are saying. Obviously also works with foreign original films and hiding or ignoring subtitles!