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.

Learned welsh, French & Latin in school (state). Can speak French, understand Welsh and can understand some Punjabi, Polish, German, Italian and Scandinavian words and phrases.

English native, fluent in French and German, learnt in Uni to degree level. Can speak basic conversational Italian and Dutch and am currently learning Welsh (definitely the hardest yet!)

I think it’s easy to say Brits are lazy, when the whole world (sort of) speaks you’re language I can see why the motivation isn’t there.

It’s hard enough trying to speak to Dutch people in Dutch, they just want to speak English.

I want to also learn Greek as I holiday there every year.

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I'm proficient in 2, can get by on holiday in another 2. I just had a passion and natural ability in them so chose them as my degree. I have continued one in particular all my life through connections in rhr country and it brings me joy to be able to communicate in a different language. My A-level teacher in that subject had a profound influence on my life. I could cry when I see the state of language teaching policy in the UK. The benefits of language learning are immense.

I haven't read the thread, but I'm a native English speaker and I teach foreign languages. I'm fluent in French and German (and have a university degree in them), speak good conversational Spanish and can read literature etc. I also speak a little Italian.

Children in English state schools are supposed to learn a foreign language from age 8, but most primary schools do not have a proper language teacher. Foreign languages are no longer compulsory in English schools beyond the age of 14 and lots choose not to continue. Even those who continue to 16 usually can't communicate well in the language by the time they take their exams.

This is because of a variety of reasons, including - virtually no exposure to the language outside the classroom (unlike children from other countries being exposed to lots of English). Little to no understanding of English grammar, which makes it much harder to learn another language. Cultural resistance to learning foreign languages.

Oh I forgot to answer the bonus question! I would love to learn Japanese (and visit Japan!). I taught myself a bit a few years ago, but although I loved it, I realised Spanish was going to be much more useful to me, so I focussed on that instead. I'll go back to Japanese one day though!

Mediocre in French, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish. Used to be much better in German and Spanish as I lived in Germany and Mexico for a period.

Trying to learn Russian atm as my Grandfather was fluent but he died when my mum was 3. My Grandmother just died and she left me his books and I'd love to be able to read them at some point.

I speak and read decent French - could order a meal, read a recipe, ask for directions. I am not very good at writing any more, but was quite good.

I can speak basic Japanese, but I can’t read it or write it.

I learnt Mandarin and Malay as a child, but now can’t remember much beyond hello in either language.

I began to teach myself Gaelic over lockdown, but not much opportunity to use it.

When I was at school in the 1980s, everyone did either French or German, starting at age 12 for at least 2 years, and at 14 there was the option to pick up Spanish too. Doing languages to exam standard wasn't compulsory.

I was good at languages so did both French and Spanish at Uni. Dropped French after first year. Spanish fluent. Regularly watch Spanish TV which helps. French not back, can understand most but speaking trickier. Can get the jist of Italian, Portuguese. Smattering of German, but very basic.

I speak reasonable French, which was learned primarily at school but further picked up in later life. I speak a fair bit of German and Spanish from other school studies/having travelled there and Italian kind of naturally follows Spanish and French as there's a lot of overlap (and I did a short course in it at school).

I tend to pick up bits of languages wherever I go, so I also speak/understand some Turkish, Hindi, Arabic and Farsi.

As for a language I'd like to learn, I'd like to be able to speak Hebrew.

German is pretty much dead in English (state) schools, unfortunately. That's why I taught myself Spanish!

Oh, and Gaelic. I did start learning but it was hard to do in an office where I'd look like a loon for muttering to myself in a different language

I learned French at school and went on a three week exchange, where communication with the family I stayed with was reasonable. I have since forgotten almost all of it as I never used it. I also learned a small amount of Latin, also long gone from my memory.

I speak a Scandinavia language and can also write to a reasonable level, though I use tools such as Google Translate for professional communication and still get colleagues to check all official letters that will be sent to the general public. I learned the language for a year when I moved here over ten years ago, and now work in a professional role, using it.

So I am fluent, but learned as an adult in a country where I was living, rather than ever making use of the random language I learned at school.

Before Coronavirus, I did a fair bit of travelling in Europe and it has often struck me that native English speakers are very fortunate as very often the only two languages available in airports are the local language and English. That’s not to say that English speakers shouldn’t learn another language (I think they should) but there isn’t another that’s quite so obviously useful when travelling (in Eurpoe at least) as English is to non-English speakers.

Actually, this is possibly a bit off-the-wall, but I sometimes work on a production line. I had observed that those from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland often seemed to chat to one another. Last year I discovered they mostly speak Russian between themselves, just as many western Europeans speak English when they don’t share a mother tongue. So if I could choose, I might choose Russian. But of course, now the UK has left the EU and probably won’t have so many immigrants from those countries, it might not be so useful there as it once might have been.

Native English speaker .I learned to read write and speak basic French and German at state school in England, I've not used German much but speak/understand enough to get by on travels. My school French was good enough to get a job in France as a nanny and become absolutely fluent; back in UK I then acted as a tour guide to French groups and taught French in school.

My kids learned (only) spoken French at state school, not as well -aught as I was. one of them owns a holiday house in France and his French has improved a lot from spending so much time there.

I am not fluent in French but I can hold a conversation with pretty much anyone about pretty much anything, read a newspaper, listen to the radio and watch a film in it without difficulty. I might miss a few finer nuances but would understand everything. If I heard a word I didn't know eg on the radio I would probably be able to guess it by context to some extent (much as I would in English). I started learning French at 5, taught by my aunt who is fluent and just read me French kids' books etc. I didn't learn it properly until secondary school (nothing at all at primary) but I think the early exposure helped me greatly with my accent which is good. A French person would know I'm not French but might not guess where I am from and I regularly get compliments that I have good command of the language when I visit France. My grammar is very good indeed and I rarely make an error in either that or spelling. I have French friends so we email etc and I can even cope just about OK with verlan.

I did German O Level but can't really speak it now as I haven't used it. But I can read some German. I would struggle recalling vocab for expressive speech but remember lots when I read it. If I were to spend some time there I think I could get back to a basic level of competence fairly easily. I don't think I could watch a film etc without a lot of work!

I speak holiday Spanish, Italian and Greek. By which I mean that I can order a meal in a restaurant or book a table, read a menu without an English translation, ask directions, find out basic info and respond appropriately eg thanking people for help or giving answers to basic questions. I would have to look up vocab for a complicated question and my grammar knowledge is fairly basic, particularly around tenses.

DD just finished Y9 and I do think that what is expected of her in French is less than I was able to do at that age. She is doing Russian too and absolutely loves it. She plans to do at least one language at A Level.

I did French to degree level, worked there for 6 months, thought I was fluent when I moved there aged 35.
I wasn't.
20 years later, married to a Frenchman, we only speak French in the house, my friends are French, so I think I'm fluent now despite the Jane Birkin accent and occasional gender confusion.
I only managed C1 level when applying for nationality but I think most French people I know would have struggled getting to a C2 level.

Im also skeptical about the level of fluency stated by previous posters who claim fluency when they haven't used the language for many years. Oral ability is nothing to do with good written exam results.

The last 18 months is the longest I've gone without using my French in some context to communicate with actual French people. I pretty well never get a response in English if I speak in French, including in very touristy places. My accent is apparently not identifiably English, probably because a lot of my time in France was spent in the Limousin region so I probably have a bit of the local accent, plus a hint of other teachers, some of whom were native speakers.

I do switch to thinking in French when speaking French for more than a day - and end up with French style grammar in English when I've been doing French all day.

If I'd not spent a year studying French Law at a French Uni in lectures with the French students I wouldn't have been as near fluent as I am. Because of other stuff (staying in halls plus sports teams) it was near total immersion which is what it takes.

My Dad lives in France, but he's never got beyond competent communication with very English grammar and accent - he struggled with French at school but coped on holidays.

I only managed C1 level when applying for nationality but I think most French people I know would have struggled getting to a C2 level.

I teach EFL and there aren't many students who can achieve C2 level exams. I agree a large proportion of native English speakers would struggle - particularly with the written level. However, I teach C1 students and they're very good but I wouldn't call them fluent. B2s are the commonest exam level internationally and they are definitely not fluent. However, their level should equate to a foreign language at GCSE level but I invigilate those exams and GCSEs are way less challenging. When I mark exams of foreign students, I find the English they're producing at school age is really impressive.

I always think you're cracking a language when you start to dream in it!

@SquirryTheSquirrel

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!

Not always. Sometimes when films are dubbed, it's not a direct translation, but with vocabulary adapted in the dubbed language to fit the mouth shapes better.

In the UK, we tend to go for subtitles for foreign language films; some other countries are more likely to dub than subtitle.

^currently learning Welsh (definitely the hardest yet!)

Dw i'n cytuno!

I was once on a yoga holiday with a load of Germans. We ended up speaking to each other in our own language, because passive vocabulary is usually better than active vocabulary, and conversation was less stilted, because we weren't hunting for the right word so much. They'd say something in German, and I'd reply in English.

Mind you, when I'm really tired, I sometimes struggle to find the word in English, too. With other languages, I had no problem at school (French and Latin to A-level,) no confusion, even though they're quite closely related. These days, I struggle more with interference and more than once in Welsh class, I've come out with a word in French or Spanish or German - my brain seems to go into phases where it just does English or foreign, which is not actually helpful.

I speak and read holiday French. 30 years ago I was proficient but in haven't used it and by fluency and ability to think in the language has gone. I can make my way in Spanish but again I was much more able 35 years ago. It is a regret of my life as I had a facility for learning languages. My DC had much worse language teaching than me and are very poor ar foreign languages.