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.

English native speaker. No other languages. I’m always astonished when reporters for example interview a random someone on the streets of Hong Kong, Moscow, Kabul, anywhere really, and they can speak English.
I think we’re just not very good at languages in England.
I’d learn Russian. No particular use for it but it’s beautiful.

I speak Italian but I've never studied it, learned it purely by living in Italy with an Italian for over 20 years and it's now my daily language at home and work. I see how well the children here in Italy speak English and think I could have never spoken a second language so well as a child. I don' t know if the UK has improved, but when I was at school we didn't really study another language.

@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 speak Romany and four Indian languages fluently (all learned after I was already fluent in English) but also have a working knowledge of Spanish, French, Korean (spoken and writing) and Mandarin (spoken - I learned via pinyin so can’t read anything else).

I was told before I learned Mandarin that native English speakers tend to learn faster as English uses tones unofficially (this is why many linguists believe English is one of the most difficult languages on earth to become properly fluent in) - I didn’t believe it at first but found to my amazement I was able to have basic conversations after just a few weeks. My Spanish and Korean skills were built thanks to my knowledge of Hindi and Punjabi as the words and grammatical structures are similar.

Next step is to become fluent in Arabic and Farsi. I can already understand a bit when people speak it due to the similarities between the Indian languages I know but I want to become fluent so I can read poetry.

I’m English and grew up in an only English speaking house. I learnt French and German at school-badly, but then went to live in France and Spain so am fluent in both.

The standard in schools varies here, children have 2-3 hours a week of foreign language learning in secondary school, more at A level.

I studied French at secondary school for 5 years, and at 16 could hold a conversation, read, write and understand it. Now I can barely get by as I've very seldom had the chance to practice it in the intervening years.

I have basic French and German. It used to be much better, but old age and lack of use means I've forgotten loads.

I started French in what would now be year 6 (I think), when I was 7 and continued till 16, and did German from 14-16. I got reasonable grades in both (Bs).

I did Latin as well, from 11, and am often surprised by how much Italian I can read as a result. I think I'll take up Italian when I retire.

I studied (but was absolutely terrible at) French and German at school.

I move to Denmark in 2007. By 2016 I understood the basics of the language but had trouble communicating in it still. At the end of that year I moved in with my girlfriend and her two daughters (then 2 & 6) that obviously only spoke Danish. I got better. Fast.

There are no better teachers than small children who will cheerfully and unrelentingly correct your every little mistake.

Nor sure I'd really class myself as officially fluent to be honest. But it's a long time time since I had to switch to English to be understood at any rate, and I happily read the Danish news etc.

Native English speaker. I'm fluent/proficient in French learned from my mother and from being taught from prep school age. Reasonably proficient in German learnt from school and continued in working life. I can read and understand one other language but only have basic conversational skills learnt from living in this country for a short period.

My DH is English but speaks German ( my mother tongue ) and Arabic fluently.
Our children speak both English and German fluently.

I speak French and Dutch, I am a native English speaker. I can get by in German, Italian and Spanish and can read Danish and Swedish. I recently heard an interview with a Norwegian person and could understand what he said as well before the interpreter cut in.

At school I learnt French and Latin (unusually, we spoke Latin too!)

If I could choose to be fluent in one other language, it would be Spanish as it’s the most useful and also it’s a beautiful language. I also think Arabic would be useful.

Many schools are teaching Mandarin now, but that’s that is a whole other level of difficulty, obviously.

I live the sound of French and Italian, though not so much German which sounds very ‘hard’ to me, or the Scandinavian languages which also don’t sound very melodic. I also like the sound of Russian.

Native English speaker. Grew up in the UK with only English spoken in the house. Learned French in school from age 13-16 & German from 15-17.

Lived in Germany for 4 years in my 20s and attended language night classes. I became reasonably fluent and 20years later I still remember a lot of it. I’d be able to hold a conversation pretty well.

I keep my French up by using a language audiobook before I go on holiday. I’m less confident in French than German but can get by in most tourist situations.

I’ve started to learn Spanish as we’ve been going on holiday there more often.

I don’t know any other languages but always try to learn the absolute basics (hello, goodbye, yes, no, please, thank you) in whatever country I am visiting.

I am in my seventies, English. I went to a grammar school where I was taught Latin and French for five years, then German for a year. I did a little bit of Spanish with the radio (BBC, 1960s) and later on I learned some Italian at evening classes. I lived in Italy for a short while, so I could shop and travel in Italian but I can't easily read their newspapers.

Since I was a child English has become something of a universal language, with so many people speaking it in their own different ways. I went on holiday to Egypt and I was asked by a shop assistant where I came from. When I said that I come from England he said, "Oh, I can understand what you say when you speak English." I took that as a compliment! If Italians speak quickly to me I get lost but if they slow down I am much more able to understand, so I try to speak slowly if I am speaking to foreigners. That wasn't your question I know.

Now I am going to make a sweeping statement which will have a certain amount of truth to it:- Most English people do not value education, they think it's clever not to try to pronounce any word with more than two syllables, they scorn the learning of foreign languages, and they are so lazy about their own language that crimes are being committed against it, and I don't know if schoolteachers can speak English properly nowadays.

..and when I went to Portugal, Greece etc, I bought little dictionaries and always try the basic words, and in Jordan, Egypt etc. It's courteous to try, even if they do speak the ubiquitous English.

I'm a native English speaker. Did three years of French and four of German at secondary school, and got a top grade German GCSE. Today I remember almost no French and can read very basic German but not speak it. I've taken beginner classes in Latin and Spanish for my own enjoyment, but again, just the very basics. I'm more interested in the structural/linguistic side of things than anything else. I'm too self-conscious about bad pronunciation and grammar to get the conversational practice necessary to speak another language well.

If I could speak any language fluently I'd pick Spanish! I've always wanted to visit Spain.

I did German for 2 years (year 8 and 9) and French from year 7-11 at school. I got a grade A in GCSE French but have never needed to use it since then. I can still remember basics and get an understanding of written French based on the words that I recognise.

My German is even worse although I can still remember some words.

I’ve never really been to France or Germany on holiday which doesn’t help. I find I can translate the names of most foods on a menu in Italy and Spain (some of the words are similar) but I’ve been on holiday to a few non-touristy places where I originally had to use Google translate.

I think Spanish would have been a more useful language for me personally to have learnt at school. I have a friend that moved to Spain aged 20 knowing only a few words and after 6 months was speaking fluent Spanish with the local accent. I find that incredible but she was working with Spanish people who didn’t speak to her in English unless it was absolutely necessary.

I think it’s hard to begin learning a language at age 11/12 and a lot of kids seem to struggle. There isn’t much emphasis on teaching languages before this age.

I suppose it’s not seen as a necessity as so many people speak English.

Born and raised in a large English city, can understand minimal French (mainly through years of persistence to try to self educate).

It sends to be a very British thing to just expect everyone else to speak English. 😢

I did a few years of French at school and worked in Paris for a few months when I was reasonably fluent. But that was 30+ years ago and I barely understand it now. In the meantime, I learned Japanese while doing Martial Arts The Karate class was taught in Japanese, so essential if you wanted to survive. I did 2 years of Mandarin to be able to talk to my SiL, and got to the point of being able to follow 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' without subtitles! Both languages pretty much forgotten.

I'd like to learn Mandarin again. Especially to read and write it.

I learnt French to A-level and a bit beyond and could hold conversations in French through my 20s, now rusted. I'd have needed much more immersion with French to become fluent.

I've also learned beginners German and Spanish-possibly to GCSE level?

It is frustrating when you want to use a language with a native speaker and they override you with their English. There is a lack of mainstream culture for foreign language media in the UK, certainly learning in a pre-internet/ youtube era.

My finest hour with language was explaining to a Turkish man what reins were used for... I pointed at the dangling two year old and said "Ussain Bolt". Bewilderment turned to comprehension and amusement. There is a skill to language-less international communucation

I would say I am B1/B2 in German (passed the B1 exam).

I learned through private Skype lessons, language school (small amount) and you tube videos.

I also live in Switzerland.

I got a pretty bad grade in GCSE french, but theoretically it is easier now because there are many more resources. In practice maybe people don't take advantage of the resources.

I never entirely understand what's meant by fluent but I can manage fairly well in French and German. Still need subtitles for TV but can get a good grasp. I find most reading is fairly easy for me in those languages, especially French. I studied German to A level and French to GCSE.

I can speak one other language competently, conversationally but no thanks to the British education system . I studied in my own time for years and did a couple of immersion courses abroad for extended periods of time. I think it is hard learning a foreign language in the UK because all our media and general life is in English. At least in other countries, loads of TV and stuff is in another language.

I speak Germany fluently and studied it at university.

I learnt French, German and Latin at school but only did German to GCSE and A level.

However, I studied French again at university (in Germany, which was a bit confusing).

I did a GCSE in Italian at night school about 20 years ago.

I have done Futurelearn courses in Dutch, Spanish and Norwegian.

If I could learn another language it would be Finnish as I spent two summers there when I was 18/19.

My son learnt Spanish at nursery, primary school and secondary school and did it for A level (all state except for the nursery). But he was unable to learn any other languages although he has picked up a bit of German by going there a lot.

Oh and I did start learning Welsh when I was at university in Cardiff.