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.

Native English speaker but brought up in Ireland where we learned the Irish language from 4 years of age. I continued to learn to degree level and it proved a great basis for other languages. Therefore after living abroad and getting the opportunity to use other languages I was determined my kids would do so as well.
So my kids went to a Gaelscoil, where everything was taught through Irish, they also learned French x 3 times a week. We then moved to the ME where they learned Arabic, French and Italian.
I think the foreign language learning has benefitted them immensely. It’s a big mistake for successive governments in this country to dumb down language learning.
When we relocated to the UK they were streets ahead MFL wise and I think it’s a real shame that language learning has been put on the back burner for government schools. It limits the Joe Soaps employment wise but keeps the kids whose parents can afford school fees an opportunity to work internationally. We are living in a global village and the powers that be need to wake up. Our future workers are going to be at a major disadvantage as most Europeans speak about three languages.

I speak enough french to get by on holiday. I took french for gcse and there have been times when I’ve felt more proficient than I do now. DM is fluent in french, but never really passed it on to us. I’d love to be able to speak it fluently and maybe at some point I’ll make an effort to pick it up again.

I don’t like the English mentality of “why bother as everyone speaks English” but it’s hard as I don’t think we get the same exposure to other languages as non English native speakers get to English.

I'm a Londoner born to Ghanaian parents. I'm fluent in four languages:
English, Twi/Akan (raised bilingual by my mother), French (studied at uni including year abroad at a French university) and German (lived in Vienna and now Berlin for a combined total of 15 years). I'm fully fluent and comfortable in all four languages.

I can also speak conversational Japanese from the eighteen months I lived in Tokyo.

I’m reasonably proficient in French (did it at A-Level and like to keep up with it by watching French films and listening to French songs every so often). I’d love to also be able to speak German and Mandarin.

Like many of my fellow Celts here, I am bilingual in English and my native language Welsh.

I can speak, read, write, dream in either language. I'm fluent in both, can read and write to a high standard in both, I'd say they were equal.

I can also speak French and Russian. I can read French and write it but it's basics don't expect an essay or a professional e-mail, Russian I can only converse in it.

Both are a bit rusty now through lack of use. My Welsh however and English I use daily and swap constantly between them.

Speak French reasonably, thought in French in the past. Know some Welsh from school / work.

I did Spanish at school aged 11-16 and was fairly proficient but it’s almost all gone now through lack of use. I have basic conversational Turkish as spent 4.5 years in a relationship with a Turk.

My current partner is Polish so I’d love to speak that if I could, but I literally have half a dozen words 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ good job his English is basically as good as mine 😂

Learned 3 European languages from 11 onwards (one for 3 years and two for 5 years).

Despite getting top grades in them, I was never able to understand anything verbally. I think my brain just can’t process listening to other languages.

I can speak reasonable, but NOT fluent French and little bits of other European languages. My parents speak French as a foreign language so I learnt a bit at home. Then studied French to A Level (so age 17), but its rusty now.

As a nation we are poor at foreign languages. We are spoilt because so many people speak ours. We don't start learning typically until 11 which is too old for it to really take root. And I don't think it's even compulsory to do a language at GCSE any more (taken at 15/16). So lots of people only study a language for three years. The majority of people can only speak English, unless they have a reason like they were brought up in a bilingual household.

Ds did Mandarin GCCE - he got a good ( not the best ) mark but that was by dint of learning very carefully the reading and writing exercises. There was also an exam where questions were read out on a speaker phone or something similar ( so all schools had the same questions at the same time ) & the person doing it had a different accent or intonation to his school teacher. It was multiple choice After question 2 he felt he could have got just as high a mark by pinning his answer sheet to the wall and throwing darts to choose

That said one of his friends went on to ab initio Japanese - at university but felt he could only really speak it having done a year as aTEFL teacher in Japan after the 3 years at university .

Unfortunately I'd have to say no I'm not. I have an MA in English and am from England and took French for five years aged 11 to 16.

I can read French most of the time (basic newspapers and comments on social media etc quite easily) but not complicated discussions. I basically know a lot of vocabulary but the grammar never quite clicked so I find conversation difficult though I can understand if someone speaks French slowly. I just struggle to speak it as I never had any practice speaking so my reading/ listening is I would say basic proficient but my speaking is words and phrases.

I can read a French menu back to front which is handy

I also know some German phrases, enough to get by, but also wouldn't consider myself anywhere near basic conversational.

I'm trying to get my French up to par but find it difficult. My brain is very set in English so different word orders etc is hard to cognitise for me. I hope to be fluent in French before I die but I'll never be a linguist.

I am led to believe that children now learn French at my old school from age 6 so are likely to be better than those of us who began at 11.

@BasiliskStare

Ds did Mandarin GCCE - he got a good ( not the best ) mark but that was by dint of learning very carefully the reading and writing exercises. There was also an exam where questions were read out on a speaker phone or something similar ( so all schools had the same questions at the same time ) & the person doing it had a different accent or intonation to his school teacher. It was multiple choice After question 2 he felt he could have got just as high a mark by pinning his answer sheet to the wall and throwing darts to choose

That said one of his friends went on to ab initio Japanese - at university but felt he could only really speak it having done a year as aTEFL teacher in Japan after the 3 years at university .

This was an issue with my French listening exam. My teacher was from Marseilles and her accent and wording was miles off the one used in the exam. I was predicted an A* and got a B. But many kids failed because we couldn't make sense of the new accent!

Oh and my preferred language to learn would be Mandarin

I grew up in the US, where foreign languages were considered too difficult for young children to learn. (Yes, really!) Our first opportunity to start learning a language at school was at the age of 14. Having begun Spanish at 14, I had to really fight for permission to add another foreign language to my schedule the following year. It just wasn't done, and I was told I would get confused (between Spanish and German?!). The people in my school considered me quite a prodigy simply for attempting several languages.

What we were taught was quite basic, with most teaching done in English. I guess this dumbing-down is the result of an American fear of kids being left behind, so the teachers seldom spoke in the target language except when they were sure we would all understand every word.

This was in the 1980s so there was no easy access to online learning. Fortunately, I lived in an area with many Spanish-speakers, so I could listen to the radio and buy newspapers. I also used to borrow cassette tapes and books from the library, but there was little on offer. Most of my knowledge was picked up that way rather than at school.

As an adult I did Spanish and German A-levels in the UK and I watch Netflix etc in other languages. I can make myself understood in Spanish or German, but I'm nowhere near fluent. There are maybe five other languages in which I could ask directions and order a meal - only Germanic and Romance languages, because I can often guess meanings in those and picked up some more on holiday. The idea of attempting a language such as Chinese which is unrelated to one I already know seems quite overwhelming to me.

@Saracen you sound a bit like me. Pandered to with teachers who speak English and just drill words into you so you can't string it together properly and no access to native speakers (despite my French teacher being French she would never attempt a conversation with me in her language).

It's a shame. So many monolinguals would LOVE to be bilingual. But we're not raised with another language, start learning too old and don't feel confident enough to try others.

It's a shame as the stereotype is not from lack of desire to learn but more feeling like we hit a block and have no one to practice with!

@BrocolliFloret

Learned 3 European languages from 11 onwards (one for 3 years and two for 5 years).

Despite getting top grades in them, I was never able to understand anything verbally. I think my brain just can’t process listening to other languages.

Interesting! I'm sort of the opposite.

I discovered that I need the reinforcement of hearing a language as well as reading it. I remember hardly anything of classical Greek - even my teacher didn't really speak it - and relatively little of Latin for this reason, I think. Modern languages stuck much better because I could listen to them.

@Courtier - I think my son could feel your pain. To be fair his teacher did try to prepare them for the exam but just the different accent completely bamboozled Ds and he just tried to get a word here and there and made a stab at it. unsurprisingly it was his worst mark of all the Mandarin papers.
I think Mandarin is a great language to learn but GCSE level is very very basic. If it is a springboard to better things then - fabulous . DS can recognise some words and letters and once when we were in the park a young Chinese girl said "Oh look dogs" and he recognised that but he would say himself he could not hold a conversation. I am not doing him down as he good at other subjects but I think he would agree with me he is not a natural linguist. He can do fairly good French ( school level ) & just out of his own interest he is teaching himself Norwegian - I suspect to be contrary - but I don't mind - it's a hobby.

I did A level German & a module at university and spent 2 working summer holidays there so I have a grip on it but what lets me down is the vocab. I think if I spent an extended period there I would get better - nothing like immersion in a language. But I might try to teach myself a bit more because we ( family ) had an extended weekend in Berlin & such a lovely city . I got by but we would like to go again so I may brush up a bit. I am good enough that if I watch e.g. Deutschland 86 I can tell where the subtitles are not exactly what the actors are saying but my problem is speaking yourself is much harder than understanding what people are saying to you . And also the speed at which people speak.

We did not have the choice at school - we did German and French. If I had my time again I would have done Spanish instead of French ( was not an option ) I rather love German ( which many do not )

@BasiliskStare I understand. I did German and French too. I'm not good, vocab is my strength but saying words at people is hardly a convo

Not fluent but I could get by in France. O'Level.

@Courtier Ha ha - I have a slight grip on german grammar and you have the vocab - between us we might make a team - Do you know this thread has inspired me to learn some more vocab and brush up. Ds has a language app which I might get him to show me how to use.

Ah it was nice ( well , reassuring probably a better word ) to hear your story about the teacher from Marseilles because honestly Ds came out of his Mandarin listening exam pretty downbeat. Good news didn't stop him doing anything he really wanted to . & it was a while ago . All good.

Courtier. I think there are certain people I know speaking english where they think saying words is a conversation.

Dc only learn it to a fluent level if they have an aptitude and go on to study it at A level/higher level or have private tuition I'd say. GCSE french certainly doesn't leave you proficient

I have very basic French and a smidge of German. Both learnt in my teens and sadly have had no reason to practice either since.

I do have a few Tamil and Hindi phrases from my mum and grandparents. Those languages interest me, but very few family members speak either now. English was seen as the most essential.

I work as a TA in primary school. In reception the children sang the English days of the week followed by the French each day. Now, in yr 2 the children answer the register and tell the teacher their lunch option in French each day. It is certainly much more than I got at primary school.

Personally I'd be very happy to get to holiday level Italian.

I started French in school at 12 and German at 23. I dropped French at 14 and German at 16. I wish I had carried on with a language in school but as others have said upthread the thing about E gish is that it's the obvious second language for everyone else, but it's not clear what our obvious second language would be. Spanish or a Chinese dialect would mean access to the most speakers, but French and German are closer at hand... I married a Swiss and have lived in Switzerland and Germany, so I took courses as an adult and I am now at about C1 level in German. I find the Common European Framework a really good way to understand where you might expect to be in terms of real life language capability and I wish that our school language classes had been better at communicating that. I found it very demotivating to work away on languages and have no idea when I might get to the point where I could hold a conversation or understand a TV program.

I'd like to be able to speak French, as I have some French colleagues where l work. I can't understand anything except the swearwords!

I love languages, did two at GCSE and one at A level, Erich I kept up through visits and reading and watching TV. I'm still not as good as I was when I did A level though.

In other countries it's much easier to absorb a language because it's on TV programmes, songs, popular culture etc. The only languages I've seen like that (played in shops, printed on signs etc) in the UK are Asian languages that you can't pick up so easily. Unless you're in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland I suppose!

People have a really bad attitude to languages in England, it's almost a matter of pride to be shit at them.