How many languages can you speak?

[Paula Sims]

In honor of the bilingual (at least) Prime Minister Trudeau, let's hear it for those of us who can speak more than one language (note: Donnie cannot master English so he only counts for 1/2).

I can speak:
Ukrainian (fluent)
Polish (fluent)
German (fluent)
Russian (comprehend more than speak)
Serbian (comprehend more than speak)
Czech (comprehend more than speak)
--and enough Spanish to get me through Mexico City without having to embarrass myself too much. . .

Never could do French - my mouth just doesn't work that way. . .

[Still In Wisconsin]

1. English, some German, and some Yiddish (thank you Bubbe)

[drray23]

2. Well i speak

Fluent english, fluent french, i can read spanish but dont speak it well.

[appalachiablue]

3. Speak and read basic German fairly well and also French from studies.

Able to pick up, converse some everyday Spanish. English native language.

[pkdu]

4. Does Gibberish count? nt

[Doc_Technical]

39. Sure,

as long as it's the authentic frontier gibberish like
Gabby Johnson speaks,

[brewens]

5. I know some Merican and a little Mezkin. :) n/t

[neeksgeek]

6. I've read a lot and picked up pieces of several languages

But I'm only really fluent in spoken and written English. However I can read Spanish and French, and can speak enough Spanish to do all right in Costa Rica. Gotta admit, though, that includes carrying a phrase book with me. My spoken French is tres mal.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Fluent English,

can read German so-so; learning Norwegian - currently at the see-Spot-run stage but improving quickly. Bits and pieces of Spanish and Italian.

[doc03]

8. A little English

[anneboleyn]

9. French, Latin, Old and Middle English, Old French, German (a bit of reading comp)

Obviously I am excluding my native tongue of (modern) English. I can read and comprehend French well though I can't speak it fluently (meaning without hesitation). I am a medievalist so I studied old English (Anglo-Saxon), Middle English (different dialects), Old French, and I studied classical and Medieval Latin. I can read (modern) German and comprehend spoken German roughly.

I studied Italian years ago but I only recognize words now b/c of my Latin training.

[Crash2Parties]

10. English, plus...

Tamarian, as well as .NET/C#, C++, SQL, many dead languages including PCL, java, probably a few dozen that never really became popular in the last decade, many that were proprietary, and the usual scripting languages. Some Middle Earth Elvish. Simglish. Never could pick up Starbucksian so I always end up with a burnt soy decaf espresso in a giant cup. Also, the question itself sounds ableist, but OK (I have an auditory processing disorder and am unable to learn a second spoken language).

[LeftInTX]

36. PLC and Fortran

This was 45 years ago. Don't know any of the new stuff, except to cut and paste HTML/javascript for cute little family webpages.

[hunter]

44. I sometimes hear English as a foreign language if I'm not in "listening" mode.

Huh? Ummm.... what did you just say?

And it takes even longer for my English abilities to kick in if I've been writing code, or I've been alone in the desert for a few days, which I used to do when I was single.

As chatty as I am here on DU, I hardly talk in the "real world." And I'm well practiced ignoring the voices outside my head as well as inside. I watch movies with the captioning turned on and the sound low. While other kids were learning to read I was spending time with the speech therapists. Someone here on DU once called it audio dyslexia. I like that term.

If I was a language researcher at google I'd love to throw Interlingua into the pot and see what evolves but it's possible the Interlingua community wouldn't appreciate that. They're already upset by the Latin American idioms of the language. "Constructed" general purpose human languages are as prone to fragmentation as computer languages. Look how many languages have evolved from C. And of course everyone thinks they can create a new and improved computer language, inevitably based on languages they know. Entirely innovative languages are rare.

Lately I find Tcl/Tk to be relaxing, I don't know why. (It's a computer scripting language for those who don't know.)

It's nice to see someone else who thinks Java is dead, although many people would vehemently disagree, especially as it is the primary development language for Android apps, and also turf Google and Oracle fight legal battles over.

[Crash2Parties]

62. Very nice. :-) Didn't mean to imply Java is dead, I'm guessing that was a bad edit of sentence order

on my part. Pretty sure half the intelligent devices in my home run it as I've already found the JTAG pads & checked.

That may have been me describing audio processing disorder as "dyslexia for ears". :-D

So many people rip into Tcl/Tk. I agree with you, it is relaxing. Kinda like a sensory fiddle toy but for your head.

[3catwoman3]

11. To my regret, only English.

I took Spanish in school, from elementary thru junior year, and then German as a junior and senior, and another year in college. I took 3 adult ed classes in Japanese while in the Air Force, 2 before getting to Japan, and one while there. Never approached fluency in Japan, but was getting there in Spanish and German. Last time I studied any of them was in 1978, so a classic case of "use it or lose it."

Like anyone else who plays an instrument (flute and piano for me), I needed to learn the Italian words for tempos and dynamics.

I can sing the first lines of the Fiddler on the Roof song where the Russian soldier comes in holding that long note as he begins to sings to Tevye and his friends.

A few words of French, for no particular reason.

I guess I am a polyglot-wannabe.

[Best_man23]

20. Sadly, English only

But I've thought about learning Russian, just in case.

[tblue37]

13. My Spanish pronunciation, which is pretty good, interfered with my ability to properly

pronounce French. Then, in 1970, a Frenchman I met (along with his wife and kids) explained what I was doing wrong. He said that both Spanish speakers and Americans stretched their mouths sideways to speak, but to speak French, one must purse one's lips, as though preparing for a kiss.

Believe it or not, that really helped my French pronunciation. Try it.

[beveeheart]

31. Interesting explanation.

I have the opposite problem. What Spanish I speak sounds like French.
I speak French, though not as fluently as I used to. Speak basic Spanish, but understand spoken and written much better.

[Equinox Moon]

14. You do realize the only ones responding are those that speak more than English.

[Jim Beard]

32. Oh well, I speak english as my birth language and some Spanish. Just enough Spanish for farm work an

and chit chat when in close contact with Latinos.

[Daemonaquila]

15. Several, none of them fluent any more

I haven't used any of these in a long time, and would have some problems, though of course comprehension is better than speech.

Russian (spoke since childhood)
Ukrainian (spoke since childhood)
German
Spanish

[sagetea]

16. A little of

Lakota
Blackfoot (Siksika)
Shoshone
Choctaw
American sign
English


sage

[Behind the Aegis]

50. That is very interesting.

I had a phonetics professor who was fluent in 12 Native languages! Given I live in OK, I have actually met people who can speak Cherokee, Fox, and a few others.

It isn't often one encounters someone who actually knows the native languages of this hemisphere!

[denbot]

17. If you count english..

7/8ths if ya do count english..

[montana_hazeleyes]

18. Ibif yibu ciban ibundiberstiband thibis thiban

whibut Ibi libernibed inbin highbi schibool ibis nibonibisence. LOL

We had a funny little language in school that a few of us spoke to each other called IB that spoken, especially really fast nobody could understand...I guess that doesn't really count. LOL

Sorry if I'm such a goof ball.

[ProudLib72]

19. A few

Yiddish (haven't in awhile, but I used to be pretty good)
Hebrew (took three years in grad school and got decent)
Spanish (I try to keep up with my students)

I've also had some:
Latin (took it in undergrad as an elective)
Irish (used to be able to read children's books)
Teeny tiny bit of Russian (my Russian friend tried to teach me some, but I kept wanting to refer back to Yiddish for a lot of words)

[Texasgal]

21. Fluent in Farsi

and english. Wish I knew more.

[msanthrope]

25. Hope you are well....

Lost your contact info through major phone issues......truly wish you the best.

[Texasgal]

38. I'll send you a PM.

I am okay, but lost my honey in november. Thank you for reaching out. Miss our chats!

[msanthrope]

40. I now you did....wanted do to reach out then and then realized

I lost all contact. Be well and we'll speak soon.

[msanthrope]

22. It's complicated.....

Thanks to my upbringing, Italian...Sicilia, (all 3) Spanish, French, Arabic.

Thanks to the Jezzies....Latin, Ancient Greek.

Some Russian, some Pashtun. Some mandarin, but very bad.

[ret5hd]

23. English and Redneck...

particularly that dialect known as Southern Redneck.

[msanthrope]

26. ..

Bless your heart. Nt

[ret5hd]

27. Don't pay me no nevermind.

[Blaukraut]

24. My native German dialect, 'high' German, English, conv. French, conv. Italian

Spanish is on my list of things to learn before I die

[bhikkhu]

28. I wish I knew more - great respect for multi-linguals

I can read Spanish somewhat fluently and Korean with some dictionary aid, and I've studied many more. I have books on learning Italian, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, French, and many on Japanese. Time has always been the main constraint, but another problem is that speaking and listening are much harder, I found after a lot of trying that my listening process is fairly slow. I have trouble processing spoken english sometimes.

[gopiscrap]

29. My native language is German

fluent in German and English
used to be fluent in French
know lots of Church Latin and Cantonese
know some Spanish and Italian

[mindem]

30. English,

pig latin, and I talk in my sleep.

[WillowTree]

33. Some Norweigian, some Italian, some Spanish some French. Fluent in Pig Latin.

[MedusaX]

34. Just 2

Spanish & English

[Retrograde]

35. I can ask for a beer in about a dozen languages

I focus on the important stuff

I can read French well, and after a few days of getting my ears adjusted I can carry on simple conversations, buy train tickets, interact with merchants, ask for directions, etc. I understand German better than I can speak or read it, again, mostly limited to tourist stuff. I'm trying to learn Spanish, and it's getting better slowly.

[Doreen]

37. English ( properly to )

I speak enough German that if I got lost on the streets of Berlin I could barely get to where I need to be. I should say just enough to barley save my ass.

[Tatiana]

41. Only two.

English and Spanish. Can read some Latin.

[LeftInTX]

42. English

I took Spanish and am exposed to it, but it is hard to understand unless it is spoken slowly.

A little bit of Armenian. It's a very hard language to learn because the Armenian alphabet is crazy and you can't learn Armenian from Rosetta Stone.

I picked up some Hindi words from watching Bollywood. I think Hindi should be offered in more places. Despite the script looking totally foreign, it is fun to work with. There are no capital letters to learn.

[meadowlander]

43. English

German (ein bischen)
Mandarin (e dian dian)
Latin (reading)
Ancient Greek (reading)
Russian (a little)
Maori (a little)

I'm not great with speaking languages but can read quite a few with reasonable comprehension. I can understand probably 60-70% of French, Spanish and Italian texts based on the other languages I know.

[spooky3]

45. English, plus I studied the following but can't remember enough of any..

French
Spanish
Czech
Norwegian
German

[Wounded Bear]

46. If you count profanity, then two along with English...

[Lucinda]

47. Three - English, Spanish, and Trumpish

My Spanish is a little rusty, but I can still get by.
And oddly enough, I can understand Trumpy pretty well. It may be my pain meds that slow me down enough to connect the dots when he speaks.

[Behind the Aegis]

48. Impressive list.

Mind if I hit you up sometime for translations? I am doing genealogical lines for my father and his family is from Russia and Ukraine. I can't speak or read either, and only a few translation programs have been good. It wouldn't be for awhile, and we could work out compensation. If you don't want to, that's also fine and I won't be hurt. But, to find someone who actually knows the languages I need...well...that's kinda cool.

As for me, I am really only fluent in English now, though I can still speak pretty good Spanish, some French, Italian, and Portuguese. It is true, if you don't use it, you lose it. Though I don't "speak" it, I also know some ASL (American Sign). I know smatterings of a variety of languages.

I am planning on teaching myself German in preparation for a trip to Berlin in October. Fingers crossed.

ETA: In case you and others didn't know, there is a rarely used DU group called Languages and Linguistics here.

[Spider Jerusalem]

49. British English and American English

which in some respects are mutually intelligible separate languages, rather than dialects; there are vocabulary differences (hood/bonnet, trunk/boot, sidewalk/pavement, pants/trousers, suspenders/braces, vest/waistcoat, sweater/jumper, sneakers/trainers, etc), differences in verb forms (American English uses simple past tense, British English uses present perfect: "I did"/"I have done", "I ate"/"I've eaten", etc), differences in noun forms (US English treats collective nouns as singular, British English treats them as plural: "the team is/are winning&quot .

[2naSalit]

51. 1.5

English and sometimes I can remember enough French for a brief conversation...

However, I had performed (singing) in seven additional languages. I had to know the translations and learn to read the text and take diction classes as well. I can identify many languages in written form and pick out a few words in a bunch of them.

[Lotusflower70]

52. In addition to English

Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.

[grantcart]

54. Thai, my Greek and Hebrew have faded away.

[Afromania]

55. English and Famlish

Famlish is a post modern English derivative dialect that requires subtle attention to body language, tone, things unsaid and mild telepathic abilities. Today there are at least 1-2 billion active forms Familsh. Each with their own particular facets and nuances to be mastered. I'm fluent in a number of different forms of Familsh but the one I'm most acquainted with is Familus Afromanius. It involves mastery of hard stares, half remembered definitions and situation awareness of the word "things".

In all seriousness I only know English but I've taken a stab at Spanish and Japanese over the years. I'd like to teach myself one or the other but I can't seem to get up the gusto to do it.

[MFM008]

56. Me ?Barely speak English

I know a little German from 4 years of living there but woefully short.

[WePurrsevere]

57. Do Snark and Latin count? :-D nt

[NCTraveler]

58. One language speaker here.

I do seem to have better command of the language than our current President.

I hope to continue to build on my knowledge of the Spanish language. I have a pretty good vocabulary when it comes to Spanish but cannot really speak it. Spanglish is about as good as I can get. Then again, Spanglish is pretty popular in my area.

[ProfessorGAC]

59. 1.6 Languages

English and italian. My italian is probably about the level of a 6 year old. (I probably have a bigger vocabulary, but to call me fluent would be a lie.)

I can communicate over there, but i do have to ask people to repeat slowly (si prega, ripetta lentamente) a lot. And, i struggle with watching TV because i'm translating in my head so i get behind and lose the gist.

If i had spent more than 3 to 5 days at a time over there (ableit more than 30 times), i'd probably be better at it.

[socialist_n_TN]

60. As someone upthread commented, it's complicated........

because I don't believe you can be truly fluent in any language until you live for a few months in a place where it's the main language spoken.

With those parameters, I can speak English fluently, Spanish for basic conversation (non-technical stuff). I'm currently learning German and getting fairly good at reading and writing (maybe 50% + comprehension). I also took and passed 2 years of HS French, which I can still read a little and some Mandarin (ordering in a restaurant, giving/receiving directions, How ya doin' etc.).

I love languages. I consider it a hobby of mine. Some people learn to golf, I'll learn a language. I want to work on Portuguese next. Or Arabic. I haven't really decided.

[a la izquierda]

61. Speak three...

I can read four.
Spanish (fluent), French (I understand and read better than I speak), English (native), German (I can read it). I'm working on Yucatec Maya, but it's a tonal language with glottal stops, so it's challenging.