I've tried to learn French as an adult .........my classes have dried up for one reason or another but - i visit France quite often and am involved with the village twinning association so I do try. I'm probably two points up from 'poor, must try harder' but i do enjoy giving it a go!

There are some great youtube videos, my daughter (9) was using them to learn basic German and Mandarin and she did very quickly.

 

I know a few Gaelic words/phrases (Born in Dublin) that my mom taught me growing up, and a little French and German that i did at school.

 

I would go for Spanish though Veggie, there are far more Spanish (or variants of) speaking places in the world than French..... i think anyway

Good for you Soozy, I am happier with reading it as I don't have any confidence in speaking it. I really want to design myself a study programme and have the discipline to stick at it

I was just wondering what languages people here speak.

Only the one 

Hi Jen, I did start a Spanish class about 10 years back but I was so busy with work and AAT classes that I couldn't keep up.

I thought I would try French as I can remember bits from school and I do have quite a few books here to use.

Youtube is excellent though. I've made myself playlists and have them on in the background when I'm knitting (lol) and I reckon I might absorb it that way.

I did discover a programme called Ouino and downloaded a free trial. It seems really excellent but is about a hundred quid give or take. Not sure I want to spring for that much at the mo

a few nice free apps on Iphone for spanish/polish/german only basic but free and it starts you off

Veggie - I surprise myself TBH. I'm not an overly confident person but I feel that if you visit a country (or stay with French people) you should try! And boy do I try! I think it's appreciated.

 

We have stayed with the same French couple (one year in france the following year here) for the last 10 years (at least) Their English was poor in the beginning but so much better now - the same with my French. We always find a way - we are great friends (sometimes visit outside Twinning events) - it's good to be uninhibited - use sign language etc - we never have awkward silences.

i can nod in chinese

i can frown in romanian

i can talk in bullshit

do you speak fluent Greyhound?

roooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

you have to own a grey to understand that..rooooooooooo

Ickle taught herself Mandarin from youtube & other online places as well!!

Nuts and Pirate - naughty naughty.

 

Soozy, it is amazing how you can get by but, as you say, people should make a bit of an effort if only for politeness sake

 

 

I can speak fluent Jockaneese, English and a passable amount of Turkish. 

I would love one.

I try my best to speak English.  But I did do Spanish classes a few years ago as an adult.  I thought I had forgot it all, but I have retained some, mostly when reading, but sometimes I surprise myself when conversing. HOLA 

yep

why not?

its all educational and will come in useful

dunno what for but it might

I did Spanish A level and was an au pair in Madrid, but my Spanish has fallen by the wayside in the 20 years since 

get 2

but at the moment my 2 are behind me having a fight

ive put my headphones on

Jockaneese like See You Jimmy, och the noo etc (waits for the Scottish Mafia to put a haggis head in my bed  ) Gyps?

 

Did you learn Turkish as a kid?

*visions of uniforms*

Nah Pirate no uniforms. Just terrible sunburn on pasty white Irish legs 

Yeah, thats the very Jockaneese. Lil gyps grandad says thats what I speak. Sometimes ill be golng on about something and he will deliberately let me finsish then say "what did she say, is she speaking jockaneese again". 

 

No I learnt Turkish when i lived there, as well as having to pick it up I went to lesson, which were necessary if you were applying for permanent residency. I picked it up MUCH easier than any other language they have tried to force on me (French, German etc).  I think its a very easy language. But alas I left long before I applied for my ID card.

Awwwwwwwwwwww As a fair skinned lady - I feel your pain.

Thanks Soozy  They used to call me cangrejo - lobster 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - marginally preferable to beetroot - maybe?

 

My first language is English.

I learned French, German and Spanish at school.

I have dabbled with several other languages since. Including Greek and Russian, which have different alphabets.

However, I can really only get by (to varying degrees) in the three languages I learned in school.

When it goes into a different alphabet ..............................it all goes mental for me TBH. Actually one day - i'd like to spend time learning something like that!

Barely English.

 

When we went to Italy a few years ago, I made an effort to learn some basic Italian, and could hold my own in a shop. Twas a bit embarrassing to be with Mr. Lori, however, who was pretty sure that if you just put an 'o' or an 'a' at the end of an English word, it would suffice. 

 

When I went to Turkey last spring, my sis taught me some phrases that were useful, but I've forgotten most of them... except this one: "çok pahali!" and this one "karnim aç" 

I learnt French from the age of nine. Alas! At grammar school they knocked all of the conversational stuff out of one, concentrating as they do, on grammar. The clue is in the name. Hence I now stand a better chance of eating, drinking, and having a fun time, in Rhineland-Westphalia, Rotterdam, Roedby, and the Runcorn deaf club.

Dunno, Susannovitch, you did pretty well last night!  

I don't know what came over me! I was speaking in tongues 

I learnt French at school (most of which I've forgotten)

Learned to speak German when I was living there (most of which I've forgotten)

Learned to speak some Dutch when I was living there (most of which etc etc)

Am currently having a stab at learning Italian, with the help of Michel Thomas CDs

I learnt French and German at school.

Whenever we go abroad, I always try to learn the basics of each country's lanuage e.g. hello, goodbye, please, thank you etc.

I speak English and nonsense I did german at school and enjoyed it, but doubt I remember much these days

Thanks for all the answers everyone, really interesting.

 

Avalon xx Son and DIL were learning Italian before the babies came along, they said it was very enjoyable.

I learnt French at school which I've forgotten.

I knew lots of Irish as a child but lack of usage means I forgotten a lot of it as well 

 

I did a GCSE in German a few years ago so I can get by in German.  I'm currently learning a couple of dead languages Ancient Greek and Latin 

I remember you saying that Pengy about the Ancient Greek. I think I told you that I enrolled for an Ancient Greek class by mistake when I wanted a Modern Greek one.

I only went to 2 lessons but I remember it was about accents and oi was pronounced hoi because of the accent in front of the oi.

Amazing what you remember lol