I envy those who are multilingual

I'm already upset that my mom didn't teach me her second language (German). I would definitely be upset if I didn't grow up learning two languages.

For me, it seems kind of impossible to learn a language unless you live in a country where it's spoken. I know people can learn very well on their own or in classes, but it just doesn't work for me.

I'm Mexican but look white, it's like a superpower knowing Spanish. Never caught anybody talking shit, I'll go to places in my neighborhood where people mostly speak Spanish, they get relived when I answer back in Spanish they usually think I don't know how to speak it.

I can't imagine what it's like only knowing one language.

Like...damn. That should be considered a disability or something.

i could speak a second language fluently but have lost it over time. ha, it was actually my first language. can still understand it fine. probably one of the greatest regrets of my entire life. it's like i've lost contact and brotherhood with where my blood came from.

I've always wanted to know another language but I never travel so I wouldn't use it. I feel I would've had a better time learning a language if at school we didn't get taught three in school and instead could just focus on one when we started comprehensive school. We did Welsh in primary school but going to comp we then did French, German and Welsh and I feel if they instead took the lesson time for the three, let us pick what we wanted to learn (multiples if we really wanted) then it would've been much better than spreading the learning time thin so at best we'd pick up the very basics.

I know fluent Portuguese, English and Spanish.

I genuinely believe that nowadays there is no excuse for not learning a new language (unless of course you don't want to).

There are so many tools, some are free as well. You can do it in bed using your phone, while in the toilet, taking a shower, at the beach.

Every so often i take a look at what's available and it seems currently the best ways to learn software wise are:

- Duolingo
- Rosetta Stone
- Memrise
- Busuu

Masquerade Overture said:

I can't imagine what it's like only knowing one language.

Like...damn. That should be considered a disability or something.

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In Europe the numbers of bilingual citizen are so much on the raise it very well might be soon. ;)

I think its by now 64% know at least 2 languages on a proficient level (age 25-64). That means the coming gen is not even included.

You just have to find something you enjoy to help you learn a new language. At least for me it's always been music or movies. Little by little you start to pick up the language, or you could find a friend who speaks the language your interested in to help you out.

I speak English, Spanish, and currently learning Japanese since it shares so many Spanish phonetics.

Yes it is. Grew up speaking English while also learning Greek from my grandparents, so I was bilingual from like around Age 4. Culinary School for god knows whatever reason has Mandatory French beyond the utensil, tool, and ingredient names, so I figured what the fuck why not learn French. Instuck with being Bilingual in the end, but if I want I can pick it up and have a 3rd Language under my belt. Also while I can't speak them fluently, I can read Latin and Ancient Greek thanks to school. I guess that is something?

I was on my way to learn Italian a few years ago, but I ended up quitting due conflicting schedules.

I also wished to learn Japanese for years, but I am too lazy now. I will be happy with just Spanish and English

PeakPointMatrix said:

I speak English, Spanish, and currently learning Japanese since it shares so many Spanish phonetics.

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I envy you

The most important aspect of dating is communication I heard. So knowing 2 languages or more can double your chances of knowing that special one I guess.

What about when you know how to speak a bunch of languages but have nothing to say

Notaskwid said:

What about when you know how to speak a bunch of languages but have nothing to say

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Its not about producing. The passive usage is the best part of multilinguality.

If only it could help me land a better job...

Teh Hamburglar said:

You know the joke "what do you call someone who speaks one language?"

Spoiler

An American

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lol that's a good one, I'm gonna use it :)

Teh Hamburglar said:

You know the joke "what do you call someone who speaks one language?"

Spoiler

An American

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The truth hurts.

Dark_EMT said:

It is pretty great being able to enjoy different types of music, movies, tv shows, etc. from different countries.

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But you can do that without knowing the native language..

PeakPointMatrix said:

I speak English, Spanish, and currently learning Japanese since it shares so many Spanish phonetics.

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Holy shit I just noticed that.

No wonder I could pronounce Japanese words right on first try.

Not close to speaking Spanish fluently but I've taken it since I was 7th grade through the rest of college. I can definitely put sentences together and if I look up the verb I can use past/present/future unless its one that slightly changes it's wording. Not confident enough to put on my resume though.

I work at a restaurant with many people from all over North/Central/South America so it keeps my Spanish sharp!

Don't worry op English is the lingua franca anyway

Some languages are just too difficult for me (Czech, Russian, Japanese) but since I'm able to understand German, English and French I should be able to learn Spanish as well. It was stupid from me to decide for Latin instead French in 7th grade. When I chose French in 9th grade we had to catch up two years because in the 12th and 13th school year we had lessons with pupils that already started to learn French in 7th grade.

Yeah it's pretty great, I'm planning to pick up Italian and Portuguese since I should be able to learn those easily as Spanish is my main language. I speak some Japanese thanks to my high school, I plan to master it one day though.

Masquerade Overture said:

Holy shit I just noticed that.

No wonder I could pronounce Japanese words right on first try.

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You just need to be careful with the Rs, if you roll them you'll end up sounding like a Yakuza lol

I speak 3 languages, and that all came from school, I am learning a fourth on my own now... Swedish, although it's not difficult coming from German.

What I love about knowing more languages is the fact that it opens up a whole new world of literature and entertainment.

Hola cabron :)

Yeah knowing only English is a waste.
Don't know why many people think they can make fun of others not knowing their language for example when they know only one language themselves.

I can speak five languages and one time on a packed train from Kyoto to Osaka there were five conversations going on at the same time in those languages by locals and tourists. When I tried to "tune" into all of them it was an experience I could only associate with being "high". Curious if anybody have experienced this.

Malo said:

I'm bilingual (fluent in english and spanish) and I'm currently learning a third language (Italian), it's a lot harder than I anticipated.

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i heard from foreign people that english and spanish are easier to learn, italian is a bitch :-)

(i'm italian)

My parents put me in a french school in Portugal when I was 3 years old, which was great. From age 3 until 18 even though I lived in Portugal, I went to a french school where teachers spoke french and we followed the french curriculum.

staedtler said:

I know some multilingual people and they look down on us as inferior humans.

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Keine lügen entdeckt.

best time to learn as the during pre-school before ever setting foot in Kindergarten.

a young child's brain is a communication sponge at that young age.

it's harder for an adult to learn a new language

if you are a parent and want your future kids to be multilingual, start early

It's life-changing, to be honest (job possibilities, living abroad, friends, etc). I'm still trying to decide if I should go with French or Korean for my 4th language.

gutter_trash said:

best time to learn as the during pre-school before you ever set foot in Kindergarten.

a young child's brain is a communication sponge at that young age.

it's harder for an adult to learn a new language

if you are a parent and want your future kids to be multilingual, start early

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There ARE things that are easier for kids, but not everything. As an adult you're more focused and disciplined, and you already know complex concepts children don't know in any language, including their own.

It's always possible to start. I didn't start learning German till I was 21 (not old, but long past the "fossilization" cut off) - did a degree, moved to Austria (from the UK) aged 26, now I'm 30 and as fluent as you'd hope. My girlfriend is Italian so I started to learn that, which is going fine - but as I can't devote all my time to it it's going slow, but that's OK. Not in any rush.

it's cool i guess. i've been meaning to learn korean as my 3rd...

gutter_trash said:

best time to learn as the during pre-school before you ever set foot in Kindergarten.

a young child's brain is a communication sponge at that young age.

it's harder for an adult to learn a new language

if you are a parent and want your future kids to be multilingual, start early

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interesting

my niece is exposed to 3 languages daily lol

I wouldn't mind really being monolingual if I was born in an English-speaking country tbh. (Russian native speaker, N1 in Japanese, intermediate Spanish)

Benefits of knowing languages other than English are rather exaggerated, you can very well get by while not speaking a lick of local languages just fine if you are travelling or even living abroad. Doesn't automatically make you more "worldly" either.

Oreoleo said:

But you can do that without knowing the native language..

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There's a shit ton of things that aren't translated in other languages though.

RM8 said:

It's life-changing, to be honest (job possibilities, living abroad, friends, etc). I'm still trying to decide if I should go with French or Korean for my 4th language.


There ARE things that are easier for kids, but not everything. As an adult you're more focused and disciplined, and you already know complex concepts children don't know in any language, including their own.

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for speech, language immersion at the tender young age is the best time.

I studied Japanese for a few years and while it went well I eventually hit a roadblock due to not having any Japanese people to talk to IRL.

So now I'm at the level where I can read light novels/manga and watch most japanese media without subtitles, but my spoken japanese is pretty bad.

The third one is in some ways easier since you know exactly what's involved and how long it will take, but at the same time daunting because you know exactly what's involved and how long it will take..

Kurita said:

There's a shit ton of things that aren't translated in other languages though.

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Yep. Plus reading a translation (when available) is never quite the same thing, especially if the languages are quite different to begin with.

gutter_trash said:

for speech, language immersion at the tender young age is the best time.

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Absolutely - it's easier. It doesn't mean it's impossible or even hard for adults, though, it just requires time and practice like basically any other skill. I know someone who started Spanish when he was 60, he's not some kind of linguistic genius, and he's pretty freaking good now at 63.

And again, as adults we have some advantages over children.

TatteredHat said:

I studied Japanese for a few years and while it went well I eventually hit a roadblock due to not having any Japanese people to talk to IRL.

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one of the great problem when you learn a new language.

the lack of people for actual training.

i have to travel abroad 1-2 times every year if i want to chat with someone in english.

(sorry for my untrained english)

Me too OP, me too. I'm a pleb.

I didn't get any language classes until I was in 6th grade. It was extremely difficult for me and none of it stuck.

It's nice; I'm fine with understanding Spanish and Japanese. If I have to learn one more language, it would be Chinese so then I can speak with most of the world's population without a translator.

RM8 said:

Absolutely - it's easier. It doesn't mean it's impossible or even hard for adults, though, it just requires time and practice like basically any other skill. I know someone who started Spanish when he was 60, he's not some kind of linguistic genius, and he's pretty freaking good now at 63.

And again, as adults we have some advantages over children.

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not when it comes to learning speech,
children have the advantage in that field. They are wired to learn communication early

Kizuna said:

I wouldn't mind really being monolingual if I was born in an English-speaking country tbh. (Russian native speaker, N1 in Japanese, intermediate Spanish)

Benefits of knowing languages other than English are rather exaggerated, you can very well get by while not speaking a lick of local languages just fine if you are travelling or even living abroad. Doesn't automatically make you more "worldly" either.

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I would cry if I couldn't speak Spanish or Japanese, lol. I do watch movies in English, but music and humor is something I consume almost entirely in Spanish. And I live in Japan - I remember how it was like when I couldn't speak Japanese and I would -not- be okay with going back to those days.

gutter_trash said:

not when it comes to learning speech,
children have the advantage in that field. They are wired to learn communication early

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Yup, as I said, it's easier. We're in agreement. You can still learn when you're an adult, though :P

My wife and I are hoping to make our son trilingual. He's growing up in America, but she only speaks to him in Japanese and I only speak to him in French. It's very important to us that he be able to talk with his grandparents and the rest of our family, plus it's cool as fuck knowing three languages.

Native Spanish, picked up English in my childhood, learned Japanese in my teens, and currently learning German in my 20's.

I would say the only frustrating part of being multilingual is when you want to express yourself in some manner that's really easy and convenient in one language, but awkward to translate to another language. For example, compare the way relative clauses work in English and Japanese:

In Japanese, you just append the whole relative clause in front of the noun it modifies; No need to use relative pronouns like "that", "where", "when", "who", etc.

私が英語を習った先生は、いま私が勤めている大学の卒業生です。
The teacher I learned English (from) is an alumnus of the University (where) I currently work.

I wish other languages were this flexible.

Sak pase!