Morakot Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 While thoroughly discussing why (or why not) to learn a language here, it became clear that many members have learned or mastered quite a few languages.So this poll is about how many languages people speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Me only nine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 What about those knowing 20 plus languages? Typical American teenager : 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morakot Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) Me only nine. Sorry man, I forgot to add this option: "I have learned them all, including the language of love" Edited April 23, 2013 by Morakot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 I speak English and Cockney. Yes I am sought after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morakot Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 I speak English and Cockney. Yes I am sought after. Aah that's the hairy chest.... (the best). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyscot Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Scottish, english, a little French, a little Portuguese both due to work locations and even less Thai, I put the lack of Thai down to my 5 weeks on, 5 weeks off work rotation as on the couple of occasions I've had 7 or 8 weeks in Thailand I seem to pick up a bit more Thai, the frustrating thing is a lot of what I've learnt in those longer stints at home falls away and it's nearly back to square one when trying to understand the French at work, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiwangirl Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Taiwanese, Mandarin, English, and okay Cantonese. I have tried to learn bits and pieces of other languages but have not tried hard enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 (edited) English,Thai, Malay, Swedish. Found Swedish the most difficult to acquire conversational skills in, go out to dinner with people and they would all talk in English out of consideration for me. Stumble over a few words in a shop or a gas station and the assistant would smilingly switch to perfect English . Never even considered trying to learn Dutch for the same reasons. Currently trying to learn Vietnamese ahead of an upcoming trip just for fun, it seems to occupy the same filing cabinet in my brain as Thai so when I'm searching for a word it's the Thai equivalent that comes out rather than English....sure that's really going to help ! I'm murdering the tones I know but I believe that in a difficult language it's better to gain vocabulary rather than tone accuracy. Having said that my teacher has warned me that if I'm going to order pork in a restaurant I have to do it in English to stop the waitress wetting her pants, apparently it's in her pants where my pronunciation of the Vietnamese word for pork is located Who said learning languages isn't fun ? Edited April 23, 2013 by roamer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eesat Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Lub you teelak velly,velly mutt.Jub,jub,ket tung na ja!Fluent in Thai as you can see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickjn Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Only 1 English.Thai nod noi but really no good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gpdjohn Posted April 24, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted April 24, 2013 Vulgarian Every sentence starts with a word than begins with the letter F. I find that I'm invited to allot of parties and other functions, but never invited back. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om85 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 (edited) Spanish, English,Russian,Chinese(Mandarin), Japanese, and Thai. Edited April 24, 2013 by Om85 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JDGRUEN Posted April 24, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted April 24, 2013 American English, Southern American English, Texan English, Spanish, TexMex, Thai and Profane. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazygourmet Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Parent tongues: French + Bahasa Indonesia Learned at Belgian boarding schools: Dutch + Ancient Greek & Latin Learned at Swiss boarding schools: English + German + Italian Acquired while working and/or residing for extended periods abroad (mid-level conversations only): Spanish +Turkish + Arabic + Thai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canman Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 English,Thai, Malay, Swedish. Found Swedish the most difficult to acquire conversational skills in, go out to dinner with people and they would all talk in English out of consideration for me. Stumble over a few words in a shop or a gas station and the assistant would smilingly switch to perfect English . Never even considered trying to learn Dutch for the same reasons. Currently trying to learn Vietnamese ahead of an upcoming trip just for fun, it seems to occupy the same filing cabinet in my brain as Thai so when I'm searching for a word it's the Thai equivalent that comes out rather than English....sure that's really going to help ! I'm murdering the tones I know but I believe that in a difficult language it's better to gain vocabulary rather than tone accuracy. Having said that my teacher has warned me that if I'm going to order pork in a restaurant I have to do it in English to stop the waitress wetting her pants, apparently it's in her pants where my pronunciation of the Vietnamese word for pork is located Who said learning languages isn't fun ? The Vietnamese are unforgiving when it comes to tones. Wheras the Thai's are used to expats murdering the language and can work out what you are saying from context the Vietnamese will just look at you with a blank expression unless you get the tones spot on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I learned French and Latin at school Then Italian, German, Spanish and a little Dutch Came to Asia and learned Thai, Lao, spoken Mandarin and (more recently) Burmese but I'm only fluent in English - intermediate read/write/speak in French, Italian, Thai and Lao Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Dutch / English / German / French / Thai French i speak the least and like to forget. Thai is still improving and ok but not on the level that i want to have it at. Dutch / English fluent / German can read books follow movies but holding conversation is an other story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Some of you are impressive! I struggle with one language. But, per forum rules, please do not post in a language other than English. The only exception is the Thai Language sub forum. One post has been removed from view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
testaccio Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 English,Thai, Malay, Swedish. Found Swedish the most difficult to acquire conversational skills in, go out to dinner with people and they would all talk in English out of consideration for me. Stumble over a few words in a shop or a gas station and the assistant would smilingly switch to perfect English . Never even considered trying to learn Dutch for the same reasons. Currently trying to learn Vietnamese ahead of an upcoming trip just for fun, it seems to occupy the same filing cabinet in my brain as Thai so when I'm searching for a word it's the Thai equivalent that comes out rather than English....sure that's really going to help ! I'm murdering the tones I know but I believe that in a difficult language it's better to gain vocabulary rather than tone accuracy. Having said that my teacher has warned me that if I'm going to order pork in a restaurant I have to do it in English to stop the waitress wetting her pants, apparently it's in her pants where my pronunciation of the Vietnamese word for pork is located Who said learning languages isn't fun ? What made you learn Swedish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yermanee Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Dutch (Belgian), French, German and English in that order. Fluent in all 4 to a certain degree. Used to know a fair bit of Greek, Italian and Spanish but largely forgotten now because of not using or hearing for a very long time now. I can hold my own in Thai conversation but can't read or write, the Thai alfabet beats all my efforts. Yermanee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 We do try. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadingo Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 (edited) I can speak with Geordies, Yorkshiremen and English speaking folk. Add to that Scots, Oirish Irish, Americans, Aussies and Canadians. But I suppose that does not count Oddly, Aussies, Americans, Canadians and English folk cannot understand me and my English accent very well, yet Scots and Irish can Edited April 24, 2013 by pattayadingo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean999 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Sobber, i only speak English. Get me drunk and my language skills improve no end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapout Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 20 year old daughter speaks Spanish, Arabic,Thai, Chinese, German. Latin, Greek English, and does sign language. Reads and writes most, with the exception of Thai. She says its not readable to a logical mind.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggie888888 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I have worked in Malaysia, Singapore, China, hk. Now living in Thailand. I can speak passable Bahasa Malaysia, basic Mandarin and Cantonese and very simple Thai. Starting to read Thai too, but I daresay it has too many letters in their alphabet Can recognise some Chinese characters too. Oh a smattering of French from some guide book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 English,Thai, Malay, Swedish. Found Swedish the most difficult to acquire conversational skills in, go out to dinner with people and they would all talk in English out of consideration for me. Stumble over a few words in a shop or a gas station and the assistant would smilingly switch to perfect English . Never even considered trying to learn Dutch for the same reasons. Currently trying to learn Vietnamese ahead of an upcoming trip just for fun, it seems to occupy the same filing cabinet in my brain as Thai so when I'm searching for a word it's the Thai equivalent that comes out rather than English....sure that's really going to help ! I'm murdering the tones I know but I believe that in a difficult language it's better to gain vocabulary rather than tone accuracy. Having said that my teacher has warned me that if I'm going to order pork in a restaurant I have to do it in English to stop the waitress wetting her pants, apparently it's in her pants where my pronunciation of the Vietnamese word for pork is located Who said learning languages isn't fun ? What made you learn Swedish? It was years ago before the EU and wanted to live there with my then girlfriend(later wife) and needed a work permit, for which I needed a job and needed to be able to speak Swedish. Also wanted to be able to communicate with her parents who like many of the older population at that time had limited English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 English,Thai, Malay, Swedish. Found Swedish the most difficult to acquire conversational skills in, go out to dinner with people and they would all talk in English out of consideration for me. Stumble over a few words in a shop or a gas station and the assistant would smilingly switch to perfect English . Never even considered trying to learn Dutch for the same reasons. Currently trying to learn Vietnamese ahead of an upcoming trip just for fun, it seems to occupy the same filing cabinet in my brain as Thai so when I'm searching for a word it's the Thai equivalent that comes out rather than English....sure that's really going to help ! I'm murdering the tones I know but I believe that in a difficult language it's better to gain vocabulary rather than tone accuracy. Having said that my teacher has warned me that if I'm going to order pork in a restaurant I have to do it in English to stop the waitress wetting her pants, apparently it's in her pants where my pronunciation of the Vietnamese word for pork is located Who said learning languages isn't fun ? The Vietnamese are unforgiving when it comes to tones. Wheras the Thai's are used to expats murdering the language and can work out what you are saying from context the Vietnamese will just look at you with a blank expression unless you get the tones spot on So I hear. Also seem to be much less pitch reliant compared to Thai. It's just a spot of fun for me, not crucial, don't intend to live there. Anyway I'm used to being stared at with a blank expression as I have a teenage daughter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthemoon Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Parent tongues: French + Bahasa Indonesia Learned at Belgian boarding schools: Dutch + Ancient Greek & Latin Learned at Swiss boarding schools: English + German + Italian Acquired while working and/or residing for extended periods abroad (mid-level conversations only): Spanish +Turkish + Arabic + Thai Quite impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onthemoon Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I conduct business in German, English, Spanish and Thai. I know enough French, Dutch, Italian and Portuguese to get by with most of the time, but not always. I know survival Chinese (Mandarin), which has helped me in Taiwan, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen (i.e. places where the people wouldn't speak English). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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