What is your Native Language?

[jUmpSt0p]

me:
native = English.
other = low Intermediate Spanish; beginner Thai, Hindi


obviously if you are here you can 'speak' English. or, if you don't consider yourself a good speaker, at least you can write pretty well in English!

there do seem to be a good many people here from outside the realms of the (former) British Empire, and I'm just curious to learn how many here are not native English speakers.

the reason I'm curious, is because I am in fact an ESL/EFL teacher, and I'm currently taking some extra teaching classes, so I'm interested in this topic.

SUBTOPICS:

1. If you are a not a native English speaker:
a. how/where did you learn English?
b. what level do you consider yourself?
c. how long did it take you to reach the level you are at?
d. why did you learn English?

2. If you are a native English speaker:
a. what other language(s) do you speak?
b. what level do you consider yourself?
c. how long did it take you to reach the level you are at?
d. why did you learn another language?

and of course share anything else you feel is related to this topic.. but especially learning experiences!

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

so I'm interested in this topic.

But obviously not interested enough to do a few cursory searches for previous threads about said topics.

 

[jUmpSt0p]

no, I didn't.

thanks for being rude about it though. always a nice change of pace.

but I did assume there probably wasn't another thread asking people specifically what foreign languages they know as well as what level they are at, how long it took them to get there, and why they decided to learn a second language.

 

[Godwynn]

English

2. If you are a native English speaker:
a. German
b. B2
c. A little over two years.
d. It's a fun language.

Currently deciding if I want to learn French or Spanish.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

another thread asking people specifically what foreign languages they know as well as what level they are at, how long it took them to get there, and why they decided to learn a second language.

Yes, and then some.

 

[Joecoolyo]

English

edit: missed the questions

2. If you are a native English speaker:
a. what other language(s) do you speak?
Spanish and Hebrew (though I can only read and say it without much comprehension)
d. why did you learn another language?
Spanish- so I can get into collage
Hebrew- Because I'm Jewish

 

[Tani Coyote]

2. If you are a native English speaker:

a. what other language(s) do you speak?

I'd say a fair bit of Spanish; I can read it, write it, and somewhat speak it. I took two years of it, so I'm "intermediate", I suppose. 1% of the time I'll actually understand spoken Spanish. My thoughts on spoken tongues are: "There are two languages. English, and Bullet Train Latin."

b. what level do you consider yourself?

Low intermediate. I know enough that I get really pissed when my friend says I won't be able to understand the Spanish E-MAILS - written! - his aunts send him. Given that many complex Spanish terms bear a resemblance to English ones, it's obvious why I get pissed off. Like I couldn't immediately guess what something like "ciencias" or whatever means.

What makes it epic is that he learned the language by word of mouth, and not text like I did. So I'd be more qualified on that front. What a jackass.

c. how long did it take you to reach the level you are at?

2 years of education, and a bit of side study outside that.

d. why did you learn another language?

Primarily for credit, partially to understand others - like it helped me, I can read, but I can't hear for crap - and also because I found it somewhat interesting. Doesn't make it any less annoying when I'm in the middle of a horde of Hispanophones, though.

 

[emzie]

I speak 'merican.

 

[Kerozine]

Both English & French, if not Frenglish.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Redneck English is my native language.

2. If you are a native English speaker:
a. what other language(s) do you speak?

German, Arabic, and Russian.

b. what level do you consider yourself?

Less than conversational. I'm the best at Arabic and German, but generally only when reading.

c. how long did it take you to reach the level you are at?

Three years of German, a year of Arabic, and half a year of Russian.

d. why did you learn another language?

Its useful and its fun.

and of course share anything else you feel is related to this topic.. but especially learning experiences!

Absolutely horrible at thinking "at speed" for conversation. Probably the only thing that can cure me of this is total immersion.

Eventually, I'd also like to learn Polish, Spanish, and either Italian or Greek, and sharpen my German and Russian to at least conversational, if not fluent. Arabic will really have little use for me any more.

 

[QuoVadisNation]

English is my native language.
Polish is the language I was born and raised with on the side.
Spanish I learned a bit in school.

 

[emzie]

Redneck

Fixed. And it's a lovely language, it is

 

[Babbler]

English.

 

[aelf]

I'm pretty confused as to what my native language is. I learned another language first, but I've been speaking primarily English for more than half my life and it has become my best language so I generally put that as my native language. It is also the national language in my country of citizenship (although the 'official' national language is supposedly something else). Well, most people speak it horribly, but it's the most commonly used.

Besides, if I put something else as my native language when filling in a form for something in another country, they might want me to take the TOEFL to prove that I can speak English well. And that would be extremely stupid.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

English is my native language. I also speak French a bit.

 

[SG-17]

American English

A. What other language(s) do you speak?
Latin

B. What level do you consider yourself?
Intermediate beginner, I can read it with no problem, but for some reason I have a hard time forming sentences in speech.

C. How long did it take you to reach the level you are at?
2 1/2 years of study in High School, currently completing the third.

D. Why did you learn another language?
I love Rome and her history.

 

[Annex]

Native English speaker.

Second language - Russian. Ive studied it for about a year and a half, maybe less, so I'm not very good.

 

[TheLastOne36]

English is native

I speak fluent Polish but my writting is crap
Good Spanish, but illiterate
Basic French

I want to learn German at some point to.

 

[scherbchen]

1. If you are a not a native English speaker:

a. school at first, lots of reading later on. then on to non-subbed videos etc etc
b. 80% of native speaker level. well, truth be told, I think I'd churn out a better essay than most of the native speakers. spoken English is a bit of a hit-and-miss and very dependent on whether I am in the mood or not. well, at least that is what I tell myself, beers consumed might play a vital part as far as it comes to spoken language to tell you the truth.
c. ages. had a bit of a rough start there but once you get into the swing of things it becomes a whole lot easier.
d. easiest language to learn. other than German, of course.


as far as learning experience goes there is nothing that beats a hobby. for me it was fantasy literature and roleplaying games (thus I know what a hauberk is, a destrier, or a dirk) which then branched out into "just plain good storytelling" (tm).

 

[civ_king]

me:
native = English.
other = low Intermediate Spanish; beginner Thai, Hindi


obviously if you are here you can 'speak' English. or, if you don't consider yourself a good speaker, at least you can write pretty well in English!

there do seem to be a good many people here from outside the realms of the (former) British Empire, and I'm just curious to learn how many here are not native English speakers.

the reason I'm curious, is because I am in fact an ESL/EFL teacher, and I'm currently taking some extra teaching classes, so I'm interested in this topic.

SUBTOPICS:

1. If you are a not a native English speaker:
a. how/where did you learn English?
b. what level do you consider yourself?
c. how long did it take you to reach the level you are at?
d. why did you learn English?

2. If you are a native English speaker:
a. what other language(s) do you speak?
b. what level do you consider yourself?
c. how long did it take you to reach the level you are at?
d. why did you learn another language?

and of course share anything else you feel is related to this topic.. but especially learning experiences!

Native English Speaker
2a Spanish, Mandarin
b Spanish=mid, Mandarin=low.
c Spanish learning from conversations, Class
d Spanish=I live in California, Mandarin for college and military

I also want to learn French, Russian, Sanskrit and Hindi