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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| maya_star17 Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5916 days ago 269 posts - 291 votes  Speaks: English*, Russian*, French, Spanish Studies: Japanese | Message 9 of 204 20 September 2008 at 3:03am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 17 years old.
English: started learning when I came to Canada at the age of 5. I currently know it better than any other language. Russian: spoken my entire life (I was born in Moscow). I can speak very fluently but my reading and skills are very limited. French: started studying at the age of 11 in school. I've been mistaken for a native more times than I can count. Spanish: started studying 2 years ago. I have a pretty good grasp of the language (enough to read novels and watch TV in), but I wouldn't pass for a native. Japanese: started studying at the age of 11, but I've taken several long breaks to spend more time studying other languages. I would rate my level as high-intermediate; I'm currently reading the Harry Potter series in it. Hebrew: Started studying a week or two ago. My knowledge is limited to some basic vocabulary. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| taKen Tetraglot Senior Member Norway mindofthelinguist.woRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6118 days ago 176 posts - 210 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Dutch, French Studies: German, Icelandic | Message 10 of 204 21 September 2008 at 2:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 19 years old.
Norwegian: Native English: Advanced Fluency, started learning from I was 6 years old in school, but most of the actual "work" was done in reading way too many Fantasy/Science-Fiction books that hadn't yet been translated into my native language. Dutch: Because of my bilingual Belgian girlfriend I started learning Dutch when I was 18, and I pretty much feel that's it's a part of my own identity since it's so close to Norwegian. I have a very strong understanding of the language both written and spoken, but rapid speech is still difficult. French: I've got a strong understanding of the language in writing, but orally I'm really, really bad. I was introduced to it in school when I was 16 years old, and did three years before I now moved to Belgium in order to get to a reasonable fluency. Russian: I'm a big newbie but I can read Cyrillic, although my vocabulary is extremely limited. Hopefully I can read a newspaper in a couple years. Edited by taKen on 21 September 2008 at 2:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Licel Triglot Newbie Mexico Joined 6045 days ago 10 posts - 10 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, FrenchB2 Studies: Italian | Message 11 of 204 21 September 2008 at 7:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 19
Languages Spanish - native tongue English (advanced fluency) - I started when I was about 7 French (basic fluency) - I've passed for native speaker a few times, I started when I was 15 Italian (beginner) - I started just 3 months ago, but honestly I haven't being studying it actively. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6035 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 12 of 204 22 September 2008 at 2:06am | IP Logged | ||
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@ 23
Bulgarian - Native language; English (near-native) - I started learning English in elementary school and I've been on this track ever since, with varying levels of intensity and effectiveness. Right now I'm living in an English-speaking country and trying to polish my accent a bit ( though Scotland might not be the best place for this endeavour :); French (intermediate level) - Started it last September and did some pretty intensive study during the winter & spring. The summer was somewhat more relaxed, only watching French movies and revising vocabulary. My level is probably nearing B1 and I'm hoping to get a certificate this year; Russian (passive skills only) - Thanks to 2 years of ineffective high-school tutoring I am able to read books and to some extend comprehend spoken Russian whilst not being able to utter a sentence. A few things on my hit-list: - Japanese (for the sake of anime, sushi, saké and the general tidiness of the place) - Chinese (I have a few friends who are eager to teach me) - Russian (to brush it up a bit) - Norwegian (for some reason I'm attracted to northern places) Edited by Sennin on 22 September 2008 at 2:22am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FrancescoP Octoglot Senior Member Italy Joined 5951 days ago 169 posts - 258 votes Speaks: Italian*, French, English, German, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian, Norwegian Studies: Georgian, Japanese, Croatian, Greek | Message 13 of 204 22 September 2008 at 4:54am | IP Logged | ||
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In my late twenties.
My languages: Italian: native English: I have been studying it all my life, I use it everyday for a lot of different purposes, I translate professionally from it and I actually do crazy things like walking monolingual dictionaries to make sure I know all of the damn words. If I had to nail the dreaded tag “advanced fluency” on a language, this would be it. German: quite advanced. My reading and writing skills might pass for near-native (judging by Goethe Institut standards), but it’s not everyday I get a chance of practicing my spoken German, which will surely sound a little stiff. I have done a lot of translations for publishers, I might even say it’s my main working language. I began at 19 when I entered university and perfectioned it for years through conscious effort and really hard work. French: near-native, with a slight accent that blinks “non-parisian” but hopefully doesn’t give away my spaghettiness. I have been living in the country for a few years, so it just flew in the natural way. I’m neither a talker nor a social animal, but I couldn’t help picking up all sorts of native quirks and mannerisms from the street. I never really “studied” it, but I can handle most situations, enjoy the classics (including medieval French) and contribute to journals without getting back voodoo dolls from the editors. Let’s say I starded to suck it in at 18, with a peak in my middle twenties. Latin: competent: I have studied it in school from 14 to 19, put it to sleep for a time and then unfrozen it again for post-graduate research. I can sight read medieval and Renaissance latin but will need some time and a dictionary to crack some ancient authors, especially poets. Ancient Greek: same as above, only far less competent. Here I need a dictionary for most situations and I’m bound to grind my teeth a little, but I have a thorough grasp of grammar and a very decent basic vocabulary of some thousand words. Norwegian: upper intermediate. I’ve had a thing for Scandinavia since my late teens. I began to study it seriously around 21/22 and now I can read about everything without effort, from newspapers to literary classics. On the other hand I speak it very poorly, and that’s a thing I need to fix as soon as I get the chance. Russian: upper intermediate, going on advanced. I’m still waiting for the bing bang that melts all the bits and pieces into fluency, but grammar is in place, vocabulary is not so bad and given a dictionary I can read all I need at a reasonable pace. My spoken russian is modest, but enough to survive in the country, get the gist of a movie, sing songs and have a tolerable conversation with friendly-minded people. Need to work on it some more. I started at 23, worked hard for a couple of years and then began to pick it up and drop it more or less randomly until now. Georgian: ouch! Let me pay myself a compliment by writing “intermediate” (on the lower side if we need to be strict). Since about 23/24 I have put a lot of work into this exceedingly complicated language. I more or less nailed down the (awful) grammar and got a vocabulary of a couple thousand words. I can exchange letters with my penpals about everyday life, but I will definitely need to use a dictionary. Real-time conversation is still a dream Japanese: muscular beginner. After a couple of months of dedication it stopped looking like one big bloody mess. I know basic sentence patterns and some intermediate constructions, can write around 500 kanji and I think I might survive in Tokyo for a day or two after all (aliens and Godzilla permitting). Apart from this I have a casual smattering of Dutch, Spanish, modern Greek, Icelandic and now Hungarian. I’m trying to greenhouse them into basic proficiency in my spare time. Oh, right, the time! Where do I find the time to toy around with so many languages instead of getting a life? Well, I’m a uni researcher and freelance translator, so my daily schedule is up to me, and it’s easy to cheat my conscience and friends by smuggling the fun I have with languages as professional training… Sorry it came out this long 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| raeve Diglot Groupie GermanyRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6363 days ago 65 posts - 66 votes Speaks: EnglishB2, German* Studies: Swedish, Serbian, Spanish | Message 14 of 204 22 September 2008 at 5:24am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 23.
German: Native English: Learned a few words in my childhood, then started learning in school at age 11. French: Starting learning in school at age 13 but forgot most of it. Spanish: Took two courses, one at ~15, the other at 21, started self-study at 22, but I'm currently too busy to continue Swedish: Self-studied at 22 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6035 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 15 of 204 22 September 2008 at 8:38am | IP Logged | ||
Just out of curiosity, are you doing a PhD or some sort of research masters? You make it sound so tempting. :) Edited by Sennin on 22 September 2008 at 8:39am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maya_star17 Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5916 days ago 269 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English*, Russian*, French, Spanish Studies: Japanese | Message 16 of 204 22 September 2008 at 9:26am | IP Logged | ||
I've looked around for Georgian resources but have not had success. I'm not studying it now but it's definitely on my hit list. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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