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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Lapislazuli Tetraglot Senior Member Austria Joined 7037 days ago 146 posts - 170 votes  Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, ItalianB1 Studies: French, Hungarian, Esperanto, Czech | Message 193 of 204 13 February 2013 at 11:35am | IP Logged | ||
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I too thought I had answered to this a while ago, but apparently not ....
Currently I am 33. German - native language English - we started having English lessons at school when I was arround 8 I think, it was more like playing games, singing songs and things like that. Seriously started learning English at 10 until arround 18, at that time I passed a C2 exam, but my English is better now then it was at the time of taking the exam. I feel very comfortable using the language, I use it a lot at work and in my private life. Though I can't say I am near native or have a native accent, as this has never been my goal and I have never spent a longer period of time in an English speaking environment. Still studying it on and off - sort of - by trying to write fiction, there I can see every day where my limitations in the language really are. Though in general I am quite confident with my level of English. French - started at 14 or 15 I think and had French lessons for 5 years, two of them with a teacher that I hated, with the result that afterwards I felt replused by anything that sounded remotely French. I grew out of that though and the French language has secretly sneaked it's way back into my life, without me asking for it, but I don't complain. I can't say what my level would be now, as I don't speak very well, not having really done it a lot so far, only a little when traveling in France, and sometimes at work. Though I often watch French movies, don't understand all of what is being said, but I can appreciate a movie as a whole. I understand the written language quite well, as I read novels in French every now and then (currently it's Les Miséralbes) In fact i refer to reading stuff in French quite often, as there is a lot of information out there that I am interested in and that is mostly available in French. Italian - started at 17, had lessons for two years after which i took a B1 exam. Here I have to say that arround 19 my motivation for doing anything language-related had gone down to zero (see French) I guess I must have somehow burnt out, after learning too many, with too much pressure in a very short time at that school I have been attending back then. I started taking up Italian after years again, my level would be a high B2 when it comes to passive skills, can't say much about my spoken skills those are always weaker, I'd need to practice speaking a bit more too, which I am actually planning to. Spanish - started at 18, lessons for one year or let's say from October to May, took a B1 exam after that time. And then ... (see French and Italian), never used it again. I can understand most things in spoken language, and I can hold a converstion when there is no other language to refer to. So I wouldn't give myself any more then a shaky A2 at the moment. Swedish - started at 23, had sort of formally studied it for 2 years (though due to some problems with that university course it was a mixture out of formal lessons, self-study and then even a three weeks summer-class in Sweden all within those two years, I was wildly determined to study Swedish come what may ...) Then an exchange semester in Sweden where I had all of my university-courses in Swedish, wrote my papers in Swedish, read a lot, talked to people. Unfortunately after returning home there was not much possibility to use the language, so right now probably something arround C1. Though I have the prospects of using it for work soon, which is definitely going to improve my level. Hungarian - started at 26, at university as well, the class was a lot better then the Swedish class, attended it for two years, then spent 3 months working in Hungary (using German at work, as it was with a German-language newspaper, but I had a lot of use for Hungarian outside work) Becoming fluent in Hungarian just takes a lot more time then becoming fluent in Swedish I guess, so I would say I am at level B1/2 right now. Still working on improving my skills though I have shamelessly neglected it during the last year with too much other stuff going on. Czech - started at 32 or 33, it's hard to give a certain point in time where I started, as I had been flirting with it for at least 2 years before that. Level: Beginner 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| morinkhuur Triglot Groupie Germany Joined 4678 days ago 79 posts - 157 votes Speaks: German*, Latin, English Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi) | Message 194 of 204 13 February 2013 at 8:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 17 years old (and I'm turning 18 in a week)
German - Native language English (8 years) - To be exact, I began learning English at school 10 years ago, but, in the same way that Lapislazuli explained, my first two years of English in Elementary school were no real language classes. I can now understand almost everything I hear or read in English and I can write texts or communicate orally without any real problem. To a certain extent I can even imitate different regional accents. I would rate my passive skills as C1 or C2 and my active skills as somewhere between B2 and C1. Latin (7.5 years) - I started Latin in 5th grade and I am still currently studying it at school. I can translate quite competently, though I often need the help of a dictionary. I have not read any post-Classical texts but I can translate works of Caesar, Cicero, Catullus, Ovidius, Seneca or Livius, without greater difficulties. Spanish (6 years) - I took Spanish as an optional class in 7th grade and I am also still studying it at school. My reading and writing skills are good, my hearing skills are acceptable and my speaking skills, depending on the topic reach from weak to decent. Modern Standard Arabic (~4-5 years) - My first self-taught language and my favorite of them all. One day, I don't remember why, I simply decided that I wanted to learn another language and I also apparently thought that Arabic would be a good choice (which it was) without knowing much about the language at all. My Arabic studies were what really got me into languages and my random decision to start learning Arabic turned out to be a life- changing one. I have to admit though that my Arabic skills themselves are not exceedingly remarkable, as I have been studying on and off with large gaps in between for a good part of those 4-5 years. I can read simple texts and I can understand a word here and there on al-Jazeera, but my active knowledge is quite basic. Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic (0 years) - I have not yet begun to actively study these two colloquial dialects but I have already picked up a few phrases and I plan to expand my knowledge in this area in the near future. Japanese (~1 year) - My second self-taught language. I know the Kana and a few basic sentences as well as some basic grammar. Currently my Japanese studies are on hiatus until I have completed Heisig's Remembering the Traditional Hanzi which, at my pace, may take a while. I then intend to learn the Kanji along with the language with my knowledge of Traditional Hanzi as a basis. Mandarin Chinese (~0.5 years) - I started Mandarin with a course offered by a Chinese exchange student at my school, which did not teach me much more than a few basic phrases. Like Japanese, I am currently not studying Mandarin, until I am done with the Heisig book. I then want to learn the Simplified Hanzi along with the language, again using the Traditional Characters as a basis. I know Pinyin and I can pronounce isolated syllables with correct tones but I haven't had a lot of practice with tone pairs or complete sentences. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Duke100782 Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Philippines https://talktagalog.Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4489 days ago 172 posts - 240 votes Speaks: English*, Tagalog* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 195 of 204 15 February 2013 at 2:45am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 30 years old. My first language is English. I was exposed to Tagalog and Bisaya a lot as young child,
but I really started learning Tagalog as a subject in primary school. I can blurt out a few phrases of Bisaya and understand some of it when spoken, due to exposure to the language. I studied Spanish in college, so I can comprehend simple spoken sentences and pretty much most of what I read. I'm learning Mandarin since I've been living in China for the past ten months, though I've dabbled in it a lot beore getting here. I can't help pick up a few phrases of the local dialect, Chongqinghua. I'm looking forward to studying Hokkien, my father's first language, as soon as my Mandarin improves. Edited by Duke100782 on 15 February 2013 at 2:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| langslav Newbie United States slav.freemessageboar Joined 4380 days ago 24 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Albanian, German, Spanish | Message 196 of 204 16 February 2013 at 11:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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40 + XXI (x = 10 years)
02, English (not by choice but it is my native Language) 10, i learned 3x Viking Runic alphabets, did not learn beyond the letters 12, bought my 1st Russian book 13, read Cuneiform one entire summer, never did figure it out (at all) 14, 1 year of Latin 15-17, 3 years of German 17,18 i took German and Russian at the same time 18 couldnt read, couldnt walk, couldnt think straight, tried to kill myself 3x in 3 months 19, one semester of Portuguese 19, 4 years of Russian 23, heart attack from starvation 24, couldnt read i avoided TEXT for the next 9 years (eyes dont focus too painful) 27, electrocution 58, 1 semester of Mandarin 58, 1 semester of Spanish which i took on the same nite as Mandarin with a 10 minute break. That was so much fun. 60, Albanian 60, Russian (again) 61, Navajo (4 weeks and counting) i have collected 97 books on Language Grammar, but this does NOT mean that i know any of these languages very well except for Russian, upper level Intermediate. Edited by langslav on 16 February 2013 at 11:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Tedmac278 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4301 days ago 23 posts - 38 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish Studies: Estonian | Message 197 of 204 22 February 2013 at 6:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi all,
I'm 28 years old. Age 0 - English native Age 14 - Spanish. Officially started in school. Visited friends in Argentina fairly often, but I just did not get it. My breakthrough came in 2008 on one of my trips to Córdoba, Ar. After 4 years of virtually no contact with the language something clicked. I've steadily improved over the last 4.5 years and I'd say I'm at a strong B2 level. Odd as it may sound, I'd say my speaking abilities make up for a lot of shortcomings in book knowledge. I'm not actively studying. Just in maintenance mode right now. Age 24 - German. Once I realized that I didn't suck at languages anymore I started studying German very hard in 2009. I reached a VERY basic fluent level in February 2011, but I've since let it atrophy. I just recently began studying again in earnest and hope to spend LOTS of time in Germany later this year. (See note on bottom) Age 28 - Estonian? I'm flirting pretty hard right now with Estonian. It's a long story, but I feel like this language FOUND ME and not the other way around. I've really been enjoying what I've learned so far and the country and people fascinate me! And I know that if I want to hold on to what I've learned, I CAN'T STOP. My only reservation is that I don't want this to interfere with my German studies. TBD. Side note: I'm a pilot, so traveling far and wide is fairly easy. Starting this summer I'm committed to spending 1-2 weeks per months in Deutschland. (Wenn möglich) This will be to the detriment of my social life here in the States, but I think it will be worth it. I know for a fact that I learn SOOOOOO much faster in TL country, that it makes my language efforts at home seem silly. Anyway, thanks for reading! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| darkwhispersdal Senior Member Wales Joined 6041 days ago 294 posts - 363 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Ancient Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 198 of 204 25 February 2013 at 1:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 28 years old
English- Native language French- studied this in school for three years and then dropped it due to subject clashes and recently picked it back up again in January. I've forgotten how much I enjoyed the language. German- ditto as French my school was useless with setting up timetables and I've also picked this language up again. Spanish- I have studied this language for four years at an adult learning centre. My reading and writing skills are alot stronger than speaking and listening. Russian- classroom study for two years I am stronger in speaking and listening than in reading and writing. Mandarin- one year so far I did a course on this language for my OU degree did extremely well with the reading and writing but terrible on speaking need alot more practise. Classical Greek- another one year with the OU and I'm still suprisingly strong in this language I can translate some Euphrides' and Aristophranes' texts with a dictionary although I can recall alot of vocabulary and grammar. Classical Latin- two years with the OU and definitely my weakest language I need to refer to a dictionary and grammar book when translating most texts. Currently procrastinating on this forum instead of completing an assignment that I have to finish today. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| simonov Senior Member Portugal Joined 5590 days ago 222 posts - 438 votes Speaks: English | Message 199 of 204 25 February 2013 at 4:33pm | IP Logged | ||
Never heard of Euphrides. Who was he? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cacue23 Triglot Groupie Canada Joined 4300 days ago 89 posts - 122 votes Speaks: Shanghainese, Mandarin*, English Studies: Cantonese | Message 200 of 204 25 February 2013 at 5:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm 24 this year.
Mandarin - native Shanghainese - dialect spoken at all daily informal settings English - exposure since age 3, formal schooling since age 8, living in an English-speaking country since age 14 French - discontinuous schooling since age 14 (which is why my progress in French is notoriously slow) Edited by cacue23 on 25 February 2013 at 5:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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