The Mock Turtle

I'm trying to think of some non CV topics of conversation.

I was always crap (and, I must admit, disinterested in languages). As a result I could string together a few very basic sentences in German and know some words (I've got a GCSE in German) and know a smattering of words in French. Appallingly little really.

Some Irish, some french, tiny bit of Arabic

Arabic! That's unusual.

It's Penne's native language, so I've been making a vague attempt, bit it's HARD

It did come in handy when I got to mutter at some Omani PhDs that they were talking nonsense once day when they were gibbering loudly in the office for ages. Their faces were hilarious

Nope. I passed both French and German GCSEs but never kept them up. I’m have a smattering of vocabulary (nouns, numbers, the odd verb) but definitely don’t speak either.

Nothing well, but can get by to varying degrees in lots of things. I really like languages so I try hard at all of them and am very Jack of all trades, master of none. Also, until I've got used to remembering where I am, I open my mouth and the wrong language comes out, or, quite often, a puzzling mix of multiple languages. Or, the words in French, accompanied by a nice Japanese bow.

Used to be fine, now very rusty (ie can communicate most things but not necessarily in the best way and often speak like a toddler): Japanese, French
Solid holiday skills (ie fine with most standard situations like restaurants, transport, hotels etc, but shit at grammar): Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, German
Passable in an emergency and good at being polite enough to encourage people to want to help: Korean, Russian, what-used-to-be-Serbo-Croat-but-now-pretends-to-be-all-different-languages.
Can read gravestones: Latin

Wow Goat. That's impressive.

It's honestly not. I'm full of enthusiasm, but lacking in actual ability. I do try to be conscious of when someone would rather I just spoke in bloody English rather than mangling their language though.

Woah Goat! How do you remember them all?

I can speak a little French, I did A-Level German and worked as in interpreter for a big project but now I struggle with the basics. I’m gutted about that as I really enjoy the sound of it.

I’m passable in sign language and currently teaching that to the children.

I can read numbers in Arabic and speak basic tourist stuff (please, thank you, how much is that)

With my Italian uncle I can understand him and he can understand me but neither speak each other’s languages

I'm the same with Italian and Spanish Kleio - don't speak it but understand it. (And can order food and drink in Spanish like a pro).

Holiday level French and Hebrew for me. Vocab not bad, grammar non-existent.

German with shit grammar but an excellent accent. Fairly good French. My Swedish was pretty good (to read and understand when it was spoken) and I did a fair bit of Polish a year or so ago.

Smunder Woman wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 12:20 pm It did come in handy when I got to mutter at some Omani PhDs that they were talking nonsense once day when they were gibbering loudly in the office for ages. Their faces were hilarious

Oh, this is my dream come true My mum tells a great story from when she was a nurse in Switzerland and two women in a room where she was changing the bed started talking about her in Spanish, so she waited it out and then said “I’m very sorry you don’t like my shoes” in perfect Spanish just as she left

I used to speak fluent Spanish, and could now get by conversationally. I used to have some basic German, but like Goat when I open my mouth for German, only a seemingly flawless recall of Spanish comes to mind (something that does not happen if I try to actually think in Spanish).

Before I go somewhere I try to do a wee bit of Duolingo and always take a phrase book to make a bit of an effort.

I speak French and Spanish fluently, but I studied them for A Level and at uni and it's now my job to understand them 100%, so that's why.

I can speak some German, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian - basic holiday shizzle. I really would like to learn Polish as my cousin's married to a lovely lady from Poland and their kids are bilingual; one of them always tries to make me read his Polish books to him. I can add that to the ever-growing list of things I should be doing with my free time these days.

Just some Spanish, and maybe odd swear word in Italian thanks to my European colleagues. Oh and a few words of Fillipino.

I could get by in French. I did German as well but found the grammar impossible. I can say a few things convincingly in Spanish, Italian and Arabic.

French, obviously. I used to be fluent in Irish, having gone to an Irish-speaking secondary school, but I didn't use it and I lost it. Now when I try to speak Irish, French comes out.

I used to be ok-ish in Italian, after living in Rome for 6 months, but again, I let it slip and it's mostly gone now. Aside from that, a bit of Spanish and only a few words of Polish, most of them swear words. I know I really should learn Polish, but that means I'd have to actually talk to my in-laws, so...

When I was at home I immersed myself in Spanish for the best part of a year, meeting with native speakers once a week for exchanges, and could listen to simple TV shows, read kids' books (Harry Potter, Enid Blyton) and converse quite confidently.

Once I started coding and working I had less time to study or attent meetups so it's slipped now, but I'm keen to get back at it. I loved how confident it made me feel, especially when travelling - I could do all the ordering, sorting out, getting directions and general touristy chat when we travelled and it was great fun.

I speak fluent Punjabi (heavily accented) and can cobble together a conversation in Hindi as they are very similar. I read or write neither despite going to Punjabi school as a kid.

I did French a level - can get by on holiday and I picked up conversational Spanish from travelling round South America years ago and being in places that didn’t speak much English. One of the hostel owners In Argentina insisted on Spanish only so I came on really quickly in a short space of time.

Good topic!

What's your job, Lazzbo?

My aunt speaks and teaches French, German, Italian, Spanish and Latin. She's currently studying Russian.

I am fluent in French and have basic German, Italian, Spanish and Greek. I love learning languages and one of my best compliments came from the manager of a hotel Will and I stayed in in Paris. He told me "When you first arrived I could tell you were English from your accent, but now after 3 days I could not tell if you were English or French."

Oh I forgot Greek. When I taught there I got very proficient at counting and saying things like sit down, be quiet, stretch your knees. All very useful.