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Second languages

Lark

Active member
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
Messages
29,569
How many members speak a second language? When did you learn and why? If you dont speak a second language which would you like to learn and why? If you so speak a second language would you learn another and what would that be and why?
 

Earl Grey

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
4,910
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
583
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I'd wish to learn Japanese and German. I just like them.
 

Luminous

༻✧✧༺
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Messages
10,235
MBTI Type
Iᑎᖴᑭ
Enneagram
952
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Attempting to learn Spanish. I've been using Duolingo and have practiced 472 days in a row! :)
 

Dreamer

Potential is My Addiction
Joined
Jul 26, 2015
Messages
4,539
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
794
Language is super fun, just not my own hahaha kidding. They feel like I'm figuring out some jigsaw puzzle and when learning languages of similar origins it's fun to see some keys unlocking doors to multiple languages!

I only speak one unfortunately, Japanese, but I'm hoping to learn more down the road. If no other obligations existed in life, obligations meaning other things I must learn first (for my career as an example), then I'd take up multiple languages because you know, learning one at a time is so tiring, and I'd love to get into astrophysics. Nothing saying I can't someday tech myself all this stuff but I just wish I could now, like I want to learn it all immediately :(

Off the top of my head (sticking to the topic of language) I'd love to become fluent in Spanish, French, German, Cantonese, and Tagalog. :D
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

Up the Wolves
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
19,446
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w6
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sp/so
Spanish.... I'm about intermediate, though. I can read it and listen to it better than I can write and speak it. I learned it because it's the most likely to be useful, and because it means that I can go to a lot of different countries.
 

ThomasISFP

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 6, 2018
Messages
82
MBTI Type
ISFP
I want to learn lots of languages eventully, but for the very first one I want to learn is esperanto. What agreat idea to have a language with all the languages, then maybe there would be world peace :bye:

 

Mayflower

King Ping
Joined
Oct 3, 2016
Messages
701
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
French and Japanese. But far from fluent...
 

ilikeitlikethat

You're unbelievable ...
Joined
May 29, 2012
Messages
2,158
MBTI Type
xNTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
I like using Japanese on my phone ever since I installed it, it's been there and... old iPhone 5 has a newer Japanese dictionary than my older iPhone 4 because ever since I installed it on my iPhone 4 and loved it, when I got my iPhone 5; I installed it on that too, but it's newer - much like my first Japanese English dictionary I loved and gotten used to before enrolling in Japanese, it had the English word and the Japanese word next to it and the alphabets at the back, my iPhone 4 has the Japanese characters (and I had to get used to using a Japanese keyboard on a smart phone one night/teaching myself as we all do with technology)... And I finally cracked it, saw characters I hadn't thought of in years - got into using Japanese with Instagram; which for me is a combination of remembering the keyboard and learning new words. Then I get my iPhone 5; same Japanese keyboard, but like this Japanese dictionary my college gave my class each, it had the English word, the Japanese word, and written in Romaji, how to say the word... I still preferred my dictionary compared to the one handed to me by the school, since I was used to my one - on my iPhone 5, I still use the Japanese keyboard like I do on the iPhone 4, but there's another feature not featured on the iPhone 4 where on the iPhone 5, you have roman letters, and you just type it and the Japanese comes up. - I think I used it once for something but that was before it dawned on me to cut and paste any words my phone couldn't find from google translate on safari and paste that into Instagram.

My iPhone 4 is still working....
So I can only take a screen shot of that.
 

xXxXx_wEltschmErz_xXxXx

the manga was better
Joined
Jan 11, 2018
Messages
397
I've learned English and some German in school. I'm trying to learn Japanese because I like Japanese media-stuff, and also Portuguese because of Brazilians I met online + bossa nova. I've been interested in languages since before, but for long I did not do much in terms of self learning. In 2013 I wanted to learn Dutch for some random reason, so I watched a sort of lesson video on YouTube, practiced some phrases, and after that I wasn't too sure how to proceed and just forgot about it after a while. Two years later I found Duolingo, and "it changed everything". First I used it to reinforce my German. I wanted to do a Romance language so I started with Spanish as well (and dropped it some months later). I spent a lot of time reading the site discussions and it made me realize it isn't as hard as I might've thought to learn a language on my own. I found a Japanese course written out by a user in the discussions (there was no official course on the site) and that's how I started with Japanese.
I'd like to learn others too but I believe in the quality over quantity thing here.
In a nutshell I learn for fun.
 

VILLANELLE

New member
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
731
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
261
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
Attempting to learn French, Russian, Swedish, and Portuguese.

I'm focusing on French, I have 10 days so far in my streak. I've had to restart it a few times.

I feel like learning French would be valuable. The other languages, well, I just love trying to learn languages -- I challenge myself.
 

Kas

Fabula rasa
Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Messages
2,554
My second language is English. Currently I learn Spanish, my level is A2/B1, closer to A2 though:alttongue: When I will learn it well enough, I would like to start learning French or Russian.
 

Red Herring

Superwoman
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
7,488
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INTP
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5w4
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sp/sx
My native language is German. I learned English, French and Spanish at school and continued English and Spanish at university level (masters degree in translation and interpreting).

In Germany (and many other European countries) you usually need at least two foreign languages for a school-leaving qualification that'll get you into tertiary education. In my family and social circle everybody studied two foreign languages (English + something else). Lower-tier schools that only teach the legal minimum but don't qualify you for further education still require at least one foreign language (English).

FT_15.07.13_foreignLanguage_map.png


FT_15.07.13_foreignLanguage_histogram.png



Foreign_language_learning_in_the_European_Union_%28Data_from_2015%29_final.png




I have since tried my hand at Dutch, Finnish and Chinese and failed horribly. But I won't give up. The collection of foreign language text books on my shelf keeps growing - it even includes curiosities such as Occitan!
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

Up the Wolves
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
19,446
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INTP
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5w6
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sp/so
My native language is German. I learned English, French and Spanish at school and continued English and Spanish at university level (masters degree in translation and interpreting).

What is the level of proficiency required?
 

Red Herring

Superwoman
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
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INTP
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What is the level of proficiency required?

Do you mean what do schools aim at or what level is required to study translation?

Those who did seven years of English at school (the norm in my generation) will have a B1/B2 level knowledge. That's just enough to be able to watch Netflix episodes in the English original and hold a conversation on a variety of topics. Those who have spent some time abroad or used English at university (lots of textbooks are in English, my sister even wrote her PhD thesis in English because all the terminology in molecular biotechology and most of the literature is in English anyway) will have a C1 level (fluency).

As for studying translation: You are expected to enter the first year already being fluent if your major is English or French, otherwise you have to really work hard and get from zero to hero in a very short period of time. Fluency is the basis for studying translation, not the target. The actual classes are more about linguistics, cultural studies and lot and lots of practice
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

Up the Wolves
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Jul 24, 2008
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INTP
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5w6
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sp/so
Do you mean what do schools aim at or what level is required to study translation?

Those who did seven years of English at school (the norm in my generation) will have a B1/B2 level knowledge. That's just enough to be able to watch Netflix episodes in the English original and hold a conversation on a variety of topics. Those who have spent some time abroad or used English at university (lots of textbooks are in English, my sister even wrote her PhD thesis in English because all the terminology in molecular biotechology and most of the literature is in English anyway) will have a C1 level (fluency).

I meant what schools aim at. So it sounds like it's less than fluency. Does this include the second language, for those who didn't go on to become a translator?
 

Red Herring

Superwoman
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I meant what schools aim at. So it sounds like it's less than fluency. Does this include the second language, for those who didn't go on to become a translator?

Yeah, you usually don't get full fluency with what schools can offer. Those who do study a second language usually do so a few years after the first one, so it'll be even less. But that is still much better than no second foreign language at all. It's a foundation, usually enough to hold a simple conversation and get by as a tourist.

I forgot to link to the definitions of the Common European Framework of Reference to explain what is meant by "B1" etc: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages - Wikipedia

To be fair - in this context, "fluency" or "proficiency" means you can read and understand both Shakespeare and legal texts. So, probably something not all native speakers will be able to do.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

Up the Wolves
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Jul 24, 2008
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Yeah, you usually don't get full fluency with what schools can offer. Those who do study a second language usually do so a few years after the first one, so it'll be even less. But that is still much better than no second foreign language at all. It's a foundation, usually enough to hold a simple conversation and get by as a tourist.

I forgot to link to the definitions of the Common European Framework of Reference to explain what is meant by "B1" etc: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages - Wikipedia

To be fair - in this context, "fluency" or "proficiency" means you can read and understand both Shakespeare and legal texts. So, probably something not all native speakers will be able to do.

I saw a reference to A1, A2, B1, and B2 in some Spanish language videos I looked at once on YouTube. Now I know what that was referring to. (For the record, I found the B videos to be at a good pace for where I was at, though I'm not sure if it means that it was supposed to help you get to the point, or if it was for people who already reached that point.)
 

Hitoshi-San

New member
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Jun 26, 2014
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esfp
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???
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I would not consider myself super fluent, but I made it through an AP Spanish class in high school after taking it for 4 years beforehand so I guess you can consider it my second language? I just think speaking it is fun and it can come in handy. you never know when you'll run into someone who only speak speaks Spanish or you need to talk shit about someone who doesn't while they're around
 

Firebird 8118

DJ Phoenix
Joined
Sep 22, 2012
Messages
3,134
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INFP
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279
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sx/so
Hindi/Urdu - not exactly fluent, but it's the second one I've learned alongside English since I picked it up from my parents.

Spanish is technically my third. And perhaps because of my understanding of Hindi/Urdu grammar, it made learning Spanish 1-3 in high school sooooo much easier. :D

I'm currently working on French... just because. :)
 
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