I know a lot of people here are multilingual-- let's have a thread about it. What languages do you speak? Any interesting insights/observations/tips? I find the phenomenon of language highly fascinating.

For me, besides English, I'm fairly proficient in Spanish (my listening being my weakest point, I think), and I am continually studying Arabic and Japanese. I find Arabic very challenging what with its unfamiliar consonants--spelling is a nightmare sometimes. I'm kind of just getting into studying Japanese seriously, and it's lovely. My latest fascination is with the Somali language, but it's more of a side-hobby. I'm stuck to memorizing vocabulary at the moment because there seems to be a great lack of Somali language textbooks and the grammar eludes me completely just by looking at it.

Tell me about your experiences, all you still out there~

Ooh, this is a topic I can get behind.

Although the two are not completely inclusive as you can have your PhD in linguistics and be monolingual, I'm both a huge language study nerd and am about to finish my linguistics master's degree with a focus on TESOL/applied linguistics. I always highly encourage anyone/everyone to dabble in picking up a second/third/fourth/etc. language as it's fun, rewarding, and has some positive health benefits like delaying alzheimer's by a decent amount of years.

I've studied a gajillion languages for at least a small amount of time. I've dabbled in German, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Irish Gaelic, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Esperanto, and I've done a little bit with Nuu-chah-nulth (pacific northwest Native American language; favorite prof in my department is an expert on it and its language family and has held a few study groups for it) and Kisii (related to Swahili, spoken in a specific part of Kenya; this was the language we used for my field methods class.) I plan on fooling around with Hindi, Turkish, Arabid and/or Hebrew, and probably a handful of other languages at some point in my life. I can hardly speak more than a few words in the vast majority of these, but I still have fun looking into them, learning more about their grammatical structures, phonology, etc.

In secondary school, I took a trimester to a year of French, Spanish, German, and Vietnamese. In undergrad, I took a semester of Spanish, two and a half years of Japanese, and a semester and a half of an accelerated Russian program (one year's worth of content each semester.) The rest of these languages I've either picked up from goofing around on Duolingo, reading random textbooks for fun, having friends that speak the languages, etc.

I'm most likely somewhere between N3 and N4 in Japanese using the JLPT system. I'd like to be further, but I have a nasty language hopping habit as can be seen above. For the European languages, if we're going by the CEFR, I'd probably be around B1 in reading/writing in Swedish if I were to take a week to refresh my knowledge on Duolingo. Speaking/listening I might be more like A2 because I don't get much of a chance to practice written Swedish, let alone spoken Swedish. Given a week or two to refresh, I'd be A2/borderline B1 in Russian, but without any warmup, I'm lucky if I can pass for a solid A1. Out of all the languages I've studied, I have the hardest time retaining Russian vocabulary.

I used to have very clear goals of "BECOME FLUENT IN 3 FOREIGN LANGUAGES BEFORE I DIE", but I've relaxed on that a bit over the years. Fluency is such an ambiguous thing and everyone has a different definition of it. In my native language of English, I can talk about geometry a little bit despite being absolute garbage at it; I don't really need that in English, so why bother stressing out about perfecting Japanese or Swedish to the point where I can talk about geometry if it's really not going to be that relevant. I just want to be able to read stuff I want to, have some fun convos with people, and depending on where I end up, knowing enough to do p. well in social situations in the native language of whatever country I'm in or at least learn enough to be able to work around situations/find solutions in case I get stuck on certain words/grammatical constructions, etc.

To Yaro specifically: if you have any interest in Somali, there's this really awesome polyglot youtuber named Laoshu505000 who does a lot of really entertaining videos where he walks around various areas just practicing the dozens of languages he's beginner-advanced in with strangers. He does Somali a decent amount. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 7zrDHXymeU He has a playlist for grammar stuff about it. He has a few other Somali videos. I'm not sure if they're any good, but his other videos tend to be pretty good. You might be able to find some resources from his videos as he usually talks about the books he uses.

Language and communication in general is absolutely fascinating. I only studied Japanese up to a proficient level, aside from my native English, but I dabbled in Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin to varying extents over the years. Right now I'm working on re-learning Japanese a little bit at a time but I also want to study Cantonese more seriously.

Reading something in another language, or watching/listening to something and really grasping the meaning is an absolutely fantastic feeling, so it's definitely my love of art that keeps me interested in other languages more than my interest in languages themselves Although I do really appreciate the sounds of many different tongues, I like playing music and such more and end up devoting more. time in that arena vs language study, so I'm sort of limiting myself to a handful of languages.

[quote="h2orowe"]I've studied a gajillion languages for at least a small amount of time. I've dabbled in German, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Italian, Irish Gaelic, Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Esperanto, and I've done a little bit with Nuu-chah-nulth (pacific northwest Native American language; favorite prof in my department is an expert on it and its language family and has held a few study groups for it) and Kisii (related to Swahili, spoken in a specific part of Kenya; this was the language we used for my field methods class.) I plan on fooling around with Hindi, Turkish, Arabid and/or Hebrew, and probably a handful of other languages at some point in my life. I can hardly speak more than a few words in the vast majority of these, but I still have fun looking into them, learning more about their grammatical structures, phonology, etc.
...
I used to have very clear goals of "BECOME FLUENT IN 3 FOREIGN LANGUAGES BEFORE I DIE", but I've relaxed on that a bit over the years. Fluency is such an ambiguous thing and everyone has a different definition of it. In my native language of English, I can talk about geometry a little bit despite being absolute garbage at it; I don't really need that in English, so why bother stressing out about perfecting Japanese or Swedish to the point where I can talk about geometry if it's really not going to be that relevant. I just want to be able to read stuff I want to, have some fun convos with people, and depending on where I end up, knowing enough to do p. well in social situations in the native language of whatever country I'm in or at least learn enough to be able to work around situations/find solutions in case I get stuck on certain words/grammatical constructions, etc.

To Yaro specifically: if you have any interest in Somali, there's this really awesome polyglot youtuber named Laoshu505000 who does a lot of really entertaining videos where he walks around various areas just practicing the dozens of languages he's beginner-advanced in with strangers. He does Somali a decent amount. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 7zrDHXymeU He has a playlist for grammar stuff about it. He has a few other Somali videos. I'm not sure if they're any good, but his other videos tend to be pretty good. You might be able to find some resources from his videos as he usually talks about the books he uses.[/quote]

Wow! I admire you--I enjoy language study and linguistics, although I've never had a chance to formally study linguistics in any program--only have read some books on my own. If I ever am able to go back to complete an undergrad, I might choose that as a major, or something like it. I have worked five years as a tutor to English language learners (not a teacher proper, so no degree was required) and I've enjoyed it immensely. It's special to become so intimate and mindful of one's first language...and still be presented sometimes with questions that stump me, haha. I especially love when more advanced students come with very intricate questions of nuance that we figure out together. It's so fascinating to me...

I agree that fluency is something slippery to grasp. In general, I kind of hate tests like TOEFL or IELTS, because I feel they are so phony/a racket/etc. (I suppose that could be said of most 'official' tests). I understand that there needs to be some sort of measurement, but I guess that they just succeed in making people feel bad, or giving a rather blurry assessment of one's ability.

As for myself, I suppose that I am slowly working towards something like 'fluency' for all the languages I study, but it's not so dire to me, I guess. If I can learn bit by bit, that's great, too. It's that 'knowing even just a little bit' that can gain us insight and help us make connections to people we might not have otherwise met. I could probably easily count the number of Somali words that I have committed to memory--but that I know any always causes a Somali person's to smile a little (or else just get confused and and then realize, [i]Oh! you're trying to speak Somali[/i]. That happens a lot for Arabic too, for I suspect I have a very American accent).

Of the languages I have spent time seriously studying, I think Arabic is the least sticky in my brain. I don't know if that has to do with my relative unfamiliarity of it (whereas Spanish is similar to English in many ways and very easily seen in the US, and I grew up listening to Japanese music constantly from a young age) or whether it is more difficult sounds for me to relate to and save. Also, the highly distinct dialects of the various Arab countries, on top of the difference of register makes listening and participating to a real life conversation very hit or miss for me. There are times when I understand the gist, and other times I miss it completely.
Listening always seems to be the hardest aspect for me...something about not being able to go at my own pace, I think. (Probably also the fact that I rarely watch movies or TV and thus get no practice except in music or the odd podcast)

In the future, I would like to learn another European language, and something about some Native languages (I found a neat beginning Dakota website from the MN historical society) or else take a beginning Hmong class at community ed, just to see what it's like.

Also--thanks for the video links! They are so up my alley!

[quote="Marekenshin"]Reading something in another language, or watching/listening to something and really grasping the meaning is an absolutely fantastic feeling, so it's definitely my love of art that keeps me interested in other languages more than my interest in languages themselves Although I do really appreciate the sounds of many different tongues, I like playing music and such more and end up devoting more. time in that arena vs language study, so I'm sort of limiting myself to a handful of languages.[/quote]

For me, I find that becoming familiar with languages and learning new words, sounds, and concepts often gives me creative inspiration, especially in writing (although it might make it incomprehensible to some). Perhaps you could merge your interests!

I've studied Japanese the most, followed by Spanish and some Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin). I think immersion is really key - we had to do a lot of speaking, including speaking with native speakers, and presentations etc in the Japanese classes I took and that helped a lot. The hard part is keeping up with it when you don't have reasons to use the language. Since my interest in anime and other Japanese culture has waned, I obviously don't practice it as much. As a general observation, I think learning other languages makes you a better communicator in your native language - I've learned to be more precise with my words and can better adapt when I realize I've been misunderstood.

I've heard good things about the app Duolingo, I would like to try it but it doesn't have the languages I'm interested in. At some point I would like to brush up on my Japanese, but right now I'm really interested in learning Cantonese better - learned some as a child so I have the ability to hear all the tones, just need to get more advanced at it so I can maybe hold a conversation (not really concerned about writing). Anyone have any suggestions for good language learning software/courses/etc?

Hola chicos,
In order of proficiency it is Dutch - English - Spanish.
Dutch being my native language, English my natural second language, and Spanish my foreign language that I can understand quite well, speak a bit less, and like the down-to-earth feel it has to it. I guess for me learning a new language is for practical purposes mostly, e.g. when traveling around. I picked up Spanish at high school, took it for a semester at university, and had two spanish dorm mates I spoke Spanish with for a few months.. now I am traveling a bit in Latin-America and my prior experience with Spanish serves me well.

I find it curious how your 'melody' and 'mood' also changes, depending on the language you are conversing in. Speaking English for a while in the Philippines, and then going back to Dutch is quite strange. I felt like Dutch was such a choppy language, and English contained way more easy ways of conveying things, like being able to say the same thing with less and at the same time be more to the point with it, and also having more subtelty and word choice. I struggled a bit first, to talk normally in Dutch again. Dutch then, also seems a bit slow and lethargic. So in English I usually feel more up-beat, while in Dutch I feel more formal, out-of-sync. Which may be a bit strange, because I was raised up learning Dutch.

Then, in each of these languages, there are certain word phrases that just flow so well in the native language, but does not really have a couter-part in any of the other languages. For example, if you want to say 'let's go!', you just say 'vamos!' in Spanish, which for me sounds much more powerfull, energetic and convincing.. and in Dutch you could say 'Laten we gaan', or, 'Kom op, laten we gaan!'.. but it is just a bit too drawn-out, haha. Another example would be a reply to a sentence where you state that you do not feel up to the activity. For example, in reply to 'let's go to the beach!', you could say, 'nah, don't feel like'.. while the more briefer Dutch 'geen zin in'.. conveys much more lack of interest. What I want to say with this, I do now know, haha... but I think it is interesting. My mom now uses a mix of Tagalog (Philipine language), English and Dutch when conversing with friends. Some phrases or words have just more impact, or accurateness in one language, than in the other. And you can mix it up to convey more clearly what you want to say .

Other than Dutch, English and Spanish, I know some French and German, but it really needs some freshening up, for me to be comfortable with it. Then I know a little bit of Ilokano, a language used in the north of the Philipines. And then I like Japanese for it's rhythm, flow and melody in music, ofcourse. But I really know only very few words of it.
I will probably be freshing up my French as I am planning to travel to/through West Africa in the near future.

Wow, I envy all you multi-language peoples here! I've only dabbled in a bit of Spanish and Japanese, and I took Chinese for one year in high school. The Chinese is completely gone now. My Japanese was something back in my high school days when I was at the peak of Japanese culture infatuation, but it is also rusted over now. As for Spanish, I cannot speak it to save my life but I find myself able to decipher texts well enough.

As it stands now, I cannot relate to the understandings and nuances one begins to understand and confront as they burrow into the intimacies of the languages of others' and thus back into their own. That has always been a super fascinating concept to me, and I look forward to getting to that point in the future myself.

I've been trying to reignite the spark with my Japanese studies, but lately I've felt distracted by other things... mainly music I guess. Over the years I feel like I've conditioned my brain to have a bit of tunnel-vision when it comes to directing my focus. To the point that I need to back up a little bit so that I can more openly enjoy developing vocations outside of strictly music.

[quote="Ashinow"]Then, in each of these languages, there are certain word phrases that just flow so well in the native language, but does not really have a couter-part in any of the other languages. For example, if you want to say 'let's go!', you just say 'vamos!' in Spanish, which for me sounds much more powerfull, energetic and convincing.. and in Dutch you could say 'Laten we gaan', or, 'Kom op, laten we gaan!'.. but it is just a bit too drawn-out, haha. Another example would be a reply to a sentence where you state that you do not feel up to the activity. For example, in reply to 'let's go to the beach!', you could say, 'nah, don't feel like'.. while the more briefer Dutch 'geen zin in'.. conveys much more lack of interest. What I want to say with this, I do now know, haha... but I think it is interesting. My mom now uses a mix of Tagalog (Philipine language), English and Dutch when conversing with friends. Some phrases or words have just more impact, or accurateness in one language, than in the other. And you can mix it up to convey more clearly what you want to say . [/quote]

I wonder if there is a specific word for this phenomenon--I encounter it too. For example, now I often naturally use Arabic expressions in my everyday speech, such as "ما شاء الله‎‎" [masha'allah], or "إن شاء الله‎‎," [insha'allah], which literally translate to "God (Allah) has willed it" and "God willing", respectively. There would be very few occasions in which I would use phrases like that in English--I am not religious, and we don't really have exact counterparts that are in common use. However, Arabic speakers and/or Muslim people don't really use them with an overtly religious connotation--which leads me to translate masha'llah to "oh my god, that's awesome" for most people when they ask. It's kind of interesting--I suppose we have the same sort of thing when we exclaim Oh my god.
I think there are a lot of examples of words that don't translate well from Arabic, or which are used in many more contexts than the translation would lead one to believe.

As for what Terra said about learning a second language making one able to communicate more clearly in the first language, I would have to agree. I find myself being more in tune to possibly obscure phrasal verbs and instead use a single word, e.g. 'search' rather than 'look for'. It happens unconsciously for me now...I think phrasal verbs in English are interesting and quirky, but suppose they must be a nightmare to learn.

[quote="Tidusauron12"]I've been trying to reignite the spark with my Japanese studies, but lately I've felt distracted by other things... mainly music I guess. Over the years I feel like I've conditioned my brain to have a bit of tunnel-vision when it comes to directing my focus. To the point that I need to back up a little bit so that I can more openly enjoy developing vocations outside of strictly music.[/quote]

Just keep trying! I think, even if you're not totally invested in the study of something, just keeping yourself exposed to it a little bit but CONSTANTLY is helpful. Everyday look at a word or concept--it might not be stored for recall, but you will at least have faint recognition later when you come back to learn it again.

Also, as an aside, I'm excited because I signed up for a beginning Somali language community education class--but a little disappointed because my community ed. Japanese class was canceled due to low enrollment