Do you speak any foreign languages?

[Davetello]

I spoke very good French at school, but after years of not needing to use it I probably wouldn't be very fluent in it any more.

I have a lot of respect for polyglots, though. Learning a language is a challenge. Some languages are easier than others (romance languages are quite similar), but for a Portuguese person such as OP to learn a language like English? Well that's impressive.

On this subject, I will tell you one thing I detest about the internet - when someone whose first language is English has a go at a foreigner for less than perfect English spelling or grammar. I always feel like saying "I bet his English is far better than your German/French/Spanish".

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Davetello

I spoke very good French at school, but after years of not needing to use it I probably wouldn't be very fluent in it any more.

I have a lot of respect for polyglots, though. Learning a language is a challenge. Some languages are easier than others (romance languages are quite similar), but for a Portuguese person such as OP to learn a language like English? Well that's impressive.

On this subject, I will tell you one thing I detest about the internet - when someone whose first language is English has a go at a foreigner for less than perfect English spelling or grammar. I always feel like saying "I bet his English is far better than your German/French/Spanish".

Not so much since it's the most spoken foreign language here. Most people here find French harder than English, including me. French has more rules, more of a complex grammar and is harder to pronounce, while English has a fairly simple grammar when it comes to verb conjugations unlike Portuguese and French that have several verb tenses and terminations. Not to mention English is gender-neutral unlike the previous two. Also, we're more exposed to English than to any other foreign language.

Of course, many of us struggle at English, but many of us also never had much trouble with it at all and didn't even need to make much of an effort. English tests were always those tests where I'd score high without studying at all. And several people here would tell you the same thing.

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Not so much since it's the most spoken foreign language here. Most people here find French harder than English, including me. French has more rules, more of a complex grammar and is harder to pronounce, while English has a fairly simple grammar when it comes to verb conjugations unlike Portuguese and French that have several verb tenses and terminations. Not to mention English is gender-neutral unlike the previous two. Also, we're more exposed to English than to any other foreign language.

Of course, many of us struggle at English, but many of us also never had much trouble with it at all and didn't even need to make much of an effort. English tests were always those tests where I'd score high without studying at all. And several people here would tell you the same thing.

Yeah, all of that makes sense. English is an extremely prolific language so perhaps it is easier for people to learn.

Well, without blowing too much smoke up your bum, your English has always been almost flawless. If I didn't know your background I would assume you were a native English speaker.

Btw, I felt bad for you and your country during the WC. Thought you would do better but Pepe lost the plot and it went downhill from there. If you wanna talk more PM me some time, so as not to take thread off-topic.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Davetello

Yeah, all of that makes sense. English is an extremely prolific language so perhaps it is easier for people to learn.

Well, without blowing too much smoke up your bum, your English has always been almost flawless. If I didn't know your background I would assume you were a native English speaker.

Btw, I felt bad for you and your country during the WC. Thought you would do better but Pepe lost the plot and it went downhill from there. If you wanna talk more PM me some time, so as not to take thread off-topic.

Depends on the individual, I guess. Many people here have claimed that English is the easiest language in the world. I don't really agree with that statement. There are no facts here, only opinions. I'd say English is easier than French, German and Portuguese. Harder than Spanish or Italian? Possibly. Then again, I haven't studied those and who knows which one I'd find easier/harder if I was, let's say, Korean or Russian.

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Depends on the individual, I guess. Many people here have claimed that English is the easiest language in the world. I don't really agree with that statement. There are no facts here, only opinions. I'd say English is easier than French, German and Portuguese. Harder than Spanish or Italian? Possibly. Then again, I haven't studied those and who knows which one I'd find easier/harder if I was, let's say, Korean or Russian.

Without generalising too much, English is probably harder for Southern Europeans and Latin Americans than it is for Northern Europeans. So many Dutch, German and Scandinavian people speak flawless English because they are taught it. It's probably due to the Germanic and Nordic links to those nations.

Although you say most Portuguese people have no problems with it so who knows.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Davetello

Without generalising too much, English is probably harder for Southern Europeans and Latin Americans than it is for Northern Europeans. So many Dutch, German and Scandinavian people speak flawless English because they are taught it. It's probably due to the Germanic and Nordic links to those nations.

Although you say most Portuguese people have no problems with it so who knows.

Oh, definitely. Although, I'd say that the lack of subbing in countries like France, Spain and Italy certainly doesn't help people learning English that easily in those places. Notice how everything is subbed in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium(Flanders, where they speak Dutch). Northern Germanic languages(Norwegian, Swedish and Danish) aren't that close to English despite also being Germanic languages. They're probably as similar to English as Portuguese is to Romanian. Or probably even less. I speak English and a decent amount of German and I barely understand any of written Swedish/Norwegian/Danish, let alone spoken.

The Portuguese aren't the best English -speakers in Europe, but I'd say we're the best in South-Western Europe. Still not as good as Northern Europeans, though.

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Oh, definitely. Although, I'd say that the lack of subbing in countries like France, Spain and Italy certainly doesn't help people learning English that easily in those places. Notice how everything is subbed in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium(Flanders, where they speak Dutch). Northern Germanic languages(Norwegian, Swedish and Danish) aren't that close to English despite also being Germanic languages. They're probably as similar to English as Portuguese is to Romanian. Or probably even less. I speak English and a decent amount of German and I barely understand any of written Swedish/Norwegian/Danish, let alone spoken.

The Portuguese aren't the best English -speakers in Europe, but I'd say we're the best in South-Western Europe. Still not as good as Northern Europeans, though.

Yes, that is a very good point. Languages seem much more accessible in Northern Europe going by your point about subbing. I didn't actually know that the Scandinavian languages were that far removed from English, so thanks for filling me in - perhaps a lazy assumption on my part.

I wonder if people in Flanders find English easier to handle than those in Wallonia? After all, the French speaking part of Belgium would probably find it harder to speak a more Northern European language if what we say holds true. I'd really need to do some research into that to be sure. A good start may be listening to how the Dutch and French speakers speak English in the Belgian national team and then contrasting.

In all honesty I wouldn't really know who's better from Southern Europe as I've never visited the likes of Portugal or Spain (much to my dismay as they seem like lovely countries), so I will take your word for it. Not South-West, but aren't the Greeks one of the more Southern nations who are pretty good English speakers? I've noticed that Italians don't seem comfortable when speaking English, but this could be based on a small sample and therefore not easy to extrapolate.

It did seem pretty sensible to conclude that Northern Europe as a whole would deal with English more easily than those who speak the romance languages. However, as for the differences between Southern nations? As stated, I take your word for it.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Davetello

Yes, that is a very good point. Languages seem much more accessible in Northern Europe going by your point about subbing. I didn't actually know that the Scandinavian languages were that far removed from English, so thanks for filling me in - perhaps a lazy assumption on my part.

I wonder if people in Flanders find English easier to handle than those in Wallonia? After all, the French speaking part of Belgium would probably find it harder to speak a more Northern European language if what we say holds true. I'd really need to do some research into that to be sure. A good start may be listening to how the Dutch and French speakers speak English in the Belgian national team and then contrasting.

In all honesty I wouldn't really know who's better from Southern Europe as I've never visited the likes of Portugal or Spain (much to my dismay as they seem like lovely countries), so I will take your word for it. Not South-West, but aren't the Greeks one of the more Southern nations who are pretty good English speakers? I've noticed that Italians don't seem comfortable when speaking English, but this could be based on a small sample and therefore not easy to extrapolate.

It did seem pretty sensible to conclude that Northern Europe as a whole would deal with English more easily than those who speak the romance languages. However, as for the differences between Southern nations? As stated, I take your word for it.

Not really sure about Belgium.

As for Greece, it is in Southern Europe, but Greek is not a Romance language. I'm only talking about Romance speakers here. Hence why I did not include Greeks and people from the Balkans. That being said, I have no idea how good the Greeks are at English. I'd be willing to bet that they also sub most media there since they're a small country without a major native language.

Anyway, I speak mostly from experience. Others might disagree with me.

[Davetello]

Just read through the thread somewhat...

"I'll probably never visit those countries, so it doesn't really matter. And I would hope those countries have people speaking english in the modern year of 2014. There's no reason people in France, Spain and Italy shouldn't all be fluent in english."

Lol, so you shouldn't have to learn Spanish or Italian, but they should certainly speak English? That's really arrogant.

[Davetello]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Not really sure about Belgium.

As for Greece, it is in Southern Europe, but Greek is not a Romance language. I'm only talking about Romance speakers here. Hence why I did not include Greeks and people from the Balkans. That being said, I have no idea how good the Greeks are at English. I'd be willing to bet that they also sub most media there since they're a small country without a major native language.

Anyway, I speak mostly from experience. Others might disagree with me.

Nah, I know Greek isn't a romance language, I suppose I was just going by Southern European culture - again, may be generalising a bit too much, but it's difficult to draw concrete conclusions. You know better than me and I'd have to fully research it to be sure of anything 100% for myself.

I guess I started lumping in warmer countries and certain cultures as one, again probably a bit lazy of me. My apologies. It is a genuinely interesting subject though, and seeing as you appear to know a fair amount about it it's nice to learn, or have my thoughts confirmed

[ObiWanFan4life]

I speak and understand Spanish.

[Yorae]

My first language is Arabic. My second is English.

I started learning German 2 years ago. Progressing slowly but surely!

Russian is my next target language to learn.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I can read/write, and even speak some Latin, due to taking it for three years in high school. This might not sound useful, until you consider that Spanish, Italian, and French all have roots in it. So I can (sort of) piece together a bit of written French, Italian, or Spanish just from that, or spoken, if it's said slowly and carefully enough.

That said, I've also been teaching myself a bit of Japanese here and there. (Thanks to my fan-fic writing.) I always try to get a feel for languages I use in my writing, be it Italian, Dutch, or Gaelic. (Which I've also started learning to a small degree.)

On a more unusual note, I'm also fluent in Tolkein Elvish and Drowic(dark elven tongue)! (Okay, my inner geek is showing with that one.... )

[BabyTurtles]

I can understand some basic Japanese and speak it.
I can write and read hiragana and some kanji.

Japanese classes were super fun! ^_^

[pennydreadful]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

On a more unusual note, I'm also fluent in Tolkein Elvish and Drowic(dark elven tongue)! (Okay, my inner geek is showing with that one.... )

That is so cool! Back in highschool, before I bitterly renounced all things Star Wars, I had taught myself to write in the Aurebesh.