Our BetterMost Community > The Polling Place
which foreign language would you like to speak as well as your first language?
j.U.d.E.:
Hebrew and/or Arabic.
I've tried Herbrew (long time ago) and I'm following classes in Arabic. Tough to learn!
Hebrew was/is easier! Prefer it over Arabic.
serious crayons:
I have to take the opportunity to say how impressed I am by the English skills of the non-native English speakers on this board. It is very rare for me to see anything written here that would tip me off that the poster's first language is not English (I mean simply in terms of language, of course, not content).
I'm so impressed because I think it is very hard to learn languages fluently. I took French for years in school -- and got mostly A's! -- yet cannot fluently read a French magazine or hold a normal conversation with a French person.
Maybe it helps that English is spoken so prevalently in Europe? I'm always amazed whenever I go there how easy it is to get by with just English. I don't like to do it (when I went to Italy I learned some very, very basic Italian), but plenty of people do.
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: Susiebell on October 27, 2007, 05:43:00 pm ---We were in a restaurant in Paris several years ago, and two women sitting near to us were talking to the waiter about what they wanted to order. They made no attempt whatsoever to speak in French, they just spouted off in English. The waiter looked after them but was very standoffish and unpleasant towards them. We, on the other hand, sat there with our French phrase book and did our best to order what we thought were steaks. The waiter smirked at our feeble attempts, but he corrected us, and was lovely and friendly.
No matter how rubbish you are, it's always worth making an effort .... and it can be good fun! :D
Susie
--- End quote ---
I love to try and speak different languages when I'm in other countries. I normally make a total ass out of myself when I do it, but it sure is fun! :D
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: Susiebell on October 28, 2007, 04:29:58 am ---Oh dear Gary, I deliberately missed that part out. "Yes" they were Americans ..... but Brits are just as bad, believe me!! In fact we're worse because we speak really really slowly and loudly and use wild hand movements to make ourselves understood!!
Susie
--- End quote ---
Alex has knocked me upside my head with HIS wild hand movements! ;)
I didn't just say that!
Did I just say that? ::)
Dagi:
--- Quote from: Susiebell on October 27, 2007, 05:43:00 pm ---We were in a restaurant in Paris several years ago, and two women sitting near to us were talking to the waiter about what they wanted to order. They made no attempt whatsoever to speak in French, they just spouted off in English. The waiter looked after them but was very standoffish and unpleasant towards them. We, on the other hand, sat there with our French phrase book and did our best to order what we thought were steaks. The waiter smirked at our feeble attempts, but he corrected us, and was lovely and friendly.
No matter how rubbish you are, it's always worth making an effort .... and it can be good fun! :D
Susie
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I´m having so much fun here! And when I´m in Italy, I use my three words Italian, and in Finland my threes words Finnish (in fact I´m even able to count from one to ten in Finnish ;)) and the effect is always the same! Faces brighten up, and people start communicating in every imaginable way! It is fun. Communication is so wonderful!
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