When the common language is English and this is everybody’s second language it comes as no surprise the UK has the lowest percentage. It difficult to chose which foreign to learn hence the varying number of languages that lifers are learning or speak. In Addition it’s difficult to speak a foreign language abroad as they want to practice their English.
Whilst in Sweden I found this the case. If I was to open up in Swedish the swedes would invariably reply in English, if I was to then reply in Swedish we would continue the conversation in Swedish.
A difficult thing is to stumble along in Swedish when they are standing able to have a better command of English than you! Consequently you'd carry on in English.
I've been visiting Sweden to see my wife's family and friends for 10 years now and I'm still next to useless. The problem is everybody speaks English with most very good. One thing I haven't yet noticed is the different dialects when in Stockholm or Malmo. I'm planning a move over in a few years so will utilise the 'Swedish for beginners' free courses for foreigners who are settling. I think I will probably get better when immersed in the language for longer. I tend to stand out at football matches when shouting enthusiastically at the ref, in English, when suddenly dozens of people turn around and stare. 😀
Language and all of its variety...must have taken some form of evolution?
Language is the main reason why us human beings are such a success.
By success, I mostly mean population, creativity and our ability to live for a long time.
I'm sure there is a better way of saying it.
WHY do the Spanish speak Spanish?
WHY do the French speak French?
WHY do the Russians speak Russian?
And so on.
It can't have obviously been "I'm the ruler of this country....called Denmark. I've decided we are going to speak a language in order to communicate. That language will be known as Danish" - in body language.
I’ve just read LDTs answers to the fans forum questions. I can’t figure out what he’s talking about. Does anyone have a basic course in talking Bollocks that I could borrow?
When the common language is English and this is everybody’s second language it comes as no surprise the UK has the lowest percentage. It difficult to chose which foreign to learn hence the varying number of languages that lifers are learning or speak. In Addition it’s difficult to speak a foreign language abroad as they want to practice their English.
Whilst in Sweden I found this the case. If I was to open up in Swedish the swedes would invariably reply in English, if I was to then reply in Swedish we would continue the conversation in Swedish.
A difficult thing is to stumble along in Swedish when they are standing able to have a better command of English than you! Consequently you'd carry on in English.
I've been visiting Sweden to see my wife's family and friends for 10 years now and I'm still next to useless. The problem is everybody speaks English with most very good. One thing I haven't yet noticed is the different dialects when in Stockholm or Malmo. I'm planning a move over in a few years so will utilise the 'Swedish for beginners' free courses for foreigners who are settling. I think I will probably get better when immersed in the language for longer. I tend to stand out at football matches when shouting enthusiastically at the ref, in English, when suddenly dozens of people turn around and stare. 😀
SFI is very important that you stick with it, getting a qualification this way will help in a BIG way to get employment.
Beautiful country and fantastic people, particularly the crumpet.
There should be a lot more focus on learning another language in schools in the UK. The Brits and Americans are so far behind the rest of the world for this and, although English is obviously the global language, there are many reasons to have at least some of another language - work opportunities, better experience when travelling and putting yourself more in the shoes of others. Plus there is some evidence that learning another language can prevent Alzheimer's. Generally it's well worth it and there should be more focus on it in schools plus encouraging adults to learn.
Interesting that you include Americans, a huge number of Americans I have met whilst living abroad can speak at least one other language. They are light years ahead of us in that respect.
I would imagine most Americans living and working outside America would be in the top 10% in educational terms. The average Joe in America may have a smattering of Spanish (the second language culturally) but not much else. From my experience anyway.
At least one foreign language, maybe two, should be compulsory on the National Curriculum from the age of four.
A lot of research suggests children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7.
My wife and I are trying to raise my son to be bilingual, although that's obviously a lot easier for us, as English and Chinese will be native languages for him, we're also planning to live in a 3rd country for a year before he starts kindergarten, which should also help.
Just got to decide where.
I dont understand this 1st sentance mate? Children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7?
There should be a lot more focus on learning another language in schools in the UK. The Brits and Americans are so far behind the rest of the world for this and, although English is obviously the global language, there are many reasons to have at least some of another language - work opportunities, better experience when travelling and putting yourself more in the shoes of others. Plus there is some evidence that learning another language can prevent Alzheimer's. Generally it's well worth it and there should be more focus on it in schools plus encouraging adults to learn.
Interesting that you include Americans, a huge number of Americans I have met whilst living abroad can speak at least one other language. They are light years ahead of us in that respect.
I would imagine most Americans living and working outside America would be in the top 10% in educational terms. The average Joe in America may have a smattering of Spanish (the second language culturally) but not much else. From my experience anyway.
At least one foreign language, maybe two, should be compulsory on the National Curriculum from the age of four.
A lot of research suggests children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7.
My wife and I are trying to raise my son to be bilingual, although that's obviously a lot easier for us, as English and Chinese will be native languages for him, we're also planning to live in a 3rd country for a year before he starts kindergarten, which should also help.
Just got to decide where.
I dont understand this 1st sentance mate? Children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7?
A childs brain is geared towards learning language until roughly the age of 7, so teaching things such as science, math and history at such a young age is not as beneficial as learning multiple language.
According to some research.
This is obviously talking about within an educational setting, obviously children need to learn motor skills, socialization and heaps of other stuff.
Growing up in Israel during the 60s, the vast majority of adults spoke Hebrew as a second language. In me it instilled curiosity and love for accents and 2nd languages (basic French Arabic English). My ambition is to rid myself completely of first language, and judging by the increasing incidents of bemused conversational responders during my last Tel Aviv visit, I'm nearly there. Argentinians are the best though. No matter how miniscule their command of 2nd language is, they still manage to speak it 100 miles an hour - shifting responsibility of making sense of it all to the poor listener.
There should be a lot more focus on learning another language in schools in the UK. The Brits and Americans are so far behind the rest of the world for this and, although English is obviously the global language, there are many reasons to have at least some of another language - work opportunities, better experience when travelling and putting yourself more in the shoes of others. Plus there is some evidence that learning another language can prevent Alzheimer's. Generally it's well worth it and there should be more focus on it in schools plus encouraging adults to learn.
Interesting that you include Americans, a huge number of Americans I have met whilst living abroad can speak at least one other language. They are light years ahead of us in that respect.
I would imagine most Americans living and working outside America would be in the top 10% in educational terms. The average Joe in America may have a smattering of Spanish (the second language culturally) but not much else. From my experience anyway.
At least one foreign language, maybe two, should be compulsory on the National Curriculum from the age of four.
A lot of research suggests children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7.
My wife and I are trying to raise my son to be bilingual, although that's obviously a lot easier for us, as English and Chinese will be native languages for him, we're also planning to live in a 3rd country for a year before he starts kindergarten, which should also help.
Just got to decide where.
I dont understand this 1st sentance mate? Children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7?
A childs brain is geared towards learning language until roughly the age of 7, so teaching things such as science, math and history at such a young age is not as beneficial as learning multiple language.
According to some research.
This is obviously talking about within an educational setting, obviously children need to learn motor skills, socialization and heaps of other stuff.
Language and all of its variety...must have taken some form of evolution?
Language is the main reason why us human beings are such a success.
By success, I mostly mean population, creativity and our ability to live for a long time.
I'm sure there is a better way of saying it.
WHY do the Spanish speak Spanish?
WHY do the French speak French?
WHY do the Russians speak Russian?
And so on.
It can't have obviously been "I'm the ruler of this country....called Denmark. I've decided we are going to speak a language in order to communicate. That language will be known as Danish" - in body language.
Language started to evolve between 2m and 50k years ago - nobody really knows for sure.
Isolation lead to different languages forming and tribalism maintained those differences. The world was obviously not as connected as it is now!
The first development in language was almost certainly linked to communication between humans when hunting and research indicates that climactic conditions played a big part in languages having fewer or more vowel sounds and consonant sounds- to do with how the sound changed over distance- warmer forested climates developed more vowel sounds whilst colder climates more consonants. North west European languages have generally more vowels - Easter European languages more consonants. Not sure what happened with Wales!
Doing this kind of thing certainly helps to improve ones memory.
It's a million times better now then in comparison to the time when this thread began.
The good thing about it is....you can never know "too much".
It will just keep going on and on.
I'm English...yet, my English itself, isn't really that great.
Proves my point.
I do agree though...that no one can ever really end up being really good at this kind of thing, unless you actually move to the country itself and the language is needed for every day needs.
It will then just become apart of you.
You will talk in a natural flowing way.
An Italian lady that moved here....told me about her experience of learning English too. It matches what she said.
There should be a lot more focus on learning another language in schools in the UK. The Brits and Americans are so far behind the rest of the world for this and, although English is obviously the global language, there are many reasons to have at least some of another language - work opportunities, better experience when travelling and putting yourself more in the shoes of others. Plus there is some evidence that learning another language can prevent Alzheimer's. Generally it's well worth it and there should be more focus on it in schools plus encouraging adults to learn.
Interesting that you include Americans, a huge number of Americans I have met whilst living abroad can speak at least one other language. They are light years ahead of us in that respect.
I would imagine most Americans living and working outside America would be in the top 10% in educational terms. The average Joe in America may have a smattering of Spanish (the second language culturally) but not much else. From my experience anyway.
At least one foreign language, maybe two, should be compulsory on the National Curriculum from the age of four.
A lot of research suggests children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7.
My wife and I are trying to raise my son to be bilingual, although that's obviously a lot easier for us, as English and Chinese will be native languages for him, we're also planning to live in a 3rd country for a year before he starts kindergarten, which should also help.
Just got to decide where.
I dont understand this 1st sentance mate? Children should not be learning anything other than language until roughly the age of 7?
A childs brain is geared towards learning language until roughly the age of 7, so teaching things such as science, math and history at such a young age is not as beneficial as learning multiple language.
According to some research.
This is obviously talking about within an educational setting, obviously children need to learn motor skills, socialization and heaps of other stuff.
Understood thanks.
In France they don't teach anything formal til the chidlren are 7
Has anyone got suggestions for online materials/apps to (re)learn French? I've got some Michel Thomas CDs which are very good and was going to try DuoLingo, but I see that in an attempt to monetise their product they've absolutely wrecked it.
I’m currently learning Dutch. No reason in particular, my wife and daughter have both used Duolingo for Spanish and have been on at me to do one myself. Have also bought a Dutch for beginners book. Very early days but am beginning to pick bits up.
Hoping I can use it on the CL Arnhem trip next year.
I’m currently learning Dutch. No reason in particular, my wife and daughter have both used Duolingo for Spanish and have been on at me to do one myself. Have also bought a Dutch for beginners book. Very early days but am beginning to pick bits up.
Hoping I can use it on the CL Arnhem trip next year.
I've been learning Italian irregularly for a few years now. I can survive, order in restaurants, and have a basic conversation. But on my trips to Italy, I've never got the sense that Italians appreciate you making the effort. There have been one or two good experiences, but most of them just reply in English or even look slightly annoyed.
I've also realised that it's much easier to learn when you're in the country. When you're doing flashcards or using an app, it's much harder to remember. But when someone said a word or phrase you didn't understand, you remember the person, the situation, and the word. These things that are tied to experiences get cemented in your brain.
I’m currently learning Dutch. No reason in particular, my wife and daughter have both used Duolingo for Spanish and have been on at me to do one myself. Have also bought a Dutch for beginners book. Very early days but am beginning to pick bits up.
Hoping I can use it on the CL Arnhem trip next year.
Didn't you used to do evening classes for French?
Yes mate, did it at O level but then took evening classes for about 3 years in my 30's as we go out there quite often.
I can speak Italian but have an O'level in French which I can't really speak very well. In a previous job there was a woman worker with a degree in Italian but they used me to translate with Italian speakers because I was much better despite having no qualifications in Italian.
When I try speaking Spanish I sound like the equivalent of the Hallo Hallo policeman. I am able to read Spanish okay and very soon I’ll be in Spain and likely to take lessons again which forces me to talk. After a bottle of wine or two I’m fluent in any language. I’m also going on a 9 day tour of Italy after Spain with the tour being conducted in Spanish.
My language laziness is shameful. I've known since January that I would be visiting Spain this month, and said to myself back then that it was an ideal reason to learn some Spanish.
With 2 days to go, I might have left it a bit late
When I try speaking Spanish I sound like the equivalent of the Hallo Hallo policeman. I am able to read Spanish okay and very soon I’ll be in Spain and likely to take lessons again which forces me to talk. After a bottle of wine or two I’m fluent in any language. I’m also going on a 9 day tour of Italy after Spain with the tour being conducted in Spanish.
Has to be French wine when I'm speaking French and Spanish wine for Spanish etc, although I don't think Bulgarian wine would mean I could speak any Bulgarian
That said, I was in France for the first time in many years and not spoken any French for a while, but I had been learning Spanish for a few years, which was clearly in the front of my memory... when I was ordering in a restaurant in Carcassonne, I unfortunately used to word for 'with' in Spanish, not in French. They didn't bat an eyelid so I didn't realise. Shrek did point it out to me but not for 3 whole days later. I was mortified but impressed they weren't offended - can't imagine it would have gone down so well (no pun intended) in Paris!
Comments
Language is the main reason why us human beings are such a success.
By success, I mostly mean population, creativity and our ability to live for a long time.
I'm sure there is a better way of saying it.
WHY do the Spanish speak Spanish?
WHY do the French speak French?
WHY do the Russians speak Russian?
And so on.
It can't have obviously been "I'm the ruler of this country....called Denmark. I've decided we are going to speak a language in order to communicate. That language will be known as Danish" - in body language.
Beautiful country and fantastic people, particularly the crumpet.
Kom igen Elfsborg! Hata Goteborg.
According to some research.
This is obviously talking about within an educational setting, obviously children need to learn motor skills, socialization and heaps of other stuff.
My ambition is to rid myself completely of first language, and judging by the increasing incidents of bemused conversational responders during my last Tel Aviv visit, I'm nearly there.
Argentinians are the best though.
No matter how miniscule their command of 2nd language is, they still manage to speak it 100 miles an hour - shifting responsibility of making sense of it all to the poor listener.
It's excellent 👍👌
I'm no longer the lonely man in the corner. I'm the man that drinks coffee and casually learns some more Spanish.
Isolation lead to different languages forming and tribalism maintained those differences. The world was obviously not as connected as it is now!
The first development in language was almost certainly linked to communication between humans when hunting and research indicates that climactic conditions played a big part in languages having fewer or more vowel sounds and consonant sounds- to do with how the sound changed over distance- warmer forested climates developed more vowel sounds whilst colder climates more consonants. North west European languages have generally more vowels - Easter European languages more consonants. Not sure what happened with Wales!
Doing this kind of thing certainly helps to improve ones memory.
It's a million times better now then in comparison to the time when this thread began.
The good thing about it is....you can never know "too much".
It will just keep going on and on.
I'm English...yet, my English itself, isn't really that great.
Proves my point.
I do agree though...that no one can ever really end up being really good at this kind of thing, unless you actually move to the country itself and the language is needed for every day needs.
It will then just become apart of you.
You will talk in a natural flowing way.
An Italian lady that moved here....told me about her experience of learning English too. It matches what she said.
If you want to speak to the world - learn English.
I've tried to mix the language in with music I've made...in order to attempt and include the words and phrases for everyday use.
It helps....partially because my short term memory is terrible.
Try and do things that you're rubbish at....is my motto.
Found that quite interesting.
1) Mandrin
2) English
I’m also going on a 9 day tour of Italy after Spain with the tour being conducted in Spanish.
With 2 days to go, I might have left it a bit late
That said, I was in France for the first time in many years and not spoken any French for a while, but I had been learning Spanish for a few years, which was clearly in the front of my memory... when I was ordering in a restaurant in Carcassonne, I unfortunately used to word for 'with' in Spanish, not in French. They didn't bat an eyelid so I didn't realise. Shrek did point it out to me but not for 3 whole days later. I was mortified but impressed they weren't offended - can't imagine it would have gone down so well (no pun intended) in Paris!