What language do you speak at home?

[zoebartlett]

I'm so jealous of everyone who speaks more than one language. I only speak English. I was born and raised in the US, as were my parents. I took languages in middle school, high school, and college (French, Latin, Spanish, and ASL), but none of it stuck once I stopped taking those classes.

 

[Ninna]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

 

[Porridge]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

Ye speak Gaelic? Irish/gaeilge? I didn't know you were Irish! Or is it another Gaelic? Do you live in a gaeltacht? I wish my Irish was better, I didn't appreciate it at all in school.

 

[kittybean]

KittyBean, my impression is that Ukrainian is quite different from Russian, right or not? It does relate to other Slavic languages, no?

They are actually pretty similar. I can understand bits and pieces of a conversation in Russian, and I can often decipher the very basic meaning of something written in Russian. Ukrainian has the same roots as other Slavic languages. I have a friend who's from Slovakia, and she and I always have a good time talking about words, sayings, and customs that Ukrainians and Slovaks have in common.

 

[AGBF]

KittyBean, my impression is that Ukrainian is quite different from Russian, right or not? It does relate to other Slavic languages, no?

They are actually pretty similar. I can understand bits and pieces of a conversation in Russian, and I can often decipher the very basic meaning of something written in Russian. Ukrainian has the same roots as other Slavic languages. I have a friend who's from Slovakia, and she and I always have a good time talking about words, sayings, and customs that Ukrainians and Slovaks have in common.

My mother's heritage was Slovak. She was born in 1918. Although her mother was a Slovak-American born in the United States (in the nineteenth century), her father (my grandfather) was a Slovak immigrant from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. My grandmother, having been born and educated in the public schools here, naturally spoke, read, and wrote English. My grandfather, who believed in education, learned English and went to college for some classes. (He also spoke some German.) There was no question that they could have taught my mother English. However, they wanted her to be able to speak Slovak with her grandmother! So they spoke only Slovak with her until she went to kindergarten.

When I was a child I heard a lot of Slovak spoken, too. I know that my great-uncle, who was in an infantry company during World War II, used his Slovak to communicate with Russian soldiers. I know that my family always was able to speak with Polish people and Ukrainians, too. And, of course, the Czechs with whom they were pushed into making a country!!! The languages, I was told, are similar enough for people to be able to get along very well.

Deb/AGBF

 

[Haven]

We speak Seinfeld and The Office in our home.

 

[Autumnovember]

We speak Seinfeld and The Office in our home.

 

[Ninna]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

Ye speak Gaelic? Irish/gaeilge? I didn't know you were Irish! Or is it another Gaelic? Do you live in a gaeltacht? I wish my Irish was better, I didn't appreciate it at all in school.

Yes, I'm Irish. There are plenty of names for the same thing out there:
Gaeilge/Gaeilic/Gaeilig/Gaedhilge/Gaoidhealg/Goidelc/Gaedhealaing, etc are all the same thing, known as Irish lenguage branched from Celtic. Irish that use Modern Gaelic can pick Spanish/Latin/Italian much easier as their alphabet sounds are very close if not the same
I was born in Louisburgh [County Mayo] recognized as part of the The Gaeltacht, left 18 years ago but my grandparents still live in Connemara. We try visiting every other year
Back to regular programming......

 

[anchor31]

DH and I are French-Canadian, so we speak French at home. I am fluent in English however and will often speak English with my grandmother and cousin from Ontario.

Except for my problem with the the French Canadian pronunciation of French, I think I would fit in well in your house, anchor. We speak English at home. Your posting just struck me as being comfortable. My French is not perfect, but if I were in a French speaking home I could get along. With all my other languages (and I have studied Spanish, Italian, and German) I haven't really become truly comfortable. I can hobble along in the two former ones, under duress. I have really forgotten most of my German. I have had minor exposure to Portuguese, Latin, and Hebrew.

PS-My husband is a native Italian speaker.

Deb/AGBF

Vous seriez la bienvenue chez moi, Deb.

 

[anchor31]

AGBF: Is the French Canadian pronunciation very different from the continental French? Here in South Africa we have many immigrants from the French and Belgian colonies who sound nothing like the French I was taught at school!

I'm not AGBF, but yes, very much so. Comparing France French and Canada/Québec French is like comparing UK English and US English. In extreme cases we can't even understand each other, which can lead to hilarity. The accent you've learned in SA is probably completely different as well!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Autumnovember, are you familiar with a Russian lullaby that goes "bye-you bye-you shkee bye-you?" My grandma used to sing that to me when I was a baby.

Oh my gosh, YES!! My mom would sing that to me while she was putting me to sleep! I still make her sing it sometimes =]

AN, what is that lullaby translated to? For some reason I was thinking the song is a little strange when translated to English. (mini threadjack. apologies!)

 

[iheartscience]

Just English in my house. My Spanish gets pretty good when I'm in a Spanish-speaking country, though. (At least good enough to impress my husband! ) I wouldn't say I'm fluent but I can definitely get by. I studied Spanish and Latin in middle school and high school and Spanish and Italian in college.

I'd love to be fluent in another language, but it just won't happen unless I live in another country. (Or divorce my Kentucky-born husband and get a foreign one! Alexander Skarsgard anyone?! YES?! ) People always say it's terrible that Americans only learn English, but we're not close enough to most countries to put another language to good use. Spanish is definitely helpful in certain areas and jobs, but not mine.

My brother's wife is Swedish and their kids are fluent in both English and Swedish. My brother speaks English to the kids and my SIL speaks Swedish to them. My niece sorted it out VERY early but it took my nephew a little longer. (Is that a gender difference?) When they lived in the US the kids went to Swedish school, too. Now that they're in Sweden, the kids take English in their regular school starting at a young age-I want to say 6.

 

[AGBF]

AGBF: Is the French Canadian pronunciation very different from the continental French? Here in South Africa we have many immigrants from the French and Belgian colonies who sound nothing like the French I was taught at school!

I'm not AGBF, but yes, very much so. Comparing France French and Canada/Québec French is like comparing UK English and US English. In extreme cases we can't even understand each other, which can lead to hilarity. The accent you've learned in SA is probably completely different as well!

anchor, you are far more qualified than I to speak about differences between Parisian and French Canadian French! French is your first language, not mine, and you-not I-are therefore more attuned to it!

I can only say that I have great difficulty in comprehending French as spoken by French Canadians. And, even more astoundingly, I have even failed-at first-to recognize French when it was being spoken by French Canadians!

I was once on a beach in Connecticut (in the USA) and I heard a woman speaking a foreign language. As always, my ears perked up as I tried to identify it. If I cannot at least identify it when I hear a foreign language (let alone eavesdrop on the conversation), I am greatly frustrated! Well, I couldn't identify this one. I started to wonder if it could be Russian (one of the languages I really don't know) when I heard the word, "mais". Well, guess what? It was French!!! And I am an idiot...which is the same word (more or less) in French and English! The Canadian accent just kills me. I cannot understand it!!!

Deb/AGBF

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

My family speaks Korean at home. It's actually my first language though not my most proficient one. I'm a native speaker but my vocabulary in English is MUCH better (and so is my grammar).

 

[Trekkie]

I'm fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese. Speak English to husband and kids, Chinese to parents. My grandma and several of Mom's side is Japanese, so I have a very good grasp of Japanese as well.

Because I lived all over the world as a child, I also understand Afrikaans, German and Spanish. I probably cannot hold a conversation with a native speaker, but know enough to know what they are talking about.

I get very excited whenever you talk about your experiences in South Africa! I'm very impressed that you learnt Afrikaans. Most visitors don't bother and would prefer to learn one of the Nguni languages, or something with clicks so that they can impress and confuse their friends when they get home.

My FI would love you to bits! He was educated in Afrikaans (12 years of school and 11 years of university) and whenever he hears an Asian person speaking Afrikaans he nearly has a breakdown. With so many people predicting the extinction of the language it's nice to know that it is valued by some.

Well, back when I was Z.A., Afrikaans was a requirement in school. Even though I went English speaking schools (almost 5 years in Z.A), we were required to study Afrikaans 1 hour a day. A lot of my friends from Z.A are half English speaking, and half Afrikaans, and due to facebook, I'm re-introduced to Afrikaans on a daily basis. When I got reconnected to all my childhood friends posting in all different language, it was like a challenge to myself, to see if I could still understand what people are posting and saying. I get to read Chinese, Japanese, Afrikaans, German, French daily.

That's so cool! Yes, Afrikaans used to be a requirement at school, but now it's a requirement to learn an indigenous language other than Afrikaans, so fewer people learn it. The plus side is that more people are learning isiXhosa and isiZulu, but I often wonder just how useful that is, in the long run. At least one can take Afrikaans to Europe and get by in the Netherlands, Belgium and some parts of Switzerland...

But I guess many people learn languages because they're interesting, rather than because they're useful.

 

[Porridge]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

Ye speak Gaelic? Irish/gaeilge? I didn't know you were Irish! Or is it another Gaelic? Do you live in a gaeltacht? I wish my Irish was better, I didn't appreciate it at all in school.

Yes, I'm Irish. There are plenty of names for the same thing out there:
Gaeilge/Gaeilic/Gaeilig/Gaedhilge/Gaoidhealg/Goidelc/Gaedhealaing, etc are all the same thing, known as Irish lenguage branched from Celtic. Irish that use Modern Gaelic can pick Spanish/Latin/Italian much easier as their alphabet sounds are very close if not the same
I was born in Louisburgh [County Mayo] recognized as part of the The Gaeltacht, left 18 years ago but my grandparents still live in Connemara. We try visiting every other year
Back to regular programming......

God that's mad! I've lived here all my life and only know a handful of people here that speak it as the main language at home, much less someone that lives abroad and still speaks it! But I don't live near a gaeltacht. That's so interesting that ye kept it up for so long. Are your kids and husband gaelgoirs too? Gaeilge is the main term we use for Irish but you're right about the other names in certain dialects sometimes. I just wasn't sure if you were referring to Scots/Welsh/Irish gaelic.

I'm actually heading up to Connemara for a daytrip this weekend! If I see your grandparents I'll say hi

Ok sorry, end threadjack! I've just never come across a gaelgoir outside of Ireland before, this is really interesting

 

[Trekkie]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

Ye speak Gaelic? Irish/gaeilge? I didn't know you were Irish! Or is it another Gaelic? Do you live in a gaeltacht? I wish my Irish was better, I didn't appreciate it at all in school.

Yes, I'm Irish. There are plenty of names for the same thing out there:
Gaeilge/Gaeilic/Gaeilig/Gaedhilge/Gaoidhealg/Goidelc/Gaedhealaing, etc are all the same thing, known as Irish lenguage branched from Celtic. Irish that use Modern Gaelic can pick Spanish/Latin/Italian much easier as their alphabet sounds are very close if not the same
I was born in Louisburgh [County Mayo] recognized as part of the The Gaeltacht, left 18 years ago but my grandparents still live in Connemara. We try visiting every other year
Back to regular programming......

God that's mad! I've lived here all my life and only know a handful of people here that speak it as the main language at home, much less someone that lives abroad and still speaks it! But I don't live near a gaeltacht. That's so interesting that ye kept it up for so long. Are your kids and husband gaelgoirs too? Gaeilge is the main term we use for Irish but you're right about the other names in certain dialects sometimes. I just wasn't sure if you were referring to Scots/Welsh/Irish gaelic.

I'm actually heading up to Connemara for a daytrip this weekend! If I see your grandparents I'll say hi

Ok sorry, end threadjack! I've just never come across a gaelgoir outside of Ireland before, this is really interesting

Wow! This was so interesting to read!

 

[JewelFreak]

Unfortunately, no language except English is compulsary in most US schools, Trekkie, and I think that's criminal. We expect everyone to know and operate in our language, but we make absolutely no effort to really learn anyone else's.

This is a shame because learning another language also means learning flexibility & logic. Each language has its own internal logic that's consistent within it, different language groups doing it in varying fashions. You are also brought into contact w/other cultures & histories. I think at least one other language should be compulsory & begun in the very early grades.

On the other hand, when foreign friends deplore American lack of language skills, I try to get them to imagine standing in Holland, say, and pretend everyone speaks native Dutch all the way west in Britain, south to Spain & France, east to Moscow & beyond, north to Scandinavia, throughout Europe & Slavic countries. Look at how huge the U.S. is (multiplier increased greatly if you include Canada) -- all of Britain fits into our New England states only. That's mondo territory speaking your native language. European countries NEED to speak other languages -- Holland, for heaven's sake, is the size of Delaware! But if the Dutch, Danish, Italians, lived in a territory as large as North America that spoke only THEIR language they would not use others either. Travel makes other tongues more necessary, but people visit foreign countries for a week or so with several years between. You must use a language regularly to keep it up.

A German teacher I had said, sensibly, that English is the international language not because of America or England, but because it is comparatively easy as a spoken language. (Spelling is another story!) English has no genders, no cases, tenses are simply rendered. People know what you mean even if you say it incorrectly, not as true of other languages. Plus, English is a very rich language with more words to mean one thing than almost all others & ways to express nuances. However, you don't need to be fluent to get your point across. Coming from a native speaker of another language, I thought that was interesting.

--- Laurie

 

[AGBF]

A German teacher I had said, sensibly, that English is the international language not because of America or England, but because it is comparatively easy as a spoken language. (Spelling is another story!) English has no genders, no cases, tenses are simply rendered.

Thank you for your explanation of why your German teacher found English to be an easy language to speak; you went into even more detail than the sentences that I quoted. I wanted to let you know that my husband, who also had to learn English (as he is a native Italian speaker) and who speaks many languages, consistently maintains that English is the easiest language to learn.

Deb/AGBF

 

[Astra]

Croatian.

Both husband and I speak English, he speaks some German also and this year he started learning Italian... next year hopefully I'll start with Spanish, I do understand some but I really want to speak it fluently.

Oh yes, I guess I don't have to mention languages that are similar to Croatian (Serbian, even Slovenian...)...

 

[Tuckins1]

English. DH knows a teensy bit of Spanish. I do speak some French at work with the French teacher. (Took French all the way through college and loved it, but am losing it because I don't really speak it or hear it anymore )

 

[Nashville]

English mainly, but for the past 2 years we've all been learning Mandarin Chinese. My future SIL is from China and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to learn, not only because of it's value but because well, we love FSIL and want to make the effort to speak her language! My daughter is a toddler and children learn so quickly. Since she has access to a fluent family member now she could probably learn much faster than we could. She already knows many words and songs, and can even piece little phases together. FSIL gets a kick out of it and loves speaking to her in Chinese.

 

[agapitor]

I am Filipino and my husband is Canadian but with a German ethnicity. We speak English at home but I speak Tagalog, French and Spanish and DH speaks German and Japanese. We are sending both children to French Immersion schools. It's really frustrating that my husband and I don't share another language aside from English. Now that the kids can spell, it's getting more difficult to talk about things without them knowing

 

[soocool]

I wish I had spoken German at home. My dad came to the US as a teen alone and was so proud to be in this country that he learned to speak English quickly and spoke only English. My mom (not German) only spoke English and that is what we spoke at home. Funny, even if someone would try to speak to my dad in German, he would answer them in English.

 

[Autumnovember]

Autumnovember, are you familiar with a Russian lullaby that goes "bye-you bye-you shkee bye-you?" My grandma used to sing that to me when I was a baby.

Oh my gosh, YES!! My mom would sing that to me while she was putting me to sleep! I still make her sing it sometimes =]

AN, what is that lullaby translated to? For some reason I was thinking the song is a little strange when translated to English. (mini threadjack. apologies!)

My mom said the song translates into basically telling the kid to gotto sleep and the words in it are slang for bedtime.

 

[Amethyste]

My husband is German and I am French Canadian.

We mostly speak English - which is cool cause we do so in our second language lol.

When he's upset at something - German soars freely in our home lol

When I am upset - French naughty words bounce off the walls!!!

 

[Ninna]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

Ye speak Gaelic? Irish/gaeilge? I didn't know you were Irish! Or is it another Gaelic? Do you live in a gaeltacht? I wish my Irish was better, I didn't appreciate it at all in school.

Yes, I'm Irish. There are plenty of names for the same thing out there:
Gaeilge/Gaeilic/Gaeilig/Gaedhilge/Gaoidhealg/Goidelc/Gaedhealaing, etc are all the same thing, known as Irish lenguage branched from Celtic. Irish that use Modern Gaelic can pick Spanish/Latin/Italian much easier as their alphabet sounds are very close if not the same
I was born in Louisburgh [County Mayo] recognized as part of the The Gaeltacht, left 18 years ago but my grandparents still live in Connemara. We try visiting every other year
Back to regular programming......

God that's mad! I've lived here all my life and only know a handful of people here that speak it as the main language at home, much less someone that lives abroad and still speaks it! But I don't live near a gaeltacht. That's so interesting that ye kept it up for so long. Are your kids and husband gaelgoirs too? Gaeilge is the main term we use for Irish but you're right about the other names in certain dialects sometimes. I just wasn't sure if you were referring to Scots/Welsh/Irish gaelic.

I'm actually heading up to Connemara for a daytrip this weekend! If I see your grandparents I'll say hi

Ok sorry, end threadjack! I've just never come across a gaelgoir outside of Ireland before, this is really interesting

Yeah, major threadjack..sorry!
DH is from County Donegal but almost everyone in the family has immigrated to Canada [Prince E Island] where we met. The lenguage is dying on my side but so natural between us two. DD is pretty good and currently taking Spanish in school. The baby is just too young, if they decide to quit at one point, I'll be fine with it...at least they will be well prepared for 3+ similar lenguages, no excuses.
Hope yo enjoy Connemara this weekend, I'm so envious!

Lá maith, Ninna
ETA: Hi Trekkie

 

[jaysonsmom]

English mainly, but for the past 2 years we've all been learning Mandarin Chinese. My future SIL is from China and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to learn, not only because of it's value but because well, we love FSIL and want to make the effort to speak her language! My daughter is a toddler and children learn so quickly. Since she has access to a fluent family member now she could probably learn much faster than we could. She already knows many words and songs, and can even piece little phases together. FSIL gets a kick out of it and loves speaking to her in Chinese.

Wow, I really commend you for learning a language that is not close to your own, but because you have someone you can practice with. My husband and I should have tried to teach our kids Korean or Chinese, but instead, the whole family just speaks English. Such a pity!

 

[Porridge]

I have no idea what happened to my post
What I meant to say was:
We speak mainly Gaelic then English at home. My Italian & Spanish are fluent due to Portuguese Schooling, mother is Irish part Portuguese.
I can keep a decent conversation in Aramaic, as we have been doing business in their community for so long.

Ye speak Gaelic? Irish/gaeilge? I didn't know you were Irish! Or is it another Gaelic? Do you live in a gaeltacht? I wish my Irish was better, I didn't appreciate it at all in school.

Yes, I'm Irish. There are plenty of names for the same thing out there:
Gaeilge/Gaeilic/Gaeilig/Gaedhilge/Gaoidhealg/Goidelc/Gaedhealaing, etc are all the same thing, known as Irish lenguage branched from Celtic. Irish that use Modern Gaelic can pick Spanish/Latin/Italian much easier as their alphabet sounds are very close if not the same
I was born in Louisburgh [County Mayo] recognized as part of the The Gaeltacht, left 18 years ago but my grandparents still live in Connemara. We try visiting every other year
Back to regular programming......

God that's mad! I've lived here all my life and only know a handful of people here that speak it as the main language at home, much less someone that lives abroad and still speaks it! But I don't live near a gaeltacht. That's so interesting that ye kept it up for so long. Are your kids and husband gaelgoirs too? Gaeilge is the main term we use for Irish but you're right about the other names in certain dialects sometimes. I just wasn't sure if you were referring to Scots/Welsh/Irish gaelic.

I'm actually heading up to Connemara for a daytrip this weekend! If I see your grandparents I'll say hi

Ok sorry, end threadjack! I've just never come across a gaelgoir outside of Ireland before, this is really interesting

Yeah, major threadjack..sorry!
DH is from County Donegal but almost everyone in the family has immigrated to Canada [Prince E Island] where we met. The lenguage is dying on my side but so natural between us two. DD is pretty good and currently taking Spanish in school. The baby is just too young, if they decide to quit at one point, I'll be fine with it...at least they will be well prepared for 3+ similar lenguages, no excuses.
Hope yo enjoy Connemara this weekend, I'm so envious!

Lá maith, Ninna
ETA: Hi Trekkie

How funny, about ten years ago my family and I went on a road trip from Toronto (where my aunt lives) to PEI, and somewhere along the way we stopped and were amazed to hear everyone speaking with an Irish accent! I can't remember the name of the place, I'll have to ask my parent, but apparently there's a full blown gaeltacht there, and even a GAA club! It was mad!

Anyway, this has been very interesting, but I'll end the threadjack now. Táim ag dul a chodladh, bhí sé ina lá gnóthach inniu, agus arís amárach. Beidh mé taitneamh a bhaint as Connemara má ghabhaim, cinnte!
Lean ar aghaigh gach duine!

 

[mrscushion]

DH and I have spoken mostly English throughout our relationship, because even though I'm German, we met and lived in the States. Now that we live in Germany, we speak German to an increasing extent, so that he gets to practice. It (German) is a very difficult language to learn. Poor DH! But, when we have kids in a few years, they will be fully bilingual, so he better speak it by then just for that reason!