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Post by Perla MV on Feb 16, 2014 17:11:29 GMT
I've been courious about all the member's nationalities, I've seen some of you saying your first language isn't english and it makes me wonder where are you from and that kind of stuff I'd like to know a little more about you guys so I'm gonna start with myself. As you know my name is Perla and I'm Mexican, which makes my first language Spanish, I'm 23 and when I was around 14 I became kind of obsessed with Harry Potter, so I read the first books in spanish. A couple of years later, when I knew the last one was out but didn't have a translation yet, I read it in english, book on one hand and a dictionary (english-spanish) on the other I became really courious and amazed by the language, so after that one, I read a few other books in english, watched movies en english with english subtitles so I could know what I was listening to. I kind of fell in love with it, I subscribed to forums of some celebrities I liked and practiced my poor english with other fans it was very fun, and it helped me to improve. Now I'm in university and I needed a minimum of level 5 out of 7 to graduate, and I made an exam to know what my level was. It turned out I'm 6 so right now I'm not studying english, but I signed up for french lessons I'm so excited to learn a new language, it's like being 14 all over again
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Languages
Feb 16, 2014 17:31:11 GMT
via mobile
Post by lisamarie on Feb 16, 2014 17:31:11 GMT
I would never know English wasn't your first language if you didn't tell me! you speak it so well! English is my first language. I'm Irish/Italian. I do know a lot of Spanish but I'm not "fluent". I can't wait to study it more
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Post by rdkntriker on Feb 16, 2014 19:59:35 GMT
I am an American with Irish roots. I speak bits and parts of other languages but not that I could claim or write in. I am learning ASL, American Sign Language, but that is not considered a second language by most people. Age, I am a proud 60. This year I will be riding my bicycle in 2 metric and regular century rides. Very proud of that. My motto is what I do at 60 determines what I can do at 70.
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Post by Sarah on Feb 16, 2014 20:08:04 GMT
I'm a first generation American; my parents are from England and Ireland, but I was born on American soil. My parents are both decent French speakers as well as English, but I'm afraid I have no gift for languages. I've been trying to learn French for no less than six years, and I still am not good at it. I admire people who can communicate in more than one language so much, particularly people who move to the U.S. and manage to learn it on the fly. If I found myself moved to Spain or Italy or Japan, I'd find myself totally dependent on others being nice enough to speak English to me >.<
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Post by ange on Feb 16, 2014 20:42:31 GMT
Im 29 from New Zealand, English is our main language. I can speak some Maori (native people here befor the English, but not the first to live in this beautiful country). Never studied any other langauges though.
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Post by roxhum on Feb 17, 2014 15:07:56 GMT
I am always impressed on forums where people from other country'sare so fluent in English. I am 2nd generation Norwegian and English is my only language. Perla, it is very impressive how you taught yourself English. I do know bits of Spanish. Growing up in southern CA and so close to Mexico it is a bit shameful that I don't know more of the language.
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Post by rdkntriker on Feb 17, 2014 15:37:16 GMT
I was just wondering, if one language over another is easier for a budgie to learn.
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Post by Pammy on Feb 17, 2014 17:41:17 GMT
I'm American, and can speak only English. I did take 3 years of Spanish in high school, and did very well in them, but because I've never used the language in any form of real-life situation, I've lost most of what I learned. I can remember various vocabulary words, but not really much of how to put a sentence together. My husband and I lived in Germany for 3 years early in our marriage, but it was easy to continue speaking our language, and although we had grand plans to learn German, it didn't happen beyond "Guten morgan" and a few other basic phrases.
My roots are a mixed bag. My maternal grandmother came from Czechoslovakia when she was 22, and married a full Czech American, making my mother 100% Czech (American). Her first language, even though born and raised in Ohio, was Czech. She learned English when she went to Kindergarten, and in 8th grade legally changed her name from Jarmila (YAR-milla) to Sharon. My mom also fluently speaks Russian.
My paternal grandpa's people had been born and raised in the mountains of Tennessee for generations - genuine hillbillies. He met my grandma (born and raised in early 1900’s Chicago) when they were both serving in the military during WWII. Her roots go back to Germany and I believe his go back to England.
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Post by lisamarie on Feb 17, 2014 17:45:37 GMT
Pammy your family is very military-based That makes me happy to hear things like that!
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Post by Pammy on Feb 17, 2014 19:31:20 GMT
Thank you. Yes, we have a lot of servicemen and women in our family - both of my grandpas and one of Aron's, my grandma, my dad, my husband, and me.
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Post by Perla MV on Feb 17, 2014 19:39:41 GMT
Wow, all this information makes me happy haha thank you everyone for the compliments It's awesome knowing how a lot of people here can speak or knows words in another languages, they're very interesting aren't they? I hope I can learn French quickly because I have some french friends online and I would love to talk to them in their own language My great-grandfather was born in France, he married an Italian woman and they moved from Europe to Texas, then some of their children moved to México when they were older. The rest of my roots come from the south of México.
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Post by santinoandmondo on Feb 18, 2014 0:27:20 GMT
Perla, your English is superb. My parents were born in China so I speak some rudimentary Chinese but only used English in school. I learned French from Grades 5-11 and can help my quiz one of my kids on French vocabulary. In college, I took a conversational Japanese course but remember only a couple of words . I took a couple years of introductory Korean a few years ago so I can read a sign but don't know enough vocabulary to tell you what it means! I enjoy languages but don't have much time to dedicate to learning a new language. By the way, Leelo and Poki are adorable. Cherry
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Post by kmic on Feb 19, 2014 22:57:27 GMT
Wow all your backgrounds are so interesting and it's amazing how fluent you all are in English.
So, I'm Kara, 20 years old from Malta (island in Europe). In Malta we have Maltese as our national language but both Maltese and English are our official languages (due to historical background - Malta gained independence from the UK in 1964 and became a republic in 1974) so at school (from kindergarden - 3 years old) we're taught both Maltese and English, though for most of us our primary language remains Maltese.
Maltese is a semitic language so most of the words come from Arabic (then Italian and some with English origins - again, reflects 100% Malta's history of different rulers taking over the country).
Apart from Maltese and English, basically all secondary students (11 years - 16 years) are taught at least one other language which is usually Italian or French (though in the last few years a number are choosing German and now even Spanish). I had chosen both Italian and French. I'm not fluent (languages have always been my weakest subjects) but can keep a conversation with some effort especially in Italian (since Italy is the closest we get to a neighbouring country, a lot of Maltese are very fluent in Italian as well).
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Post by rdkntriker on Feb 19, 2014 23:01:34 GMT
Hi all. I was looking at this online and I wonder if one of our Spanish speaking friends can tell me if this is worth my time. Thanks in advance.
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Post by rdkntriker on Feb 19, 2014 23:02:48 GMT
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