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  1. #1
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    MarilynMonroe's Avatar
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    How many Languages can you speak Fluently or a Little?

    I don't know if this thread has been done before, but I was wondering what other languages you speak fluently or conversational?

    I know a bit of South Korean (Hangul), Mandarin, Spanish, and am pretty fluent in French which is my second language. I also know a few Thai words. I learned enough Hangul and Mandarin to get by so that would be Conversational level. Don't ask me to write it though..

    How about yourself?

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat
    snakeeyes's Avatar
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    ^
    None

  3. #3
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    hallelujah's Avatar
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    Enough Korean to read a menu and other signs.

    Enough Malay to order food on one of the few occasions I need it in a Malay restaurant.

    Enough Arabic to get in a taxi and tell him where I need to go.

    Enough Thai to get by, but I can't read or write it.

    Enough French to hold a conversation if I'm pissed.

    Enough Spanish to get by without the need to be pissed.

    All in all, a man of a few, but a master of none.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    I speak 57 languages and I can't say no in any of them.

  5. #5
    On a walkabout Loy Toy's Avatar
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    I can swear in multiple languages.

  6. #6
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    is strine counted ?

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by baldrick View Post
    is strine counted ?
    'kin eh.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    Define fluent

  9. #9
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    Simon43's Avatar
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    English is my mother tongue. My second language is Thai (I did an MA at Chulalongkorn). French is my 3rd language now (I learnt French at school and worked in France and Belgium). My current daily language is Lao, I learnt conversational and written Myanmarsa (Burmese) when I was teaching in Burma. I can speak conversational Mandarin and Italian. I can read Spanish fairly well. I used to be able to read/write basic Arabic, but have mostly forgotten it! Oh, conversational German as well.

    My father was a professor of languages, and I grew up in a family where it was assumed that one could speak or easily learn a second/third/fourth etc language. I'm currently taking online lessons in Hmong language (Lao hill-tribe language) with a Hmong teacher in the USA.
    Groping women when you're old is fine - everyone thinks you're senile

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    ...languages studied, pretty much forgotten: Amharic, Swahili, Patois, Farsi...
    ...languages studied, shattered remnants remain: French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic (modern standard)...
    ...language ignored: Thai

    ...language reasonably fluent: American English...
    ...languages I wish I'd learned: Hindi, Urdu (never got over the Raj Quartet)...

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat YourDaddy's Avatar
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    Mandarin (entire branch)
    Spanish
    English
    Hindi[a]
    Arabic
    Portuguese
    Bengali
    Russian
    Japanese
    Punjabi
    German
    Javanese
    Wu (inc. Shanghainese)
    Malay (inc. Indonesian and Malaysian)
    Telugu
    Vietnamese
    Korean
    French
    Marathi
    Tamil
    Urdu
    Turkish
    Italian
    Yue (inc. Cantonese)
    Thai
    Gujarati
    Jin
    Southern Min (inc. Hokkien and Teochew)
    Persian
    Polish
    Pashto
    Kannada
    Xiang
    Malayalam
    Sundanese
    Hausa
    Odia (Oriya)
    Burmese
    Hakka
    Ukrainian
    Bhojpuri
    Tagalog (Filipino)
    Yoruba
    Maithili
    Uzbek
    Sindhi
    Amharic
    Fula
    Romanian
    Oromo
    Igbo
    Azerbaijani
    Awadhi
    Gan
    Cebuano (Visayan)
    Dutch
    Kurdish
    Serbo-Croatian
    Malagasy
    Saraiki
    Nepali
    Sinhala
    Chittagonian
    Zhuang
    Khmer
    Turkmen
    Assamese
    Madurese
    Somali
    Marwari
    Magahi
    Haryanvi
    Hungarian
    Chhattisgarhi
    Greek
    Chewa
    Deccan
    Akan
    Kazakh
    Northern Min[disputed – discuss]
    Sylheti
    Zulu
    Czech
    Kinyarwanda
    Dhundhari
    Haitian Creole
    Eastern Min (inc. Fuzhou dialect)
    Ilocano
    Quechua
    Kirundi
    Swedish
    Hmong
    Shona
    Uyghur
    Hiligaynon/Ilonggo (Visayan)
    Mossi
    Xhosa
    Belarusian
    Balochi
    Konkani

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat YourDaddy's Avatar
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    Oh, how could I forget

    I also speak Klingon and had a 3sum with 2 Klingon birds (highly recommended) while discussing a ceasefire with Jean Luc.

    Travel tip:

    For some fun times visit Klingogo at the lower rim and ask for nga’chuq.

    One thing I would avoid is a a Klingon massage. Think Laos, your testicles will be intact, but your ribz will be gone.

    Massage tip: If massage is too hard they have a few ferengis at the disposal. It will cost you extra 200 Talons, tho
    Last edited by YourDaddy; 30-06-2020 at 07:58 AM.

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by YourDaddy View Post
    I also speak
    Wouldn't it be great if you could include English in your list

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat YourDaddy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Wouldn't it be great if you could include English in your list
    I don't unclude my first language

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat YourDaddy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheRealKW View Post
    Evidently so.

    you got me.

    are you a English teacher?

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by snakeeyes View Post
    ^
    None
    Whaaat? Not even dog speak?

  17. #17
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    Geez YD, I cannot even pronounce some of those languages.. I think you are FOS. lol

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon43 View Post
    English is my mother tongue. My second language is Thai (I did an MA at Chulalongkorn). French is my 3rd language now (I learnt French at school and worked in France and Belgium). My current daily language is Lao, I learnt conversational and written Myanmarsa (Burmese) when I was teaching in Burma. I can speak conversational Mandarin and Italian. I can read Spanish fairly well. I used to be able to read/write basic Arabic, but have mostly forgotten it! Oh, conversational German as well.

    My father was a professor of languages, and I grew up in a family where it was assumed that one could speak or easily learn a second/third/fourth etc language. I'm currently taking online lessons in Hmong language (Lao hill-tribe language) with a Hmong teacher in the USA.
    This is impressive, Simon. Hmong language sounds quite hard to learn. I think learning languages is harder as we get older too. Children learn like little sponges.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomcat View Post
    ..languages I wish I'd learned: Hindi, Urdu (never got over the Raj Quartet)...
    Never too late, tc. lol

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarilynMonroe View Post
    Never too late, tc. lol
    ...I admire your optimism...

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat Storekeeper's Avatar
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    Only English. Hugely regret having forgotten nearly all of the Japanese I learned between 1979-1995. And now regret how little effort I made to re-learn it and build on it between 2004-2017.

    Made a weak attempt to learn Thai soon after moving there in 2007 but quickly threw in the towel.

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Storekeeper View Post
    Made a weak attempt to learn Thai soon after moving there in 2007 but quickly threw in the towel.
    ...so, after the soapy then...

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Storekeeper View Post
    Only English. Hugely regret having forgotten nearly all of the Japanese I learned between 1979-1995. And now regret how little effort I made to re-learn it and build on it between 2004-2017.

    Made a weak attempt to learn Thai soon after moving there in 2007 but quickly threw in the towel.
    Don't beat yourself up too badly.. if you don't practice the language on a regular basis, you will forget it after time. I haven't spoken Korean or Mandarin in awhile and I forget a lot already.
    ----


    On another note, does anyone use Duolingo to learn languages on their phones? I am using it to learn Spanish.

  24. #24
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarilynMonroe View Post
    This is impressive, Simon. Hmong language sounds quite hard to learn. I think learning languages is harder as we get older too. Children learn like little sponges.
    He speaks many languages including German, Hmong others?

  25. #25
    Elite Mumbler
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    Quote Originally Posted by VocalNeal View Post
    He speaks many languages including German, Hmong others?
    Better Czech with him.

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