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May
24
Posted by Stace

QOTD – Languages

Question of the DayToday’s Booking Through Thursday question was one that wasn’t really applicable for me – do you own any foreign language books, and can you read them still. I thought I’d sort of do a quick variation of that and ask a “Question of the Day” about learning a foreign language, though.

Did you take a foreign language in either high school or college? Which one did you take? Do you remember much of it? Were you ever fluent? Or even better, do you speak a second language, either learned from your family or a friend? If you do speak another language, how often do you do this, on a daily, occasionally or very infrequent basis? Leave me a comment and let me know your answer to today’s “Question of the Day” 🙂

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  1. Susie Said,

    I took Spanish in high school and French in college. I don’t even think I could say “hello” in either language now without thinking about it for a minute first. I’m glad they’re teaching children languages early on in elementary school, because I think that part of the brain closes after we get a little older! I’ve thought about trying again to learn Spanish – it makes you much more marketable when looking for work (especially in a certain city just south of here – lots of immigrants down there).

    I do know quite a bit of sign language, though! Does that count? 🙂

  2. kaliblue Said,

    I took Spanish and French in school, but only remember a few words now *UGH*. Now I’m learning Italian and Japanese. Italian because we plan to travel there. Japanese because my hubs works for them, and we are talking about a 2 yr stay over there for his company which will be awesome since he goes over to Japan about every 9-12 months:-). I love the Japanese culture. So I think I won’t have a problem living ther for 2 yrs:-).

    Have a great day!

    P.S. you did read that I tagged ya right? :-).

  3. Gail Said,

    I took Latin in high school, 3 years I think. But don’t remember much of it except some words at times. It’s not really a language to speak!
    We have some German books around here because Don tried to learn that years ago and I think we still have one children’s book in German but I might should send it to Trent because I think he took it in college. Don and Liz have taken Spanish but not sure how much they can actually speak it now!

  4. twiga92 Said,

    I took Spanish in high school, but only remember a little of it. I have a songbook in Swahili on my bookshelves. I learned a little Bengali when I was growing up in Bangladesh, but only remember a little of it. I also learned a little Swahili in Kenya, but again, only remember a little bit.

  5. CoachJ Said,

    I took two years of French in high school, and I so wish I remembered more of it. My son and I went through most of a sign language class at our church, and I wish I remembered more of it! I thought we’d revisit sign language in homeschool and we could go around “talking” in it to help out our skills, but so far, we haven’t done that.

  6. Laura Said,

    I minored in Spanish. Overall I think I studied the language for 10ish years. I wouldn’t say I am fluent but my husband says I am. I can carry on a long conversation online with Spanish friends but I’m pretty rusty on the spoken part. It was not the easiest minor, what with it having nothing to do with my major, but I have never regretted it for a second. I loved every year of Spanish classes.

  7. Claire Said,

    Let’s see…I took one year of Latin and one year of Spanish in high school as well as one semester of Spanish in college. Fluent…NO! I lived in Kyrgyzstan for a year when I was in fifth grade and learned some Russian. I could communicate with the kids in the courtyard and understand what people were saying. I never learned grammar, so my sentences are basically words without putting them in correct tense, etc. I can still read Russian and understand some but I don’t know how much I’d be able to talk with someone. Maybe more than I realize…who know?!

  8. Eden Said,

    I took Spanish in high school and in college. I’m fluent in Spanish. I have books in Spanish, Arabic, English, French and Italian in my home. I understand a little Italian, very little French, and I’m learning Arabic from my husband Steve.

    Olyvia and I also watch movies in Spanish, French, Italian, Farsi, and some Japanese. lol

  9. Heidi Said,

    I took Latin, German and Spanish. I failed miserably at all of them (with passing grades). I am a language DUNCE!

  10. Carrie Said,

    I took Spanish all through school and I still remember alot of it. My ex-husband is Mexican. His Mom and Dad speak Spanish 98% of the time. I think that helped to keep it fresh in my head.

  11. Write From Karen Said,

    One class in high school and then again in college. I was going for a Bachelor of Arts degree in college and of course, foreign language was a requisite course.

    I. Hated. Every. Minute. Of. It. In fact,

    I was so lost, that one day, I showed up to class only to learn we were going to have a major test that I didn’t even know about! It was a nightmare so I promptly dropped it to avoid damaging my GPA and promptly changed my major to Bachelor of Science degree, lol.

    My oldest son is taking Spanish now and DESPISES it. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s going to flunk it. I have to say, his inability to grasp the language comes naturally. *grin*

  12. Cam Said,

    Two years of Spanish, one year of French. I remember almost none of it, but I do know the bare basics.

  13. Sherry Said,

    Spanish — and I have never been fluent. I can’t remember much of anything!

    My favorite phrase in Spanish?

    Yo no se!

    (I don’t know!)

    Sherry

  14. Jennifer Said,

    Hi!
    I was tagged for the Alexa link train thingy too, and am visiting blogs. I really like yours…I will DEFINITELY come back again! You seem so warm and friendly and easy to read…and you have the coffee-creamer addiction, too (I just got through with a cup of coffee with the White Chocolate Raspberry…*sigh*)

  15. -- a metamorphoself of gabrielle Said,

    Alexa Linky Love

    Thanks for tagging me, Heather!

    </start copying here>

    Copy all the things listed without removing the links (Of course, the train would be no use without those links).
    Move all the sites labeled “Enjoyable findsâ€? to the list labeled “…

  16. annie Said,

    I wish I could speak french. I can’t. I took a lot of art history in college and no foreign languages. I regret that I suppose. Amanda (daughter 16 yo) took two years of spanish and was obsessed with everything spanish including dora the explorer… odd for her age right? But, I noticed when we have stayed in dallas having a little spanish in my pocket would come in handy. I tried to buy a watch battery in target/dallas, no one could understand what I wanted. They kept going to find another person who spoke better english.
    Good questions Stacy.

  17. Lynne Said,

    I took 2 years of Gregg Shorthand!! Well, it looks foreign. And yes, I can still speak” it fluently!

  18. mamichelle Said,

    Like mostly everyone else, I took Spanish in high school, 4 years of it. I aced every year. English was my forte so Spanish wasn’t diffficult.

    My friend and I used to speak it out of class to practice. When my son took it in high school, I tried to chat a little with him and it was fun but very limited conversation!

    I still use funny little sayings or names occasionally (pobrecito is one I use which translates to poor thing). My boys both call me madre every once in a while and I call them Hijo.

    Great question! Have a fantastic long weekend!

  19. Southern Girl Said,

    Ooo, I’m so late, but I had to answer this one ’cause it’s right up my alley. 😉 I took a couple years of Spanish in high school, but by the time I had to take it for my core curriculum in college, I’d forgotten everything I’d learned. I was only going to take the very minimum, but then I fell in love with it and became close with the professor (you’ve already read about her on my blog 🙂 ), and ended up majoring in it. Then I got a Masters in and halfway through a PhD. So yes, I took a foreign language. 😉

    Unfortunately, I’ve spent the last nine years not using any of it, and that old adage that if you don’t use it, you lose it really is true. I’m trying to use it as much as possible with Goober though, so it’s starting to come back to me a little.

  20. rach Said,

    I’ve learned to speak and write in English in school. At home, English is the language we use when talking to our son. But my husband and I converse in Filipino (a.k.a. Tagalog). I’m more comfortable writing in English than Filipino. I also speak a Filipino dialect called Ilonggo which I learned from my parents.

  21. Shawna Said,

    I took Spanish my sopomore and junior years of high school and am definitely not fluent. I even went on a mission trip to Mexico and was too afraid to try speaking Spanish beyond Hola!! My hubby and I were going through “learn Spanish” CDs in the car, but we gave up on that! I can read Spanish better than speak it!

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