How many of you speak a second language?

yeah!! I speak Russian. It's my first language, but I've been in the US for so long and speak English to everyone besides family, so I'm better at it. I can read in Russian too, but that'd probably take me.. a while. I manage our work e-mail and some 13 year old girl sent us a message in all Russian on Friday. Was pretty funny.

hoshiko said:
English actually isnt my first language, technically. since i learned american sign language first before i learned the English language, that would technically be my first language. i learned ASL back when i was a wee baby, very very young. i still use it daily bc i live with my mom and she's deaf, and so is my dad, and i dont live with him, but i talk with him through the vp pretty often so.. yeah.
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That is really awesome--I came in here expecting people to talk about spoken languages only, but then this pops up. Reading Alex's post is my first time actually realizing that sign language wouldn't be universal across the world, as obvious as that should be haha. Super neat.
 
Sheep said:
That is really awesome--I came in here expecting people to talk about spoken languages only, but then this pops up. Reading Alex's post is my first time actually realizing that sign language wouldn't be universal across the world, as obvious as that should be haha. Super neat.
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well i'm glad i surprised ya! dont worry though, it took me a while to realize sign language isnt universal across the world either, and i grew up with it lol.
 
My first language is Hindi second is English (though I'm stronger in English and can speak all three types that is American British and Indian) and the third is bengali. Apart from these I know a little punjabi hariyanvi n somewhat bhojpuri too! Lol never thought I knew so much
 
My first language is Finnish and English is my second language. I know a fair amount (I'm nowhere near an expert level though) of Swedish too. I think I could say that I know enough English to be understood well via the internet and stuff, yet I'm still not that great at spoken English. But speaking in general is hard anyways.
 
My native language is French :)
I learned english through the Pokémon games. I took Spanish classes so I can usually read it and understand it, but I can't say more than a handful of complete sentences ^-^;
 
Soapie❤ said:
My native language is French :)
I learned english through the Pokémon games. I took Spanish classes so I can usually read it and understand it, but I can't say more than a handful of complete sentences ^-^;
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Wow, that's really neat how Pokemon games helped you learn english. (How did that happen, do they not have french language Pokemon games in Canada, or was it voluntarily?
 
Radiating said:
Wow, that's really neat how Pokemon games helped you learn english. (How did that happen, do they not have french language Pokemon games in Canada, or was it voluntarily?
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In Canada, Pokémon games were not translated in French until SoulSilver. My dad speaks english and used to play Pokémon with me all the time (he had Blue, and I had Silver). He would translate every bit of dialogue for me, and eventually, at the time I had Sapphire, I could speak English. I didn't even notice I did until I realised I didn't ask him to translate anymore lol
 
Radiating said:
Wow, that's really neat how Pokemon games helped you learn english. (How did that happen, do they not have french language Pokemon games in Canada, or was it voluntarily?
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Have to say, I saw a french game once in my life.... even the anime was in french, but they kept all the english names.
 
I'm learning Spanish in school, but I'm not anywhere close to being fluent. i can handle a conversation though.

Im better at writing and writing than speaking tho
 
Soapie❤ said:
My native language is French :)
I learned english through the Pokémon games. I took Spanish classes so I can usually read it and understand it, but I can't say more than a handful of complete sentences ^-^;
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ahaha, someone from slovenia who i used to talk to on serebii forums did the same thing using pokémon games. i learned quite a bit of italian through video games too (mostly borderlands 2, which was actually great - idk if you've played it but there's quite a lot of slang in it which was really good for conversation) when i was just starting out and didn't have actual people to learn from. i think the fact that i was very familiar with the game was helpful too - if i didn't understand something, i probably already knew what was being said in english anyway.

that, and i changed my devices to italian, watched films with italian subtitles, etc. ~immersion~ etc
 
Can confirm playing video games in foreign languages helps! Pokémon games in particular have definitely helped me learn English. I remember attempting to play Final Fantasy and Fire Emblem in German for fun but I gave up.
 
Nihilego said:
ahaha, someone from slovenia who i used to talk to on serebii forums did the same thing using pokémon games. i learned quite a bit of italian through video games too (mostly borderlands 2, which was actually great - idk if you've played it but there's quite a lot of slang in it which was really good for conversation) when i was just starting out and didn't have actual people to learn from. i think the fact that i was very familiar with the game was helpful too - if i didn't understand something, i probably already knew what was being said in english anyway.

that, and i changed my devices to italian, watched films with italian subtitles, etc. ~immersion~ etc
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I tried to change some Harry Potter GBA game to Spanish to learn the same way I did with English. But since I already passed the game a few times, I did not even bother with the dialogues. Now I regret it. Games like Borderlands that has a lot of slang could've been a great idea! I should've thought about it sooner :( Also English is easier to practice, especially in online games. I never really had someone to speak Spanish with, hence why I can't say anything x_x
 
Christos said:
Can confirm playing video games in foreign languages helps! Pokémon games in particular have definitely helped me learn English. I remember attempting to play Final Fantasy and Fire Emblem in German for fun but I gave up.
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Same. More than half of my English came from Pokémon, Age of Empires, Need for Speed, and GTA San Andreas. Among others.
 
English is actually my third language. Dutch is first, Persian second. I am extra cool.

I've also learned English through videogames (mainly Pokémon), but also because of Dutch subtitles on English movies. I've also been wanting to play some games in Spanish but I'm not sure where to begin.
 
Soapie❤ said:
In Canada, Pokémon games were not translated in French until SoulSilver. My dad speaks english and used to play Pokémon with me all the time (he had Blue, and I had Silver). He would translate every bit of dialogue for me, and eventually, at the time I had Sapphire, I could speak English. I didn't even notice I did until I realised I didn't ask him to translate anymore lol
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Maybe I should do a run of a Pokemon game in French, that could help me right now...
 
Radiating said:
Maybe I should do a run of a Pokemon game in French, that could help me right now...
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Lol if you need stuff translated you can always ask me. The hardest part of doing that is the French Pokémon names. I know a few of them but I grew up with the English names. Most of the time I have no idea what the trainer is sending out
 
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