• Question: How many languages can you speak?

    Asked by mizzlily to Dilwar, Lou, Rachel, Simon, Susan on 18 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Simon Langley-Evans

      Simon Langley-Evans answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      Mizzlily
      Good to hear from you again. I enjoyed the chat this morning.
      I am really embarrassed to say that I only speak English. I did learn French at school but dropped it in year 9 and did German instead. I know a few phrases in each of those languages but lack the confidence to attempt to speak in French or German unless I really, really have to.

      Pathetic, eh?

    • Photo: Louise Brown

      Louise Brown answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      I can speak a bit of French and Italian, enough to get by in the little towns that speak no English on holiday, but not enough to say I am very good!

    • Photo: Susan Skelton

      Susan Skelton answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      Hi mizzlily!
      Not as many as I would like! I learned french at school to A level equivalent. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten a lot of it, but it’s enough to get by in France and order a pain au chocolat 😉
      I spent two summers in Berlin, so I picked up a few basics of German.
      I’ve been learning Russian for the last few years, and can just about hold a reasonable conversation.
      Since I moved to Japan I’ve been trying (struggling!) to learn some Japanese. I know a few phrases and can read some of the symbols, but it’s going far more slowly than I would like!

    • Photo: Rachel Dakin

      Rachel Dakin answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      Hey,
      I also only speak English fluently. I did French to A-level and can hold a basic conversation. I’ve been learning Spanish more recently – there are some Spanish people in my lab so they try and help but my accent isn’t very good yet! I’ve been on holiday to Spain a few times in the last couple of years so knowing the basics has been helpful!
      I really wish I’d stuck with another language when I was younger – or even been taught when I was very small. I think the early we learn another language the easier it is.

    • Photo: Dilwar Hussain

      Dilwar Hussain answered on 19 Nov 2013:

      Hi mizzlily,

      I can speak English, Bengali and Arabic. I am learning Chinese (Mandarin) at the moment. It’s quite fun but challenging at the same time.

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