Speak a second language?

[Judowolf PE]

I had 3 years of German in HS, 25 years of Judo, so I have some Japanese down and I grew up a redneck, so English may be a second language to Suthun!

 

[YMZ PE]

What VT would have posted: "Oh Stewardess, I speak jive."

 

[MetsFan]

I'm fluent in Spanish. I didn't learn English till I was 5 and started Kindergarten. My wife and I are trying to get my son to speak it too, but English seems to be his dominant language since he spends so much time in day care.

 

[IlPadrino]

My wife and I are trying to get my son to speak it too, but English seems to be his dominant language since he spends so much time in day care.

Make a commitment to speak only Spanish at home... even if you only get to 75%, it's plenty! If he's in day care, he's plenty young enough to learn it as a native speaker.

 

[MetsFan]

My wife and I are trying to get my son to speak it too, but English seems to be his dominant language since he spends so much time in day care.

Make a commitment to speak only Spanish at home... even if you only get to 75%, it's plenty! If he's in day care, he's plenty young enough to learn it as a native speaker.

Yeah, that's probably it. My wife and I talk to each other in English too, and only talk to him in Spanish. It's tough getting comfortable with it after speaking in English to each other for so long, haha.

 

[IlPadrino]

It's worth it... the ability to learn languages changes at or about age seven. Stick with it!

 

[vineyardmh]

There is another Electrical Engineer in my group that I think is approaching fluency in Klingon. Does that count for a second language?? [Don't be too quick to discount it...it could be great to have if we are attacked by extra-terrestrials who have ridges on their foreheads.]

(BTW - this guy had his middle name legally changed to Data...and goes by Data.)

 

[goodal]

My wife decided out of the blue that it would be cool to learn a language or two. Shes going through Duolingo and Im trying to as well. I had a yr of Spanish in hs, but its not coming back to me yet.

 

[csb]

I really like Duolingo. It's getting my Spanish back up and running. I know enough to make it through the Catholic Mass in Spanish, navigate and shop around Spanish speaking areas, but I feel awkward every time I say anything out loud. "Pardon my ridiculous accent" is a phrase I should learn, so I can say it first and then jump into what I was saying.

 

[YMZ PE]

^ I started using Duolingo thanks to csb's recommendation above. It's quite good; even my pronunciation has improved significantly.

Now if only they would make a program for Thai, so I wouldn't be so awkward at family gatherings.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

You talk Thai?

 

[kevo_55]

She talks Thai very well.

 

[YMZ PE]

Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".

 

[snickerd3]

not sure i like the pimsleir learn spanish...I can only handle repeatition of the same conversation said slightly different for so long.

I'd like to be able to say more than hi, bye, good morning/afternoon/evening, sir/mame/miss, do you speak english, do you know spanish, are you american

considering I knew most of that already...

 

[engineergurl]

Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".

wait... Chinese people speak Thai

 

[YMZ PE]

That's what my own half-cracker children have told me.

Snick - you should give Duolingo a try. It's free. Might be cumbersome to use while driving though, since some of the exercises involve typing.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

They talk thai real good.

 

[snickerd3]

Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".

wait... Chinese people speak Thai

i thought they all spoke Mandarin

 

[knight1fox3]

I had to learn some traditional Chinese to develop operator interface screens for 2 over-head cranes at the nuke plant in Taiwan. That was pretty cool.

 

[YMZ PE]

Yes, or as you people call it, "Chinese".

wait... Chinese people speak Thai

i thought they all spoke Mandarin