What was/is your second language?

@Livingtohelplive

Hey Hana!!

So that is an amazing set of languages that you speak; I am legit impressed. :) When I had the opportunity to spend time in Europe, it seemed like most everyone there was at least bilingual or even multilingual. So, as someone who really only speaks one language, that was really humbling to me. Thank you for sharing! :)

@boogmorto

You shouldn't feel bad about not knowing other languages (i think it's normal if you live in English cultural environment). It's not such a big deal except you have to use them or you are really interested in some other culture.

You make a really good point that I hadn't considered regarding living in an English cultural environment, which I definitely do. However, I feel like I have enough of a gift naturally with picking up languages, along with a love of people and cultures, that I feel like it would really be worth my while to expand my linguistic horizons. :)

@darlingSunshine78

My first language was Spanish and I was rather poor at speaking and reading in English. As time went by and I continued to learn I was moved from bilingual classes to English classes. However, that meant no longer learning Spanish in school. I am now great at English and my Spanish isn't bad but now I'm not as fluent in it as I was as a child.

Wow! I have to say that your own linguistic journey is very interesting to read!

How do you feel now that the roles are reversed for you, so to speak, in regard to English and Spanish?

@Smily1225 Mandarin is so difficult! I grew up speaking it, yet I still don't feel comfortable holding a conversation in it

@Smily1225

I can relate to a lot of what you said through my cousin. She took about the same amount of Mandarin as you did and found it exceedingly difficult. I believe she ended up switching to Spanish as well.

@affableStrings4654

That's really awesome!! I tried to teach myself Danish once upon a time.

Of those four languages, which would you say has been your favorite, for any reason?

@piligrimmscott

My second language was Russian, since my grandmother came to the states during the Soviet era. I have always been attracted by my roots and wanted to visit there. In fact, there is something amazing in Russia. Russia is a beautiful country with an interesting history and culture. It is also a country where you can travel, explore and take part in local life. Only now it is difficult to get a visa to the Russian Federation without the help of specialists. I applied to russia-travel visa services so that they would do all the bureaucratic work for me.

I feel there is a lot to be said for being attracted by our roots/family history. I do hope you get the chance to go and visit, sooner than later. :)

@LavenderBee3612

French is mine! I have always had a fascination for France; since about age 5, several of my friends and I have 'planned' to run away to France. It most likely won't ever actually happen.

Even if it doesn't happen, I still think it's cool that you and your friends had that brainstormed at such a young age. And for the record, I do hope it happens. :)

When I was maybe ten years old, my best friend asked me if I wanted to sign up for Duolingo with them and learn French. So, of course, I said yes, and we did for a while, but then we both quit. A few years later, I was like, "I think I wanna try again." So I did; with the help of Duolingo and various other online courses and Youtube channels, I am now pretty fluent. I still have to take a French class at some point in my high school journey, but I feel like I can ace it pretty fast. Everyone has to either take Spanish or French, but hearing Spanish kind of makes my brain hurt for some reason.

And hey, I just have to say that I am legit impressed that you became fluent through those means, Although, when I think back to my in-person Spanish classes in high school, I think the most of what I learned was self-taught on my own time anyway. So maybe there's something to be said for that. :)

I do get what you mean with Spanish; it can be spoken so quickly to the point where my brain has to catch up and process, haha. ;)

@f1nd3rzk33p3rz

i love languages! i'm from england so ofc main language is english. i have learned some french and german through my time at school, but as of now i'm focussing on learning italian! it's a really beautiful language (=

languages i want to learn/be fluent in: italian, german, french, spanish, dutch, welsh, and arabic.

That's amazing!! It really seems like you have a gift for learning languages, and I have no doubt you will master all of your linguistic goals. :)

@JamesBond009

Im from Lithuania, small country in Europe. But I'm Polish by nationality(not an immigrant or something, its historical thing, Poland and Lithuania used to be same Kingdom centuries ago). So my native language is Polish, obviously I speak Lithuanian too as its an official language, plus I speak Russian as we have many Russian people here as well(Polish and Russians are minor nationalities here) so it was all natural for me. English I learnt at school. Currently trying to learn Turkish, also learnt bit French at uni as a foreign language course but feel like I forgot a lot..

I have to say, you definitely taught me some history today. And it also puts into perspective how young my country is by comparison. Like others in this thread, you seem to be really gifted at picking up/learning languages, and I envy that. :)

@NajmMesih3

That's awesome!! Plus, I have heard that Arabic is a challenging language to learn as well.

And you're right, learning new languages is a great way to build connections with people. :)