Who here can speak foreign languages fluently?

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If so, how did you learn? Did you find it easy? Any recommended online courses etc?

Muchas Gracias!

Been wanting to learn a different language and thought Spanish would be an easy obvious choice...
Been at it a few weeks now, only for about half an hour or so a day... starting to get tricky a bit but enjoy it...
I'm only using Duolingo app... and seems its more Latin American Spanish than European but very similar.
 
Best time to learn is when you’re young.
That's what I think, I know little bits of French from school to get me by when I've been over to France, i.e how to ask directions, order food etc, but when I see some spanish courses, which I've looked at on youtube, my head frazzles a bit...
 
Was weird in turkey the other week, russians etc spoke to kids in native tongue but kids replied n spoke to siblings in english.
That's what I think, I know little bits of French from school to get me by when I've been over to France, i.e how to ask directions, order food etc, but when I see some spanish courses, which I've looked at on youtube, my head frazzles a bit...

still do french n german at school. Surely spanish would be more beneficial!
 
I'm fluent in Portuguese, I learnt by having lessons first, then spent 2 years living there and did my best to immerse myself in the language.

If living in the country isn't an option, have as many lessons as you can and then listen to as much of it as possible, news and gameshows are a great way of getting familiar with every day use of the language.
i'd love to learn portuguese but don't have the patience. i've picked up a little bit and can get by with simple things. we've asked folk to talk to us in portuguese instead of english but we don't get too far really.
the mrs has been learning it using duo lingo and is much better than me.
we've a place in portugal and plan to spend more and more time there as we get older and it'd feel better to be able to talk with them in their own language.
 
I can get by pretty well in Italian but I wouldn't say fluent. As someone else said above, it's good to listen to the news in your chosen language: you will already be aware of many of the international events which helps with context; also, many stories run for several days so your newly learnt vocabulary is reinforced.

You can also get many shows on Netflix in a foreign language. Just set up a new account (not a new subscription) and change the language preferences.
 
If so, how did you learn? Did you find it easy? Any recommended online courses etc?

Muchas Gracias!
I've been learning Spanish a while now. Watching Spanish programmes on Netflix helps, I'm watching el ministerio del tiempo at the minute it's really good. One thing I noticed is all the learning books and videos etc don't really teach you 'real' Spanish. Often watching TV shows I don't recognise the words used but according to the subtitles I do know the words if you get what I mean. Also listen to Spanish songs and print off lyrics if you want a list of good songs imo then I can send you them.
 
I speak Spanish the same as English. And not just book Spanish either - Spanish de la calle cojones..

Started off with a little holiday Spanish 10 week evening class and liked it, then continued on with more evening classes up to GCSE level. Where I properly learnt it though was living and working in Quito, Ecuador and Havana, Cuba for various periods. Spent some time travelling through most of Central America too.

Also my partner for the last 22 years is Latino, so we speak a Spanish/English/Spanglish mix around the house every day. Of course the kids all speak Spanish fluently too.

I also taught Spanish evening classes and frequently work as a translator for visiting Cubans. Interpreted for Che Guevara's daughter, Aleida, recently.

For anyone similar to the op who is thinking to learn Spanish, I would give you every encouragement. It's the most beautiful language and easy to learn too! Spoken exactly as it's written, logical and many words the same or similar to English. When you've learnt it, you can also understand Italian, Portuguese and even Romanian.

As for other languages, I can also speak a bit of French (lived 6m in Algeria), Yoruba & mandinga (African friends), Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian (friends and workmates).
 
I can get by pretty well in Italian but I wouldn't say fluent. As someone else said above, it's good to listen to the news in your chosen language: you will already be aware of many of the international events which helps with context; also, many stories run for several days so your newly learnt vocabulary is reinforced.

You can also get many shows on Netflix in a foreign language. Just set up a new account (not a new subscription) and change the language preferences.

The news is better than films, I was watching star wars in Czech but got told off the missus to stop cos I sounded like a Czech yoda
 
I speak Spanish the same as English. And not just book Spanish either - Spanish de la calle cojones..

Started off with a little holiday Spanish 10 week evening class and liked it, then continued on with more evening classes up to GCSE level. Where I properly learnt it though was living and working in Quito, Ecuador and Havana, Cuba for various periods. Spent some time travelling through most of Central America too.

Also my partner for the last 22 years is Latino, so we speak a Spanish/English/Spanglish mix around the house every day. Of course the kids all speak Spanish fluently too.

I also taught Spanish evening classes and frequently work as a translator for visiting Cubans. Interpreted for Che Guevara's daughter, Aleida, recently.

For anyone similar to the op who is thinking to learn Spanish, I would give you every encouragement. It's the most beautiful language and easy to learn too! Spoken exactly as it's written, logical and many words the same or similar to English. When you've learnt it, you can also understand Italian, Portuguese and even Romanian.

As for other languages, I can also speak a bit of French (lived 6m in Algeria), Yoruba & mandinga (African friends), Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian (friends and workmates).

Got a german mate/customer. His wifes french but her parents think hes from south africa as they wouldnt allow her with a german:lol:

anyway now hes been in london 15 year he now thinks in english n translates to german when ringing his parents, cant get my head round that!
 
i'd love to learn portuguese but don't have the patience. i've picked up a little bit and can get by with simple things. we've asked folk to talk to us in portuguese instead of english but we don't get too far really.
the mrs has been learning it using duo lingo and is much better than me.
we've a place in portugal and plan to spend more and more time there as we get older and it'd feel better to be able to talk with them in their own language.
I think you can still watch the news reports from RTP online, I found it very helpful for trying to switch my mind to thinking in Portuguese, over time I realised I was starting to understand the stories without having to try and translate it. Very helpful if you have already heard the same report in English.
 
Been wanting to learn a different language and thought Spanish would be an easy obvious choice...
Been at it a few weeks now, only for about half an hour or so a day... starting to get tricky a bit but enjoy it...
I'm only using Duolingo app... and seems its more Latin American Spanish than European but very similar.
Stick at it.
Practice makes perfect.
I go to a weekly Spanish class, and watch the free tutorials on Youtube

I can speak German, Spanish, and Hungarian, to a decent standard, and take part in every day conversations, but I'm not as fluent, as I'd like to be.

Once, I master, Spanish (Castilian) I fancy a crack, at Italian.
I speak Spanish the same as English. And not just book Spanish either - Spanish de la calle cojones..

Started off with a little holiday Spanish 10 week evening class and liked it, then continued on with more evening classes up to GCSE level. Where I properly learnt it though was living and working in Quito, Ecuador and Havana, Cuba for various periods. Spent some time travelling through most of Central America too.

Also my partner for the last 22 years is Latino, so we speak a Spanish/English/Spanglish mix around the house every day. Of course the kids all speak Spanish fluently too.

I also taught Spanish evening classes and frequently work as a translator for visiting Cubans. Interpreted for Che Guevara's daughter, Aleida, recently.

For anyone similar to the op who is thinking to learn Spanish, I would give you every encouragement. It's the most beautiful language and easy to learn too! Spoken exactly as it's written, logical and many words the same or similar to English. When you've learnt it, you can also understand Italian, Portuguese and even Romanian.

As for other languages, I can also speak a bit of French (lived 6m in Algeria), Yoruba & mandinga (African friends), Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian (friends and workmates).
Excellent, and respect, also 👍
Only gcse I didnt get was french. Hated it.

was once hoyed out cos Iguessed that a boulangerie sold knickers n bras.
I just couldn't get away with French.

I first got into Spanish, when I learned the lyrics of the song La Bamba :lol:
 
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Been off that project a few years and I started learning conversational Spanish this March as thats where we holiday and would eventually love to retire to . The grammar/conjugation looks brutal at first but stick with it and hopefully you will enjoy as much as I do . Still a massively long way to go and still need to think what I want to say in advance of saying (or trying to say it :) One problem I do have is that job for 10 years or more was part of a team rolling out SAP across our European sites so I always tried to pick up a few words even if it was basic hello , goodbye , yes no and so on and find my self when trying to string a Spanish sentence together, will drop an Italian word or a French one . Good example is "How much" Spanish is "Cuanto cuesta" and Italian is "Quanto costa" :) For online help I use spanishdict.com - if you type in a verb you will get alll the conjugate and most have audio as well
 
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