Language/s ~ (Joys of) Being Bi &/or Multi Lingual

[MikalE]

So you do know how to write...

Wish your posts looked as good as your paper.

[RealBlackStuff]

LANGUAGE WARNING!

If you (supposedly) are a teacher of English, how come we have to put up with your unreadable crap all the time?
I think I speak for many others on this Forum, when I ask you to stop using this unintelligible, over-colored, over-illustrated, eye-hurting, mock-language.
Failure to do so will have less pleasant (for you) consequences.
You have been warned!

[Galeb_G2]

But on a more serious note, it's still quite enjoyable to be multilingual. My wife and I speak French, German, English, Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Flemish, not only we're pretty much able to find a common language with everyone when traveling, but it's even quite interesting to notice how differences in languages reverberate cultural differences ; and finally, it helps a lot when you're searching for something to buy second hand, if you can't get a good deal on some worldwide sales platform, you can just go ahead and find the same stuff from cheaper abroad

PS : being an English teacher doesn't necessarily mean writing well in English, my wife teaches English at the university and tells that some of her former colleagues, back from when she taught at high schools before having her Ph.D, should be sued because failing so hard to teach the younger generations that are entrusted to you should be a criminal offense.

[RealBlackStuff]

I went to school in Europe in a Gymnasium-α (Alpha) where they also teach you Latin and Greek, next to the standard modern languages.
A Gymnasium is a type of secondary school that prepares students for higher education.
Similar to Galeb_G2 above, I am fluent in 5 languages, speak 2 more languages reasonably well, and can read or understand another 4 languages.
Not to forget about another 15 or so programming languages.
I'd say that is truly multilingual (ONE word).

OTOH, being multilingual in (continental) Europe is not uncommon, with so much travel nowadays and with so many countries bordering others with a different language.

[Utwig]

I speak about 8 languages, 3-4 of them well.

[ajkula66]

But on a more serious note, it's still quite enjoyable to be multilingual.

Truer words were never spoken.

PS : being an English teacher doesn't necessarily mean writing well in English, my wife teaches English at the university and tells that some of her former colleagues, back from when she taught at high schools before having her Ph.D, should be sued because failing so hard to teach the younger generations that are entrusted to you should be a criminal offense.

I fully understand your wife's frustration. Having lived in the U.S. for almost two decades now, I still at the way many people write in - let alone speak - what is supposed to be their native language. In my old world they wouldn't have made it past the fourth grade, but that's a can of worms that I'd rather not open in this thread...

[WarhawkCZ]

..
I think I speak for many others on this Forum, when I ask you to stop using this unintelligible, over-colored, over-illustrated, eye-hurting, mock-language.

You do!
+1

[madicetea]

..
I think I speak for many others on this Forum, when I ask you to stop using this unintelligible, over-colored, over-illustrated, eye-hurting, mock-language.

You do!
+1

I'm of the minority opinion of admiring the time spent in colouring and illustrating the posts each time Annecy writes.

It makes it very easy to tell where she has posted.

To be fair, my signature is colourful, but I wouldn't be bothered to colour-in each one of my posts.

[Puppy]

OTOH, being multilingual in (continental) Europe is not uncommon, with so much travel nowadays and with so many countries bordering others with a different language.

I am not sure the language diversity of Europe is a good thing nowadays. So many (small) countries that use completely different languages. This is going to be the biggest disadvantage compared to the US. Unfortunately I am not multilingual because it is not easy for me to learn a new language, to memorize the vocabulary and various illogical grammar rules and exceptions (like the German Der/Die/Das prepositions). I always prefer to use logic to achieve things than to memorize all the combinations.

My native language is Czech and that is a completely useless language (10 million people speaks it only) when it comes to broader use. I do understand Slovak (all people of my generation do), a bit Russian (my generation had to learn it in basic and secondary school for 7 years, but we hated it) and simple English that I need for my job. Unfortunately English as a versatile language in Europe doesn't work at all. I often visit Germany, namely the Saxony state (the former DDR - Eastern Germany) and it is very hard to find someone who speaks English there, including young generation.

If I ever met a golden fish I'd have the only wish - not to have money or a good carrier but to speak all the world languages If you can speak the language, you can do everything.