2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion

Inspired by the What's Your First Language? poll, I was wondering, besides what's your native language, what other languages do you know? When do you started learning them? Is there any in particular you'd like to learn? Do you struggle with translations and not being able to read a book in the language it was originally written in?

I studied German for 4 years and wasn't able to take it further. I let it slip but 2015 I'm hoping to self study and get it up to at least a UK GCSE standard. I don't think I'll ever be able to read a novel in another language, well, maybe Harry Potter...!

My native language is German, I started learning English at school in grade 5 (age 10 - today children in germany usually start at grade 1 or 3), Latin in grade 7 (for 2.5 years but I have forgotten about everything since), French in grade 9 (only half a year, I was terrible at it!), then Spanish when I went to university (about 12-14 years ago) and 4 years ago I started to learn Swedish

So I'd say beside German I'm more or less fluent in English, quite advanced in Swedish (attending courses at C1 level) and I have some very rusty Spanish knowledge

Edit: I completely forgot the 1.5 courses I took in Chinese (when waiting to get into a Swedish beginner's course since those were high in demand and difficult to get in to) - it was really interesting but I had to stop it since I did have neither time nor motivation to sit down for at least an hour a day to drill myself on remembering all the signs... And today all that is left from it is how to write ni hao

Ashleigh wrote: "I studied German for 4 years and wasn't able to take it further. I let it slip but 2015 I'm hoping to self study and get it up to at least a UK GCSE standard. I don't think I'll ever be able to rea..."
Have you tried reading children's books? They are usually easier to read and a good way to get used to reading in another language - or books that you already know, that helps, too.
Oh, and I wouldn't recommend to read Harry Potter in German! The translation is awful!

I tried to self study German (through Duolingo though ahah) but lacked the discipline to study it seriously. I'm hoping to take a course eventually, because I really want to learn new languages and German is so important for my studies.

My mom pushed me to learn English and French when I was still very young (like 6 or 7 years old) and I had English and French classes later on. I can speak English fluently but I really suck at French. I can make out some written words and say some simple things in French but that's about it.
When I was about 11 years old I tried to learn Latin by myself but, once again, lack of discipline took me nowhere. Which I seriously regret because Latin is also very important for my studies.

Other than that, I which I understood Czech and Russian for reading purposes. And French. And German. And Spanish.

I'll take that advice Anja!

Adriana, I totally suck at learning a language by myself - I really need to go to real (e.g. not online) classes because I'm definitely too lazy to do it on my own ;D

My native language is Romanian.I studied German in school for like 7 and 1/2 years but it didn't stuck to me unfortunately and last year I tried learning all by myself but with no results whatsoever...so, this year I plan on going to take some classes. So,help me God ! English is the only language that has glued to me since I was little. I'd totally love to learn Dutch or Swedish :)

My native language is American English. I can BS my way some in British English and Scots English. I studied Japanese 6 years and Mandarin 1 year. I forget a lot because moving to Texas, I don't have many people to speak to in Japanese. Although my brother-in-law does run a Japanese company...(he doesn't speak a word of it either). My mom keeps pushing me to get back into it and teach, but my passion is in teaching ESL , not a foreign language.

I studied a little French but that is my new passion. My mom's side (Foshey, which is the I guess Anglicized spelling of Faucher) is French, they emigrated to Quebec in I think the 1800's before some came to America. Unfortunately French has been almost completely lost in my family and I refuse to let it happen! Even if I don't get a chance to pick it up, I have already decided I will make sure my son does. He also will be learning Swiss/German because my husband's side (Abegglen)

My native language is french and I learnt english and spanish at school (from 11 eleven years old to 19 for the 1st, and from 12 to 16 for the 2nd).
I'm not far to be fluent in english (maybe in 2 years, currently I'm not comfortable with the speaking part and I need more vocabulary for the writing part), mostly because I like english very much and increased a lot my level with reading english books and watching movies and tv shows in english too.
Spanish... argh, not interested at all. I didn't use it since school but I can understand most of the things I hear, if you speak slowly. Same when I read. Other parts suck and as I've spanish this semester, it's a nightmare.

Some years ago, I'd the fantasy to learn mandarin (chinese) and bought a learning method. But well, I'm a little lazy, so I never opened the book :p I also learnt by myself a little italian, but well, I was lazy too :D

No problem for the books, just because, well, most of them are written in english :p I've more problem with the distribution network as some books never reach the frontier and are not available on my Amazon :(

I can read a children's book in Spanish! That's it. Can't really speak it. :P I wish I could.

Let's see... My native language is Finnish. I've studied Swedish (started in grade 3), English (started in grade 5), two years of German in middle school and a few courses of Spanish in secondary school. I'm a Japanese language and culture studies major and have spent three years plus one year in exchange in Japan learning the language. I'd like to learn at least French, Chinese and Russian but I doubt I'll have time for learning new languages any time soon :/

I prefer to read books in the language they were originally written in, and that I can manage in Finnish, Swedish, English and Japanese. I rarely read anything in Swedish so it takes time when I do. Reading in Japanese is probably even slower, because sometimes I have to consult a dictionary or even a grammar book. If a book has originally been written in a language I can't read, I usually go for the Finnish translation if there is one (because I read the fastest in Finnish, of course). Often there isn't, and then I read the book in English.

Hanna - It's quite interesting that your native language is Finnish. I have a Finnish friend who is just a genius when it comes to languages (I've lost track of what she can speak/read/write etc. She must have at least 3 she's fluent in and several more she's 'adequate' in!) Your education system from what I understand is far superior to ours in Britain and that makes me very jealous.

Languages just aren't pushed over here like they are on the continent. It's becoming better, but when I was at primary school (4-11) it just wasn't a priority. I didn't start learning a language until I was 11! It just makes me sad because languages are such an important part of society today =(

I think I may try and take a module in German next year at uni just to have some structured learning. The only problem is it will then count towards my degree and I worry that's too much pressure!

Ashleigh wrote: "Hanna - It's quite interesting that your native language is Finnish. I have a Finnish friend who is just a genius when it comes to languages (I've lost track of what she can speak/read/write etc. S..."

Haha, maybe we learn other languages easily because Finnish is so hard that our brain just wants to switch to pretty much any other language possible? :P Seriously though, Finland has two official languages (Finnish and Swedish) and everyone has to study the one that's not their native language in primary school. Then, unless something has changed in recent years, we also have to choose one foreign language in primary school and study that for at least two years, I think (it's been a few years since I was in primary school...) That's usually English, but depending on the school they might also offer some other languages. So anyway, that makes three languages already, and anyone who chooses something other than English for their foreign language will soon notice that not knowing English is not an option here.

I've always been interested in languages and linguistics and I guess I get that from my mom who's a crazy language genious. She's also the one who encouraged me to start reading books in other languages. It may not have been the best of ideas to start with one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels after only two or three years of studying English, but at least a book that I really, really, REALLY wanted to read encouraged me to keep on reading. Like Yoda said, "Do. Or do not. There is no try."

My native language is Spanish, but my English is fluid enough to be considered a second first tongue (according to the IB).

I started studying French during high school, but I suck at it ^^ seriously. My mom knowing French always made it worse because I felt I was letting her down.

Then I started learning German up to the B2 level (ÖSD), but I've forgotten most of it. I really need to brush up, especially since I can't remember the most basic of things but can work out Genitiv like it's nothing :P

I also started learning a bit of Italian, but I find it too similar to Spanish to actually separate them in my mind.

Hebrew is a personal challenge. I know the letters, but that's it ^^

I'd also really like to learn Russian :D


Book-wise, I try to read everything in it's original language. When I can't, I read it in it's closest language (if it's Portuguese, I read in Spanish. If it's German I just don't get, I go for English, and so forth).

So far I HAVE found translations to be a problem, especially when they're from Russian. Apparently, a lot of interpretation goes into it and subtle things get lost in translation.

My native language is Spanish, but my English is fluid enough to be considered a second first tongue (according to the IB).

I started studying French during high school, but I suck at it ^^ seriously. My mom knowing French always made it worse because I felt I was letting her down.

Then I started learning German up to the B2 level (ÖSD), but I've forgotten most of it. I really need to brush up, especially since I can't remember the most basic of things but can work out Genitiv like it's nothing :P

I also started learning a bit of Italian, but I find it too similar to Spanish to actually separate them in my mind.

Hebrew is a personal challenge. I know the letters, but that's it ^^

I'd also really like to learn Russian :D


Book-wise, I try to read everything in it's original language. When I can't, I read it in it's closest language (if it's Portuguese, I read in Spanish. If it's German I just don't get, I go for English, and so forth).

So far I HAVE found translations to be a problem, especially when they're from Russian. Apparently, a lot of interpretation goes into it and subtle things get lost in translation.

My first language is German. I started to learn English in school at the age of ten. For the last couple of years I tried to read all books that are originally written in English in English and I watch a lot of American TV series so I think my English isn't too bad. I also learned French and Latin in school but unfortunately I forgot almost everything.

My first language is Estonian. Over the years I have learned English, German, Russian, Italian, Finnish, and Old Greek. But the only language I can read, write and speak besides Estonian is English. From time to time I think that I should start learning some of them again because I would also like to read books in original language. I´d also like to learn Polish language. But I am too lazy ...

My native language is Portuguese. I started learning English in school (grade 3) and also Spanish (grade 5). I also took one French class a few years ago and this year I am starting another course. Last, I have been studying German for 4 years now.
At the moment I try to reads books originally written in English in English and the same goes for Spanish and of course, Portuguese.
I would love to get some recommendations of books for beginners in French or German :) Please let me know if you have any

I can only speak English. I wish I could speak another language but I just don't seem to have the mind for it. If I could learn another language it would be either Danish or Gaelic (I'm of Scottish descendents). I also think it would be cool to know Cherokee. My great-grandmother was a quarter Cherokee (though she LOOKED almost full-blooded)!

Gabriela - I would take Anja's advice of reading children's books. Another trick that a friend once told me was to place stickers in several objects with the names written in the language you're studying.

When the author writes in English, I read it in English (unless, for some reason, I have the book translated in Portuguese). When it comes to other languages that I don't speak, I usually read them in English as well because I always find a huge variety of editions (at least when it comes to "older" books) that cover a wide range of prices, whereas in Portugal you have like one (expensive) edition and there's also more english translations than there are portuguese ones.

My native language is Croatian. I learn English since first grade. German, officially, since 4th grade (but when I was younger I watched German television, cartoons and such, so I learned the language before 4th grade). And a few days ago I started a course in Irish on Duolingo.

I can read books on English (even better and faster than Croatian ones... although it's still slow- I need for 100 pages 3 hours!!).
For school we need to read books on German for book reports, but that's really nothing. It's literally, like, 30 pages.

My native language is English. I used to be able to speak German and Spanish pretty well, but I let them slip after elementary school and learned French in high school. I'm currently minoring in French language in college! My vocabulary is terrible, so I try not to speak much. I'm much better at reading and listening to it! If anyone wants to speak French with me, that would be awesome, but be prepared for the grammar of a five year old!

I only speak English. The US didn't teach languages until high school. I took one year of French but couldn't speak or read anything at this point. I took 2 years of Spanish but all we really did was write and read it so I don't speak more than a few words. I can read some Spanish but not enough for a book. I would loved to have learned German because its my cousins' native language. Unfortunately, we didn't have it in school. I've always said I would try an online course but I haven't this far.

Charity wrote: "I only speak English. The US didn't teach languages until high school. I took one year of French but couldn't speak or read anything at this point. I took 2 years of Spanish but all we really did w..."

Try Duolingo! It has done wonders for me! I can like... order some food in Spanish. :P

Thanks Jessica I will have to look into that. I'd love to learn German and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to refresh some Spanish.

I took 5 years of French (three years in junior high school, two years in high school) and actually read "The Little Prince" in French in high school. I learned some Spanish years ago when I was teaching preschool in an area where most of my families spoke Spanish as their first language. I can still read and understand a little Spanish and French, but can't really speak either.

My native language is portuguese.

I learned english completely by myself when i was younger. I learned through songs i liked by the time and i used to spend a lot of time translating, just for fun. These days I have an english certification, and can read, talk, listen an write in english pretty well. Also i need to speak/read in english in my workplace.

I learned Spanish (and Catalan) when i lived in Spain. I went to Barcelona as a exchange student in my graduating days. So I needed to learn both languages. My catalan is not good as my spanish, but i try :p

And Italian I started studying a few years ago, taking serious classes. I have double nacionality (Brazilian and Italian) so i thought it would be nice to learn. I think i can read in Italian. My parents brought me a few books from Italy when they were in vacations there. I didn't try to read yet, but i will :)

My mother tongue is French, and living in Switzerland I started learning German quite early at school. Sadly the way they taught German concentrated mostly on grammar and vocabulary, and was not at all conversation-oriented. So when I left school and didn't practice German I almost forgot everything. Now I'm looking for a job and seriously regret not having practiced it during those years, because they ask for it a lot! In 2015 I really want to try to learn it again, but I don't think reading in German is a good idea, because it is quite difficult and I'm afraid of not liking books because I read them in this language.

My mother used to talk to me in English when I was a child, and it immediately sparked my interest. I learnt a bit at school, but mostly by myself, translating songs and watching all tv shows and movies in English. I consider myself almost fluent, I just need to improve my writing.

I also learnt Spanish and a bit of Russian at school and really should put effort not to forget all about them, but I don't feel comfortable enough to tackle whole books in these languages.

My first language is Spanish. I learnt English by myself, I love listening music and watching movies in English since I'm very young, but I never really studied it, so I'm not very good in grammar and that stuff. In school I had English but it was terrible, we were learning verbs and numbers every single year.
I always re-read my favorite books that are originally written in English in its own language, but for the rest of them I just look for a good translation, there's plenty of them. And I love literature in Spanish, it's my favorite.
Right now I'm learning France in university but I can't read yet, I find it way harder than English.

My first Language is Luxemburgish, in first grad we started learing German, then in second French and in 9th English.
I love reading books in the language they were originally written in, becuase I think that if you read a translation much of the original meaning behind the words is lost. Nevertheless it's sometimes hard to understand everything, especially when the books were written a long time ago and in an oldfashioned way.

I'm an ordinary American who sadly never learned much of a foreign language in school. We do a pretty bad job overall in teaching foreign languages, especially back when I was in school.

I took three years of French in high school, and two in college, and could hardly speak French when I joined the Peace Corps and went to a French-speaking African country. That's where I learned my speaking French. There were also two French women teaching in my little town and they helped me learn some grammar that the Africans don't use (such as subjunctive tense).

I've tried to keep up my French although it's a bit rusty now. I've also been studying Spanish because I live in an area with many immigrants who came from Spanish-speaking countries. My daughter is studying Spanish in college so I've been trying to study along with her and improve.

My first language is Dutch. Had German and English in school.

My native language is Serbian, but I've studied English since I was 4 years old (some classes, some music/movies etc). I took 4 years of German (5th - 8th grade) but I didn't quite like it and Latin in 9th grade. When it comes to Spanish, most of it I learned from soap operas. Now I don't know the grammar, but I can understand a lot when someone's speaking, so I don't know if Spanish can really count in the group of languages I know. I would like to study French. :)