Thank you Recusen for this week’s TMI Tuesday questions.
Jack’s Answers
1.Do you speak any languages other than English? (English first only because the blog is mostly in English.)
I speak Spanish, and understand a couple other languages well enough to get by.
2. If you answered yes above, would you describe yourself as fluent? Which was your first language?
I don’t know that I’m fluent in Spanish; I understand it better than I speak it, though I can speak it well enough that native speakers would understand what I’m trying to say but probably make fun of me afterwards. In my late teens and early twenties I dated a lot of native Spanish speakers, and picked up even more of the language than I did during four years of high school Spanish. And my first language was English.
3. Did you study a foreign language in school (including college or University)? How much do you remember? Has it been useful to you? Can you speak it, or only read it?
As stated in my answer to #2, yes, I took four years of Spanish. It has been useful to me, mainly when trying to understand what the parents of the aforementioned women I dated were saying about me.
4. If you were going to learn another language, which one would you want to study?
I would like to study Huttese so that I could successfully negotiate the release of Han Solo from Jabba’s palace.
5. Do you have relatives who speak a language different from your own?
While my family’s native language is not English, I don’t believe I have any relatives who don’t speak English. Is that what this question is asking? I’m not sure.
6. Have you been to a country where you don’t know the language? How well did you cope?
Yes I have; however, in most of the countries to which I’ve traveled English is spoken or at least understood. I coped pretty well; it’s surprising how quickly you learn to order copious amounts of alcohol in whatever the native tongue happens to be.
Jill’s Answers
1.Do you speak any languages other than English? (English first only because the blog is mostly in English.)
Not really. Does sign language count? I took three years of that in college as a foreign language.
2. If you answered yes above, would you describe yourself as fluent? Which was your first language?
I’m not fluent in sign today, but I can finger-spell reliably, definitely enough to get my point across. Also, and this may or may not be related, I’m very good at fingering. (My first language was English.)
3. Did you study a foreign language in school (including college or University)? How much do you remember? Has it been useful to you? Can you speak it, or only read it?
In college I took sign language, but you already know that. I also took Spanish when I was in high school, and since I taught in a couple heavily-Hispanic schools early in my career, it really helped. Now, nearly twenty years later I still know some words pertaining to clothing, and most colors. But I don’t remember much else.
4. If you were going to learn another language, which one would you want to study?
I would probably choose to learn Italian. My grandmother spoke it, and I always liked the sound.
5. Do you have relatives who speak a language different from your own?
My in-laws speak a language that is not English. I’d be more specific, but it’s a fairly obscure language, and Jack worries that revealing it would be a dead giveaway. (It’s not Klingon.)
6. Have you been to a country where you don’t know the language? How well did you cope?
I’ve been to Spain, Italy, and France. I did pretty well there despite not knowing the local languages. In some cases I traveled with fluent speakers who did all the talking, while in other cases I was able to either point to the word for whatever I wanted or otherwise make a passable attempt.
How to play TMI Tuesday: Copy the above TMI Tuesday questions to your webspace (i.e., a blog). Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below, on this blog post, so we’ll all know where to read your responses. Please don’t forget to link to tmituesdayblog from your website!