According to the Eton Institute, learning a foreign language boosts brain power, improves memory, enhances the ability to multi-task, keeps your mind sharp (and for longer), enhances decision making, helps improve your first language, and can help open the door to other career opportunities. Have you taken the time to learn a second language? Did you grow up speaking more than one language?
If you want to learn a new language, here’s a website with tons of resources. They sure make it easy these days (and most of the time, free!), so we encourage you to try.
If you grew up speaking another language, or started learning one in high school and stuck with it, or whatever your story may be, will you share it with us in the comments below? Thanks!
French in high school was the only subject I ever failed.
I grew up speaking English.
Took French in high school.
Moved to Miami and learned Spanish.
Now I’m happy with myself!
They say if you can speak 3 languages you are trilingual, if you can speak 2 languages you are bilingual, and if you can only speak one language, you’re an American.
Amen to that!
Herb this is good. Made me smile
Ha! too funny!
My biggest failure was not learning at least one other language fluently.
There should have been an option for none. I still have a hard time with english.
Estudio español quinientos diecisiete días pero no entiendo mucho.
I have studied Spanish for 517 days but don’t understand much!
Fluent in Hillbillyism………..
I was stationed in Madrid, Spain for almost five years and married to a Spanish lady for 10 years. Was pretty good in Spanish, but have forgotten most of it. Now I’m fluent in two languages — English and Sarcasm.
I’m unable to get the voting site up to vote.
No American should claim to be fluent in English…
(I’m British)
I am fluent in American English, you are fluent in British English as Australians fluent in Aussie English. I personally think you bloody blokes murder the English language and we out number you so the law of the jungle says we win. Lol
Bob, Bob, Bob, The Brits brought English to the North American continent. They are most likely speaking it correctly. We in the USA changed it to fit out countryside and purposefully changed words and spelling to further ourselves from England. Our “American English” has also incorporated German, Spanish, French, etc. to become our own “dialect”. If I recall, we started driving on the right side of the road, just because the British drove on the left. Don’t forget, we were a rebellious lot. Webster supposedly changed some spellings to further remove us from Britain. They are tea drinkers, we are coffee drinkers. I wonder why? – something to do with Boston if I recall.
England and the United States are two countries, separated by a common language.
Another language everybody should learn is America Sign Language so you can communicate with deaf campers.
I love Waynes comment about languages. I am fluent in two, English and cuss words
I speak some Spanish with a decent accent and will proceed to learn it fluently because I want to learn.
I remember the Catholic prayers in Ukrainian because I went to Ukrainian boarding school in PA, but I know little of the language. Stupid kid…I should have paid attention and would have been able to converse in Ukrainian even if it was sloppy and not properly spoken. Dum bunny I was.
My father spoke proper Polish, but never taught me and my mother spoke sloppy Italian and also never taught me. Another terrible loss.
Geez.. lost opportunities. Just think 4 languages…that would be a free gift!
Unfortunately, people my parent’s age whose parents were immigrants from Europe all wanted to be
“All American” and either lost their parents native language or did not want to speak it.
Stupid stupid stupid
Welcome to America…the land of hot dogs and hamburgers and one language….and we can’t even speak that properly.
Now can we talk about the education level of our USA schools. Oh boy. We need a complete resurrection.
Tenga un buen dia Have a nice day.
Nous parlons Français à la maison
I speak the language of this country, English, if I lived in a different country I would speak that country’s language. In Genesis chapter 11 God confounded the people’s languages so they could not understand one another and sent around the earth to live separately from each other. I’m not a Bible Thumper but I do believe in God and believe His plan for humanity should be followed. I do empathize with people of poor countries, but I also believe those people had the same opportunities to make their country as great as ours as we did. For All Men Are Created Equal. We built our country to be great, they can too.
I guess I’m not sure what language and the U.S. has to do with poverty. Maybe you could explain?
I know the publisher would like our comments to be respectful and as apolitical as possible. Your comment should have been banned.
While our greed and abuse of others, through slavery, military and economic colonialism , has built America’s wealth, there are many other countries that surpass us on education, quality of life, reduction of human impact on the earth, human rights and many other measures.
Our isolationist president, has withdrawn us from the community of nations and also speaks so incoherently it is hard to call it English. You are speaking his language. Bob, the language you speak is “Moronish”.
Mark, why don’t you leave it up to the editors what is and isn’t banned…
Bob’s comment expressed his opinion courteously and respectfully. Yours, Mark, unfortunately did not.
Absolutely nothing separates human beings more than language. Not nationality, not religious beliefs, not skin color or race. You should be fluent in the primary language of the country in which you live. That principle has lost importance in the past 5 or 6 decades, particularly with those that come across our southern border. I have known hispanic people that have lived here their entire lives that never bothered to learn our language as it’s not really necessary to get by. Generally speaking though most of them never prosper or become mainstream Americans.
I guess you can include my family as well. My dad didn’t learn English until he was 10 although he was born in the U.S. and was ridiculed, mocked and bullied because of it. My grandparents never learned English during the 50 years they lived in the U.S. but what we learned was to maintain culture and heritage. I’m not sure why you chose just one ethnic group when there are many that never learn English in the U.S. just like the gringos who move to Mexico and expect everyone else to learn their language. It’s almost an oxymoron. BLM
I wish I could speak more than one. I took 5 years of Russian in high school and was barely able to hold a simple conversation.
My great grandparents came separately from Sweden. My Great Grandfather would not allow the children to speak Swede, similar to below “They were in America and would learn and speak the American language.”.
Hi, Kaeleen. I also took Russian in high school (for three years), starting when it was first offered in the Seattle area in the early ’60s. And my grandmother came from Sweden when she was 8 years old (around 1900). I still have the woven (picnic-type) basket their mother had packed food in for the family on their trip across the Atlantic. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Unlike the majority of gringos who live in Mexico, I studied my degree here, learned the language, and have never looked back. Because of my second language (Spanish), it opened doors of opportunity for work and travel throughout Mexico, Central, and South America. Up to 1.5 million Americans and Canadians live in Mexico, only but a handful are fluent in Spanish. I think the results of the survey tell it all.
One, unless you count the ability to swear in six languages,
One, unless you can count Morse Code…then two.
Same here
I regret that I had to chose the only one option. Despite two years of high school french, a fair amount of which I still remember, and four semesters of college-level German, which as a non-traditional (i.e. old) student was very difficult in a class full of people who had it in their high school backgrounds, I’m nowhere near fluent in either. So I have to satisfy myself with my love of both spoken and written English. I also love and occasionally culturally appropriate American dialects. My hometown is an hour away from Hannibal, MO and Mark Twain is one of my favorite writers. He was one of if not the best at writing in dialect.
We used to visit Hannibal when we were kids. We had adopted relatives in Palmyra, Mo. Good memories. Because of the Mark Twain museum and his locks of hair, I started saving mine.
I selected one (English) but like David I am a Ham Radio Operator and also speak and read Morse Code. However I am sure there are those that will question how Fluently my English is.
Stay Safe, Stay Well.
Hi, Dick and Sandy. My grandpa was a Ham Radio Operator and was very fluent in Morse Code. Seventy years ago I was fascinated watching him communicate around the world tapping very rapidly on the key. His call letters were K7SD. Thanks for the fun memory. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
My Spanish is limited to beer and bathroom.
That’s too funny, Impavid. The gal I walk with at the track most evenings told me last week that all she knows in Spanish is beer and bathroom! 😆 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Does “RV” count as a language? It should.
I speak a American version of English with a modified Appalachian accent (Southern Ohio). I also can use Morse Code.
dah di dah di dah dah di dah
A person that speaks 3 languages is trilingual. A person that speaks two languages is bilingual. A person that speaks one language is an American. When I lived in Europe I saw numerous Americans yelling in English at people, thinking if they talked louder they would be understood.
When I was teaching Languages we called it “paralytic monolingualism”.
Forget all the French I took (remember the song?). 3 years of Latin was a waste while studying it. Americanized English and Vietnamese. That one I wish I never learned!
I remember my (1950’s) high school american history teacher (football coach) telling everyone, “If the SOBs want to talk to us, let’em learn American.” I do sort of wished I took Mexican (not European Spanish) back then, come in handy these days.
I checked one, but i claim to be fluent in two: English and nautical (which really is a language all its own).
I speak two, American and Candian. Or does that count?
Chuck Dunn below, made me think, when I was in the army, I knew a Canadian who had joined our army.
One day another guy in our unit said to him, “You sure do talk good American not to be from here”.
I chose 2. I assume morse code counts. I’m a ham radio licensee.
Several people may be fluent in computer languages OR Sign language for the deaf (American or otherwise). Anyone?
Speak fluently? None should have been an option.
I selected just one language (English). However, I do consider myself functional (not fluent) in Spanish.
I speak American tinged with sailor
I’m trained in 3 fluently and working on a fourth “functionally”… …but since no one understands me in any of them the count is debatable…
I checked one, but I got to thinking, I’m from rural East Texas and in some parts of the country folks can hardly understand me.
From the South, so I am fluent in Southern. Speak and understand Yankee and enough English to get by if I am ever in England. I also can speak enough Spanish to keep from starving.