https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 21 May 2026 22:12:53 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-good-at-picking-up-languages#post-2656930 Thu, 24 Nov 2016 03:27:04 +0000 lamariniere 2656930@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would say I have a knack for it. I picked up French very quickly and easily learning first in HS, then college and then I lived in France for several years. I work with French all day long, so I am using it every day and I speak it with my DH and, increasingly with my LOs. We have been living in Austria for 4 years. I think I have a fairly large German vocabulary, like I can order on German amazon and figure out menus and things like that, but I've never studied the language, so I can't really understand it or speak it at all (I have many more nouns than verbs! :silly: ). When the radio is on, I can figure out the subject matter, but not more than that. I do understand the weather report though. I think if we lived in a Spanish speaking country or Italy I could easily pick up either of those languages as they are so similar to French. When food shopping, I always hope that there is an Italian translation on the ingredient labels because I can figure out the Italian faster than the German. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-good-at-picking-up-languages#post-2656912 Thu, 24 Nov 2016 00:14:56 +0000 PinkElephant 2656912@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I pick up languages easily, but don't retain them particularly well. </p> <p>Post college, I could speak casual Spanish. After four years in Tokyo I had a pretty decent grasp of Japanese (at least the basic formal language needed for day to day activities/work formalities and the cute, girlish way of speaking with young colleagues)...but if I tried to reach for a Spanish phrase, it came out in Japanese (or mostly Japanese). Then, after I moved away and stopped using it daily, I struggle to understand much and definitely couldn't use it reliably....and the foreign language my mind reverted to when I wasn't speaking my native English became Spanish again...it's like I only have room for one extra language. At the moment all ft foreign language skills are crummy bc I don't use them regularly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-good-at-picking-up-languages#post-2656902 Wed, 23 Nov 2016 22:53:44 +0000 808love 2656902@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I like learning one super useful phrase at a time and keep practicing it and using it. I eventually collected about 15 phrases in Chinese over several years and the taxi driver understood me well enough. I also had a conversation with a taxi driver in Mexico when I was not sober. :) It took years of Spanish to work up the nerve to use it but I can still understand some. So yah, not good, not bad. I don't think I could pick up another. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-good-at-picking-up-languages#post-2656821 Wed, 23 Nov 2016 19:58:33 +0000 Bao 2656821@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Terrible. I can understand when someone is speaking Spanish or German, but not what they are saying unless it's super simple stuff. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-you-good-at-picking-up-languages#post-2656800 Wed, 23 Nov 2016 19:18:49 +0000 mrbee 2656800@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am making a big effort to learn Tagalog/Filipino, and am constantly reminded how bad I am at learning languages. But the constant immersion makes it a lot easier and now I can follow about 50% or so of the conversations around me. It helps that we talk about the same things over and over! I'm hoping to become semi-fluent some day... feels like it will take forever though.</p> <p>Are you good at picking up languages? </p>