What languages do you speak? read? write?

[sirio11]

I think it would be interesting to know the languages spoken or at least understood by 2p2ers. You can qualify yourself, as in good, pretty good, poor, etc

For me just 2, Spanish and English:

Spanish: Speak, read and write; excellent

English: Read, pretty good; write, good; speak, fair.


Anecdote: I remember while travelling by train between Florence and Rome to have a decent conversation with an Italian guy, I don't speak Italian, he didn't speak Spanish or English, but since Italian and Spanish are alike, we could talk during the trip (of course, mixing some spanish and English word, here and there). I remember also my frustration while in Moscow, to try to get some information from the locals was a real PITA; hell, I couldn't even read the stops on the subway system, since they use a different alphabet.

[splashpot]

Is pretty good better or worse than good? If it's worse, I've never understood how someone could be better at writing than they are at reading.

English: read, excellent; write, mediocre; speak, very good.
Mandarin Chinese: speak, poor; can't read or write.
Cantonese: speak, poor; can't read or write.

[Golden_Rhino]

English - Read, write, and speak fairly well.

Spanish - speak well, read ok, write very little.

Italian - speak well, don't read or write.

[miajag]

I don't understand how you can speak a language well and not be able to read or write it. (other than the Asian languages or ones with different alphabets)

[Golden_Rhino]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand how you can speak a language well and not be able to read or write it. (other than the Asian languages or ones with different alphabets)

[/ QUOTE ]

I speak Spanish, but don't write it. I suppose I could write everything phonetically to get my point across, but it would be similar to a smart fourth grader's skills.

[unbluffable]

English: speak read and write very well
Russian: speak read and write very well
Spanish: speak fluent but with mistakes, read ok to not so good, write ok to not so good

[Kintamayama]

English: Native
Japanese: speak - well; read - well; write - fair to poor

[miajag]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I don't understand how you can speak a language well and not be able to read or write it. (other than the Asian languages or ones with different alphabets)

[/ QUOTE ]

I speak Spanish, but don't write it. I suppose I could write everything phonetically to get my point across, but it would be similar to a smart fourth grader's skills.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well yeah, I wouldn't expect you to be able to have perfect spelling if you'd never actually seen the written language before, but wouldn't you at least be to recognize the words in print? Maybe I just learn differently - the only language I "know" besides English is Spanish, but I know enough to get by in reading any of the other Romance languages, and German - however, I'd be completely baffled listening to a native speaker talking, and am unable to speak them at all.

[splashpot]

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I don't understand how you can speak a language well and not be able to read or write it. (other than the Asian languages or ones with different alphabets)

[/ QUOTE ]
Children know how to speak well before they learn to read or write. An adult learning a new language basically goes through the same process as a child.

[Suwalski]

Danish: speak, write and read fluently
English: speak good, write decent, and read excellent
Spanish: speak bad, write ok, understand decent.
Swedish/norwegian: can't speak nor write, but understand it.