Ferme La Bouche

*onlyme*

I originate from Belgium and we obviously have our dialect (Flemish) and the correct version (Dutch) which you speak in school...then we learn French, German, English, Latin, Spanish and I did some evening classes in Norwegian and Danish (we used to go on holiday to Spitsbergen and Greenland)... I haven't used any of my languages for many years since moving over to England. Thankfully in my job, I work with many people across the world and I try to keep up with my languages...I used to read foreign books but I don't have time for that now.

I don't think you ever forget, it's like riding a bike...but then again, don't drop me off in the middle of Greenland and expect me to ask for the way home as my Danish is very rusty lol

balletshoes

I did French in school too, always hated the oral exams, and made no effort at all to speak with anything other than a Scottish twang to the French words. Its amazing how much you retain though, we go to France once or twice a year, and although I'm woeful at speaking and remembering what words I want to say, I can understand a fair bit.
I taught myself Greek and then later Turkish, and I have lost almost all the Greek because I no longer use it, but I still understand a fair bit of Turkish, and if I concentrate, I can make myself understood in Turkish too (even over the phone, which I'm stupidly proud of ).

Nessynoo

I got a B in GCSE German,

Sammy85_2

I did french years 7 and 8 and then did German for years 9,10 & 11. I remember next to no German, but when we go to france i can say please and thankyou and very very basic phrases.

I find its the please and thankyous and having a bash that get you a long way, you can mumble through the rest and people will try and help get to the point of what you are trying to say.

bagginslover

I did French A level, and I don't remember very much at all! I even got an 'A' in the oral module, only an 'E' overall though. I used to watch films in French and listen to French radio, not anymore-it's gobbledegook!

claire16c

I dropped French when we got to yr 9 and were allowed to stop doing it, I hated it. But I carried on with German, got a A* at GCSE, and a B at A Level. I find it sounds like English so I found it easy to learn.

but now... I can barely speak it at all! But, I can still remember a lot of words and if I heard someone speak in german very slowly I can understand maybe every 10th word?

The problem with languages at school is that the stuff you learn is not really appropriate. I mean for my German A Level, I wrote a paper on Turkish women who were immigrants in Germany, and how they integrated into German society. I did my oral speech about the german army, globalisation and the fall of the Berlin wall. I mean its hardly a conversation youd have with someone if you were on holiday there!

alyth

I can speak fluent French, comes from spending a month in France every year from age 10-17 - I learnt a lot from the french boys as well..... :-)

my passion is chinese - I spent a month studying out there earlier in the year - it is the easiest language in the world to learn, despite what people think - no tenses, no groupings, as long as you get the tone right (which is obviously a nightmare!) but Mandarin truly is not that difficult to get your head round.

German was my killer - C in it at school - ein beir bitte is as far as I could manage!

harz99

French; "A" levels; oral; c'est la vie.......................

Torry_Quine

I was pleased when watching JK Rowling on TV recently speaking French how much I actually understood.

mutter

I did A level German and barely spoke a word of it till 20 years later when I discovered German rock music.
I'm probably more fluent now than I've ever been, but only to music.