Originally Posted By: Kira
I can founder about with the bit of German I learned in high school.
Since I'm humanly sensitive and irresistibly urbane I can pick the most necessary words and get a point across.
My grammar isn't bad, it's non=existent.
WANT AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE? .....You do! GREAT
What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages?......bi-lingual
What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages?.....tri-lingual.
What do you call someone who speaks 1 language?.......American.
Kira, you beat me to it.
As for me, I speak;
1. A dead language, Sicilian. Only spoken by the children of immigrants who went to the U.S. , Canada, Australia, and the very old in Sicily. The last few generations in Sicily only speak the national language, Italian. (Different than Italian).
2. Italian (good but not as good as Sicilian).
3. French. (Can't hold an intelligent conversation, but know how to order food in the market, ask for and give directions, etc; won't starve in France).
4. Spanish. (Same as French above. Won't starve).
Trying to learn Brazilian Portuguese but still have a way to go. (Won't starve there either).
As for Number 1 above, I talk with my Australian cousin, born and raised in Brisbane Queensland. Although we may start out speaking English, we sometimes have trouble understanding each other due to his (my) accent and different meanings to common words, so we revert to Sicilian, the language of our ancestors. Just like speaking with my parents, aunts and uncles.