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Quelle langues parlez-vous ?
What languages can you communicate in?
Assumedly everyone here can read/write/speak English, but do you know any other language? How fluent are you? Where/how did you learn? Do you intend to learn any more languages?
Aside from English, I'm learning French. I did two years in high school, and I'm 3/4 of the way through an intensive 1-year French language programme at university. Next year, I'm going to first see what I can do by myself for furthering my understanding an use of French -- trying to avoid paying $500 for a twelve week programme at the Alliance Française... although that would be the single best thing I could do, probably. Given France is so far away, my most likely port of call is Nouvelle Caledonie (New Caledonia), which is conveniently French-speaking and located between Australia and New Zealand. I could also go to Polynésie Française (French Polynesia, of which Tahiti is part) or Wallis and Futuna Islands (where French Catholic missionaries were cannibalised!). These latter two are French Overseas Collectivities (while NC is a 'special collectivity' of France). I just think France doesn't really get decolonisation.
Anyhoo. I'm not fluent. At all. But I've improved so much within a year, and can hold a basic conversation with a patient partner. I really enjoy learning, and probably value it more than 95% of what I've been doing at uni over the last 4 years.
Learning Maori (the indigenous peoples' language) is compulsory at New Zealand schools for the first 8 years (ages 5 to 13). I haven't really made use of it since then, and didn't retain much grammar. Consequentially, I only know simple phrases and thematic words, like numbers/colours/etc. This is a pretty typical situation. However if I don't end up leaving New Zealand at some stage in the future, then I will learn the language. Don't want to see it die from under-use.
Et vous? If you only speak one language, why?
EDIT: Quelles* Fu..
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