en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/258723 Comments by sheens http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/#IDComment10211133 this made me feel so much better about my tendency to pick up and throw away languages. also nice to see you are getting a lot of comments! <br /> the first language i ever tried to learn was russian. in sixth grade i had russian once or twice a week, but i only managed to learn the alphabet and basic travel phrases. both long forgotten. two years later my eighth grade teacher had a french-canadian neighbor and would try to teach the class french as she learned it herself. again, i didn&#039;t learn much.<br /> in ninth grade i started spanish which i took for two years. then i decided to study abroad for a year in germany. i got a good handle on german and came back to the states to finish up high school. <br /> in college i continued with german and started hebrew. i took hebrew for two quarters (mind you, today all i can say is i want to drink beer with friends) and studied yiddish in my free-time. i also started practicing reading dutch. then i decided to go to switzerland to improve my german and give french another try. i quickly discovered that i would rather have construction workers outside of my window at night than engage in conversations with french speakers. i really just don&#039;t like french. <br /> then i decided to teach english in japan, and now i am studying japanese with a teacher.<br /> after all of this i would sum up my language skills so: english: mother tongue<br /> german: proficient<br /> spanish: basic level only<br /> hebrew: idiot&#039;s level only<br /> dutch: basic reading level<br /> japanese: basic but improving daily<br /> russian: when i hear it on the street i think it is polish<br /> french: i have a rough time ordering a cafe o&#039;lait<br /> my goal is to travel around until i achieve proficiency in a few languages. i really want to learn norwegian and arabic but have recently decided that i can&#039;t pursue any new languages until i improve at the ones i have a foundation in. so my dabbling is on hold. <br /> if you&#039;re interested you can follow my travel endeavors on my site: <a href="http://www.sheenasays.com--- " target="_blank">www.sheenasays.com--- </a> Sat, 1 Nov 2008 15:13:49 +0000 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/20/the-true-confessions-of-a-language-aholic/#IDComment10211133