Saints' Discussion Forums

I am curious for the folks here who know more than one. For those who do, tell me, what do you know, and what is the language like?

I am afraid I only know English.

I have studied French, Latin, and Japanese. However, I could not pick up the first, the second I only know prayers in and some words, the grammar alterations to the words are beyond me, and the last, I am rapidly losing what knowledge I had of the spoken language -- the written was too much, for good reason if you know what it is like.

Thankfully the Latin along with the English has helped me appreciate words and their origins more.  :D

I can speak and write Hindi  and  Marathi . The first being India's national language and the latter being the language of the state I grew up in. I also speak but do not write Konkani, which is my mother tongue (one of the languages of the state my parents come from). 
Also understand Gujarati and speak a wee bit that being the language of the state my husband originally came from. Very diverse, just like India is.  :D

Unfortunately , I'm bad at languages. I wish I could be very fluent. I am most comfortable with English though.

That is quite a number of languages Patricia. :)

I am very , very poor at learning languages. I speak my own language of course. It is the Lango language or “Leb Lango”. It is a Nilotic language spoken by the Langi people in Northern Ugand, of which I am one.
I speak the Queen’s English.  English is one of the Official languages in Kenya. The other is Swahili which is widely spoken in many African countries. I was not exposed to Swahili as a child so I have never managed to learn it despite the fact that it is widely spoken. I speak it but only brokenly and cannot write it.
I learnt French for my O-Levels and even got a pass. All I remember to day is the exchange we used to have with the French teacher whenever he came in for his lesson:

We would greet him:'Bonjour Monsieur'
His answer: “Bonjour, mes enfants”
French Teacher : "comment allez vous”?
Us: “tres bien merci.”
French Teacher: “asseyez vous.”  ;D

English - fluent.
Vietnamese - fluent in most situations, but not totally conversant in advanced subjects like math, science, etc
French - still studying, reading level is much higher than writing and speaking
modern Mandarin chinese - currently studying, have grasped the basics, mainly a matter of learning more characters
classical literary Chinese - more advanced than my modern Mandarin, possibly even more advanced than my French

Languages that I am looking to learn:
Latin - I've bought a few books, will probably start them soon. Henle's 4 volume course.
German - Have looked at the basics of the language
Japanese - Possibly, although the grammar is deterring.

Of all those languages, I think that the one best suited for the gravity of Catholic worship and the writing of the Saints is 1) Latin and 2) classical literary Chinese. In fact, the missionaries in China had an indult that allowed them to celebrate the Mass in classical Chinese (to clarify - classical Chinese is much different from the spoken vernaculars that abound in China, the literary language was also once used in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam).

Shin,

You should either pick up Japanese again or start learning classical Chinese. There are several free PDFs on the Internet that can help you. Have you read about Fr. Matteo Ricci? He is my inspiration for learning Chinese. 

Wow!
U are practically a linguist, ChristianCatholic  :)
It must be wonderful to be able to speak several languages.

            I know English, French, and Hungarian.       
                      Hungarian is a hard language to learn.     
                       There are various consonant blends, such as zs and sz.     
                        There are numerous accent marks.

Depending on how good your French is you might be able to find plenty of holy writings in that language not available otherwise! :D

Is this "Classical Chinese" Manchu?

I am afraid I only know two: English and Spanish. Would love to learn Latin though so I can read the prayers.

How did you learn Spanish Gemma?

I moved from New York to Puerto Rico when I was ten. Then I went to school there for 10 years.

I know Latin and can speak in a very limited and basic way. My mother tongue is Tagalog, also called Filipino. I know how to read Spanish and speak some Spanish. I also know some Chabacano, which is a creole language mixing Spanish and Tagalog as well as other Philippine dialects. English is the language that I speak fluently second to Tagalog. French, I know little.

N.

Ah, a Filipino! Welcome!

You certainly have some benefits to your knowledge of the faith with the French, Spanish and the Latin. There is plenty available there in books that is not available in Tagalog or English!