do you think Options

[jennyjenny]

you could pick up a language if you were around that particular language a lot?

for example, do you think i could go to france, with no knowledge of French whatsoever, and speak it fluently if i don't even TRY to learn it?



i'm not really going to france, it was just an example. but what if you're around people a lot who speak a different language, do you think you could learn it like that?

[*mipadi*]

No doubt. A friend of mine went to Brazil for ten months knowing almost no Portuguese, and came back fluent.

[5ayuri]

Yes.
When I went to Guatemala there were some Americans that didn't know any spanish when they came and I think they were there for maybe more than a year and they spoke spanish very well.

[think!IMAGINARIL...]

No doubt. A friend of mine went to Brazil for ten months knowing almost no Portuguese, and came back fluent.

me too. except it he went to Spain for 6 months. i thought it was cool.

edit:;

not if you don't try though... but sometimes you have to if no one around you speaks the language you're fluent in, so you're forced to learn the language.
reminds me of what happened in that Simpsons episode when Bart goes to France.

[Chii]

I'd love to learn French... I think it's a given that you'll learn some of the language if you live in a country that's foreign to you. I doubt I'll learn too much but I know I'll at least get the simple "How are you? I'm doing okay" stuff.

I'd be way too scared to go to a foreign country without knowing any of the language.

[AnnahhbeL]

Yeah, I could.

[juliar]

eh, i don't know. like, i'd pick up the regular stuff, "can you clean my room" "how are you" "my name is julia" "i'd like to buy a fish", etc. but not anything too fluently, unless i were staying there for maybe two or three years.

[*This Confession*]

maybe

my grandma is japanese.
and i use to go over there a ton
and she always watches movies that are in japanese.
and i also go to maryland with her and my grandpa to her sister
and listen to them talk japanese.

so yea if you spend enough time and pay attention enough
you can pick up a language.
you may need to ask some questions and stuff though..


i mean i know i can
but everyone is different.

[_sarcastic_]

yeah i think i can.
it shouldn't be hard if you spend quite some time there

[PrincessAda]

Yeah if you stay there for awhile..

[*Kathleen*]

I think it depends on a person - some people are just prodigiously talented with picking up and adapting to languages, but yes, it makes a tremendous difference if one is placed in a country. Heh. It's sad. Even in high school, with three or four years under your belt, you're nowhere near someone who has been living in France for a year without any beforehand knowledge of the language. Bah.

[think!IMAGINARIL...]

eh, i don't know. like, i'd pick up the regular stuff, "can you clean my room" "how are you" "my name is julia" "i'd like to buy a fish", etc. but not anything too fluently, unless i were staying there for maybe two or three years.

haha, fishies!

i go to my grandma's house in China often and they have a weird accent. up 'till i was 12, i still couldn't understand it. i understand it now, but i have a hard time speaking it. i guess when you're exposed to the language a lot and forced to speak it, you'd be able to learn it eventually.

[silver-rain]

Yeah, that is possible. I wish I could do that; go to Spain, France or Italy and learn those languages.

[misoshiru]

I think so. I mean, if you're just dumped in a country where you can't speak their language, and can't communicate with people there unless you speak there language, then yes, you'll be picking it up pretty quickly.

[EddieV]

I think it's possible. I can speak Hainan Chinese and I didn't even know it.

[misoshiru]

What's Hainan Chinese

[SarahxJoy]

I think that if you're in a certain place where they speak a language fluently, then yes you could pick it up and learn it.

I don't know if you'd be able to learn all of their language, since languages are tricky having to do with grammar and making it all make sense and whatnot.

But I think it'd be easier in the sense of being able to understand what it is they're saying, instead of really learning how to actually speak it. ie: I'm filipino, but I don't know how to speak full tagalog, but I understand most of it since my parents speak it so much.


Something like that.

[*StanleyThePanda*]

Yeah, its possible. My sister went to romania for only a few weeks and she came back knowing alot more than she had when she left.

[Bryelee]

If you were in a new country it owuldnt be hard to pick up words but to pick up the whole language would take time. You can learn a bit of French before you go.

[think!IMAGINARIL...]

What's Hainan Chinese

Hainan is a place in China and they speak a different dialect there. it's a different form of Chinese. but it sounds a lot like Cantonese.

[xosteffanator]

maybe....but probably not fluently.

[x__rilind]

i don't think fluently, but it's some sort of survival instinct that a person picks up on a language if they are left to survive in that place. moreso if the person has no other way of communicating.

and "where's the toilet" is another important one.

[*mona lisa*]

Well, yes. You'd be forced to learn it if you wanted to communicate with the locals. It depends on your willingness to learn it though. It would be awesome if I knew French... or could at least afford to go to France long enough for me to speak fluently.

[EddieV]

What's Hainan Chinese

It's the language that Chinese people from Hainan Island speak.

[Teesa]

Of course not fluently, but you'll know a lot more than you did before. But if you're not willing to learn, then you'll probably learn nothing.

[Heathasm]

slightly...but i dont think i would be able to speak it very well if i didnt actually try to learn it as well. my subconscious isnt that bright

[xTINAA]

For sure.
If you're forced to speak the langauge and you're constantly bombarded by it, you would pick it up. That's how it was when I went to Korea. However, I came back and stopped using it so I forgot it all again!