*thinks it's really cool that Bella and SL have this connection*

Speaking of African languages, I spent a few months in Nigeria, West Africa, when I was 18, and picked up some of the key language there, Hausa. I have other words and phrases written down, but a few I remember clearly ... over 30 years later. (Note, I'm not sure if this would be the correct anglicized spelling.)

Sanu, lafiya? (Hello, how are you?)
Lafiya lo. (I am fine.)

And the language was so musical. Fun to listen to.

Growing up, I took French all through my schooling years, 'though not in university. We lived in Montréal for a while when I was younger, and that helped my French along a good deal. These days, since I do not use it a whole lot, I can understand it a fair bit better than I can speak it.

As for other languages I'd like to learn ... I'd dearly love to be able to speak with a New Zealand or South African accent.

As for other languages I'd like to learn ... I'd dearly love to be able to speak with a New Zealand or South African accent.

My sister, Narnian_Archer, can talk with and Australian. Irish, British, Scottish, Spanish and New Zealand accent. And if I talk with foreigners for a long time I start picking up their accent.

I speak an English speaking American, but I'm taking Spanish in High School. I know some words of German (thanks to Hogan's Heroes), I know a couple of Ukrainian words, and I know some Klingon words.

*is excited to see another forum member familiar with Kenyan things!*

I really am that rusty at my Swahili, trust me . I went for about 3 weeks to Nairobi in 94'. Nairobi is a very pretty city. The Kenyans I came across tended to speak with this odd accent. You had this African accent you'd expect to hear on the continent mixed with British English. They tend to dress better than us, that's for sure. Here in the US we leave the house in jeans, t-shirts, ballcaps, etc. They dress up just to leave the house in long sleeve dress shirts, slacks, and sometimes ties. The drivers in Nairobi are truly insane people...except for Honduras I've never seen crazier, but they're amiable enough (even when narrowly missing pedestrians ). It was in Nairobi (well...specifically at Jomo Kenyatta airport which is where we were working) that I caught just the slightest glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro...it was the only time I've seen it. The only thing I didn't like about Nairobi (and about cities in general) is that it was thick with car exhaust, but other than that I loved everything about it.

My second trip was in 96 to Mombassa...it's not quite as pretty as Nairobi is but the people are just as nice and the scenery is something else. My friends and I went trolling in the Indian Ocean for fish and it was just beautiful. It's also where I saw the Massai for the first time...they were doing an exhibition for us at the hotel and came in dressed in all-red clothing and did some tribal dances for us (some of it involving lit torches). If you can stomach a little violence watch the movie Ghost in the Darkness, which features the Massai prominently.

Anybody speak Norwegian?

Sorry, no Norwegian for me. I've heard people speak it though, it's a beautiful language.
I took French when I was 4. It's a little rusty, but I remember a bunch.

English is my first language, Spanish my second, and K'eckchi' my third.

Comme il y a pas mal des francophones ici, je vais ecrire en français. L'anglais est ma première langue, mais j'avais parlé français depuis plusiers années. Je parle aussi l'italien, et allemand, mais pas aussi couramment que le français.

MAN! all those accents + stuff KILL me!

*is pleased that she was able to read kaleidoscopeyes' post, and understand it, to boot.

kaleidoscopeyes (or yeuxdekaléidoscope ), vous avez tout à fait une connaissance de lanugages différent. Moi? Je lis et comprends du français mieux que je peux le parler, ayant perdu beaucoup d'aisance au cours des années du manque d'usage. (EDIT: completed with a combination of my own memory and a good ol' French-English dictionary. )

(General translation: kaleidoscopeyes, you have a good knowledge of different languages. Me? I read and understand French better than I can speak it, having lost a lot of fluency over the years from lack of use.)

De_De, it's cool when people can talk in an accent that isn't their natural one. This is definitely not one of my strengths, and I wish it was. If so, I'd be talking with a NZ accent more often than not.

I speak Russian and English and I am going to be talking Spanish lessons. Spanish is one of my favorite languages, I really really like it. I also hope to learn French, my second favorite language

Ouais! Si vous parlez le français, je vais le parler aussi! C'est bon pour pratiquer.

Madame Jo! Je ne savais pas tu parle le français! Quand tu me rends visite, il faut parler ensemble, non?

Écriver le français maintenant, à penser de quoi dire, c'est difficile! Je ne sais pas si je parle correctement.

Haha! That was hard! This will be good for practice, though. If you can figure out what I said, then I'll consider myself alright.

Yes, it is good practice, sweeet and I certainly got the gist of what you wrote. But as I said je lis et comprends du français mieux que je peux le parler. So, I'll be able to understand most of what you say, but I may not be able to answer back very well. (Likewise with Nellie of Narnia, 'though she's taken French more recently than I have).

I speak English and Pig Latin. I'm kind of working on Spanish and know a little bit. I'd like to learn sign language some day.

I know half Spanish as of now. I took it for three years in school, plus it helps as I have a lot of Spanish friends

One of my friends is teaching me Japanese now and I will have to admit though English is my first language, Spanish is the easiest spoken language to me. It's almost the same as French so I might start on that next

Many of you seem to know some very exotic languages !

My native language is Finnish. I have studied English for nine years, Swedish for five years and French for a little over two years (and, I think I understood what you all were writing here! It's really a lot easier to understand than to write/speak, especially if it has been some years since the last lesson.) I haven't studied any languages now for nearly a year and have enjoyed it, to tell the truth .

I did briefly consider studying English in a university, as I have been thinking where to continue studies now. It would be really nice, but I don't think I'm going to even try.