This may have been posted in threads of the past, but for us newbies, I was just wondering what languages (other than English) other FT'ers speak. Obviously, we are a diverse community; and many Flyertalkers live or work in other countries. We all know Rudi speaks Swiss-German... So, I'm just a little curious... What is your native tongue? How many languages do you speak? At what level? etc.

I'm very curious because as an individual educated in the U.S., I never really had the need to speak another language. Yet, we've seen the Latin community grow tremendously over the last few decades. Clearly, bi-lingual speakers have an advantage.

I studied a semester of grad school in The Netherlands and was amazed at how easily the Dutch spoke English. Furthermore, most of them knew a third language (typically German or French); but some even knew Spanish and/or Italian. It was quite impressive, and clearly due to the pleasant regionality of Europe. In fact, it inspired me to attempt to learn another language!

I suppose I'm also curious because my father speaks English (native tongue), German (fluent), Spanish (fluent), French, and a little Portugese. His ability to get around a country and to converse with others in their native tongue is something I truly envy!

Anyway, I'll start off:

Born: Omaha, Nebraska USA
Raised: Atlanta, Georgia USA
Current Residence: Chicago, Illinois USA
Native Tongue: English (American)
Foreign Language(s): German and a little Spanish.
Note: I have focused on learning German over the last two years. (I figure this means that I can converse well with most 2-year old Germans... ) I've also taken Spanish coursework (2 semesters) in college, but feel my German is much stronger. (Not that two years in any way makes me fluent!)

Anyway, I'm anxious to read your responses, so please chime in if you'd like to share!

P.S. I'm assuming you speak native Australian, right ozstamps?