Languages?

Me too, I jump from Italian to Spanish to French or any combination; oui becomes si and so forth. It gets me puzzled looks from listeners and a jab in the rib by my wife who then whispers in my ear the country I am in...this gets me geo-linguistically grounded. All I can say is before you speak take stock of what country you are in and go for it. As a last resort rememeber most Europeans speak English.

Melody - no helpful hints from me, only a reassurance that people probably wont' think you are rude. On our trip to Spain this past March my husband kept mixing up Spanish and Italian pronunciations (and he's an English speaker). One person at our B&B actually said "I thought your husband was Italian!". My poor Spanish got MUCH better the longer I was in Spain and the more I spoke it. I know the first day I was completely tongue-tied but by the end I was doing much better and speaking pretty much all in Spanish. Everyone was very nice and every other country I've been to I've found that apologizing at some point for my poor Italian, French, etc. just got me reassuring comments and smiles. Try to speak it & smile - you'll be fine!

"most Europeans speak English" Most, meaning slightly more than half? According to the latest EU language survey, as published on the official EU website, www.europa.eu, 51% of Europeans speak some English, and that includes the 13% (mostly in the UK and Ireland) who speak it as a native tongue. Outside those countries English speaking is less than half. If you stay in touristy areas, it seems everyone speaks English. In Hallstatt, I heard Italian tourist, who didn't speak German, speaking English with Austrian waiters, who didn't speak Italian. I had two years of Spanish in JHS and remember almost nothing. I speak some German, but I have never had problems mixing them up. Maybe not enough languages. I do remember in 1987 when a Dutch medical salesman was translating my questions for a French nurse in Belgium. Right in the middle of a sentence he switched language. She and I laughed. He looked puzzled for a second, then went back to the point and picked up in the original language. Of the major language groups on the continent - German, French, Italian, and Spanish - only in Germany do more than half the people speak English, but I have still managed to stay in towns where almost no one spoke English ;o).

I have been studying French and constantly mixed up Spanish and French while in France recently. In fact, we were constantly being asked if we were from Spain! Lol. I think it's normal.

Amusing posts all! I am a novice at Italian, but I found myself working so hard to speak it, that I occasionally had major issues recalling English words. I felt like I had an onset of dimentia and I think my husband was worried I'd had a small stroke as I am rarely at a loss for words. :-) In Siena, our proprietor insisted on speaking to me in English, although I was bent on practicing my Italian. So we went back-and-forth. One morning as we were conferring over a map, a French family came in and he greeted them in fluent French. Whereon he returned to our conversation and stared spouting French to me. I had to remind him which languages I could understand.
It happens!

Took a trip to Edinburgh this past May, and while there, went up to ask someone directions. Here I am, thrilled to be somewhere where I don't need to speak German and what pops out of my mouth? German. Daughter busted out laughing. Ah, that "who speaks English" theme. It is a required subject in most of the countries in the EU. 4 years minimum in Germany and for any professional who has attended university, they probably have had 6-8 years of English in school. Some countries, like Sweden, will have had English every year in school. Then there are the countries that don't dub their television shows that come from the UK or America. Guess how good their English is? Visit the Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark to experience an entire population that has anywhere from a working level of English to an outstanding level. Reading statisics like "only 51% speak English" is misleading. There is an aging population in Europe, who may not speak it, there is a huge foreign population here too, who probably did not have English in school. Add in newer members of the EU, like Poland, which skews those statistics. As to people only speaking in English in touristy sections? That too is a fallacy. Professionals will, as will anyone working for an international firm, of which there are plenty over here. Trade fairs, which are huge business in many cities that aren't tourist destinations, require large numbers of English speakers. Think Dusseldorf, Milan, Cologne, and yes, Frankfurt. English is the universal language of business. That said, many people are simply embarressed to speak a language they aren't fluent in, thus they say they don't speak it. Don't worry about the language, do your best and you will be rewarded with smiles.

Melody, Interesting discussion! I've been working on Italian for a few years, and also try to use what few words I know in French, German or other languages when travelling. There have been a few occasions when I've been lazy and not focusing well, and used the wrong language for the country I was in. That seems to happen most often when travelling from one country to another (ie: Switzerland to France to Germany on the same day), but most of the time I manage to use the correct language. I've also had the experience mentioned by others here, in that I'll do my best to use the local language, but the replies I get will be in English. The locals always seem to want to practice their English! The ability that the Europeans have with languages always amazes me. I had an interesting chat on the topic of languages with a businessman on a long train ride from Italy to Switzerland. He was able to speak seven languages fluently. I knew he wasn't exaggerating, as during the journey he was constantly on his Cellphone using different languages, while continuing to speak with me in English. He never seemed to get "mixed up" at all, which I found amazing (although he did say that constantly switching languages "made his head hurt" sometimes). Cheers!

Before we moved to Vienna my wife was already a very good Japanese speaker. Arriving in Vienna, she started taking intensive German lessons. However, at first she was always trying to speak to the Austrians in Japanese, which got her some very strange looks. A few months later we went to Italy for her birthday.... Suddenly she was speaking German to the Italians. We still joke about it. As for me, even after years living here, people often pick up my American accent and automatically respond in English. If I'm feeling lazy, I shrug and switch to English. If I'm feeling strong-willed, I just keep speaking German and eventually they switch back to German too. My personal greatest achievement is when they sometimes ask "Where are you from? Are you Dutch?" For me, that is as good as it gets. At my kid's International School, other students routinely speak two or three languages. It has rubbed off on my kids. I'm very proud that my daughters speak –in addition to English-- fluent, un-accented German and their Spanish is also getting pretty good. I envy them their young minds and regret that I didn't have such opportunities growing up.

Melody, What an interesting discussion! I have a few comments to add to my earlier post. I had an interesting "language experience" on my trip last year in Chur (Switzerland). I visited one of the local restaurants recommended by the Hotel, and after sitting down it quickly became apparent that none of the Staff could speak ANY English (finding English-speaking Staff even in tourist-based industries is NOT assured in Europe). After a few awkward moments, it occurred to me to ask if they could speak Italian, as I can manage to some extent with that. One of the Servers spoke Italian, so we settled on that for the night. It was an interesting experience! Also while in Chur, I decided that I was desperately in need of a haircut. There was small shop conveniently right next to the Hotel, but neither of the two young ladies working there could speak ANY English. Fortunately, the Desk Clerk from the Hotel agreed to translate for me, and it worked out very well. In terms of learning Spanish and Italian, my experience is the same that Brad mentioned. I learned very quickly that it's NOT possible for me to study both at the same time, as they're too similar. However, I don't have any problems working on French and Italian at the same time. Although they're both in the same language family, they're "different enough" that I don't get them confused too often. Cheers!

I have to agree with those who say that it is a myth that "most Europeans speak English". If you are traveling in larger cities and heavily touristed areas, then it may be true that most people in the tourist industry will speak English. But there are many other places where few if any will. If you should need a service unrelated to the tourist industry, such as medical services, you may not encounter English speakers. I've seen doctors and other medical personnel, highly educated, whose English skills were minimal to none. This is not a problem for most tourists, but I agree that it's best not to assume that everyone speaks English. Speaking of substituting languages, I think that must be pretty common, especially with people who learn additional languages as an adult, rather than being raised multi-lingual. The oddest experience I ever had with that was when I couldn't think of something in Spanish and I substituted American Sign Language (in which I used to be fairly fluent). Everybody looked at me as if I had lost my mind, which might not have been too far from the truth.

Well, I really appreciate everyone's input, and I especially would like to visit James's "golden country," too. My favorite story to tell on myself is the time I asked the moneychanger in Vienna if he spoke English; he replied, "Duh!" It wasn't until a couple of hours later that I had the horrifying realization that I had actually asked him if he spoke German... :0 And once, in Weiner Neustadt, the TI was out of city guides in German and English (although they had Bulgarian. :) ) I picked up a French one. Later, in a restaurant, we found they had no English menu. In my pidgin German, we ordered and were happily drinking our beer when the chef came out and began speaking to us in French. I guess they wanted us to feel welcome, and thought they'd found a language we could all get along in. Well, although I say I studied French, it was almost 40 years ago. I can do well if I read it, or if I have time to think it through; time you don't get in a conversation. So I pulled out of my brain the useful phrase, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak much French." I'm sure he thought we were pretty silly, not speaking much French but using a French city guide...
I'm sure I'll be able to get along. I just feel awkward about my languages...and now my sisters are trying to get me to pick up some Italian before we go!

I remember in my high school French days the point when I started thinking in French instead of translating in my head. I think your native language is in all parts of your brain, but a 2nd/3rd language just gets in some of it. No matter how fluent you are in the other languages, it's just not the same. I picture the brain going to the "languages" file cabinet and sometimes pulling out the wrong file. I speak no Spanish but have said "merci" to a waiter in a Mexican restaurant. I knew a guy who came from Scotland in his early teens. When he spoke to his parents he had a very thick Scottish accent. He would then turn to me, and it was completely unaccented American. He went back and forth like that and didn't even realize it. Weird.

My second language is Dutch, so I find that when I try to communicate in German here, I find myself slipping into Dutch very easily. "Ik" instead of "ich", "geen" instead of "keine", "twee" instead of "zwei", etc.

I'm a monoglot in English but know a few words in several other languages. Plus, I am willing to look foolish. I went into a small grocery/deli in Ventimiglia. Thinking I could use English, I asked if they could make me a sandwich. The woman responded in French. Then I said: "pane/formaggio/proscuitto (sp)." She got to work and made me a great fresh sandwich. We laughed, I paid, and walked out munching on my ambulatory picnic.

Melody, I had five years of high school French and four years of college Russian. You should hear the crazy sentences that come out of my mouth when I accidentally mix the two together. Having studied French and Spanish, you'll probably find communicating in Italian much easier. In fact, I knew a woman in grad school who actually passed her required language examination in Italian despite the fact she only had studied French and Spanish. (EDIT: Oops, I originally wrote French and Italian)

I read some time ago, that if you learn a second language before the age of 8, and are truly bilingual, then the two languages are stored in different halves of the brain. If you learn the second language after age 8, both are stored in the language hemisphere. (This is the left hemisphere for most right-handed people.) I have not heard of any research about where multi-lingual people store all their different languages. For myself, I think French, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, and Czech are all mixed in a salad in my language hemisphere along with my native English. Sadly, I am not fluent in any language but English, though I am currently making a "best effort" to learn Czech, a notoriously difficult language. When we flew to Paris recently and I tried very hard to speak French, learned eons ago, everything kept coming out in Czech. It helped if someone else initiated the conversation, such as in a bakery or restaurant. When I was in rural Italy at the grocery, I resorted to pantomime to get eggs, doing a pretty good imitation of a chicken. The women behind the counter loved it and we all had a good laugh. They produced fresh eggs from behind the counter. As I paid, one asked me in Italian what language I spoke!!! Practice your pantomime as well as some phrases!! Have fun!!

Hi Melody - good question! The substitution of languages is a linguistic phenomenon (I forgot what it's called). I've studied Italian, French, and German and when I learned each successive language, I would think of words from the previous language. Even now, when I try to remember how to say something in Italian, for example, the French version will come to me. But I think once you get used to using a particular language, you usually don't substitute words.

When my parents came over here 20 years ago to visit me, they were waiting at a bus stop their first day. A girl asked them something in German and what popped out of my mothers' mouth? "Sorry, we don't speak English!" She felt foolish, but everyone laughed together. Down in Greece in a little village near Gythion, though we tried to speak a few words, still the words for eggs and tomatos failed me when I ran down to the local farmhouse that sold them. Pantomine works wonders! Breaks the ice, puts a smile on everyones face, and lets you be creative. I do sometimes forget words in English, but most of the time, I can switch back and forth with ease, just sometimes one can forget which language to speak with which person. Living here has at least taught me how to say hello and thank you, in not only German, but also Turkish, Berber and Greek.

Good post! Even though I studied some German and Spanish years ago and can still understand enough Spanish today to sort of have a mini-conversation (very mini) with a native speaker, I jack the most basic language up all the time and unintentionally mix words. I can only use the basic pleasantries in French and Italian, but German and Spanish words seem to get mixed in with them somehow when I'm on vacation. Then, like you, I cannot think quickly enough to get the right word in the right language. I think my basic problem is that I really don't understand anything but English very well. My closest traveling partners are either nearly fluent in German or can speak/understand it well, but none of it has rubbed off on me. And it seems almost ridiculous to me that I could use "ist" when I wanted "es" "ja" when I wanted "si" or "ein" when I wanted "uno" (or vice versa) when it's at such a basic level. I keep trying, though. Some of the previous posts are funny with respect to using the language and then getting more that you bargained for. This has happened to me many times. I'll prepare a carefully-crafted question in advance, will ask it, and then I'm like, "Ummm...what?!?" when the native speaker thinks I know the language and starts speaking away. I usually turn to my companion(s) for help at that point.

I mix up my Spanish and French. They're both Romance languages, so I use that as my excuse. Last time we were in France, I would ask questions, half in French and half in Spanish. It's been a long time since I've studied either. Every once in a while a "nein" will slip in instead of a "non", but it's rare. The funny part was asking the woman at the crepe place in the park in Colmar about where I could change my daughter's diaper. I must've been mispronouncing the French word for diaper, because she just heard the word for change, and kept directing me to the bank. As far as finding English speakers goes, it's been rare for us to not find an English speaker somewhere on the premises where we've traveled. The only exception was being in the former East Germany, including all of Berlin, in 2000. Even in KaDeWe, we couldn't find a salesperson who spoke English. We speak German fluently enough to get by, but had a hard time understanding the European sizes, and just had to make a guess. I went to high school with a girl who had just moved here from Holland. She spoke fluent Dutch, German, and English, and she was only 15. We were amazed.

Italian and Spanish is my problem. Whenever I'm mentally formulatiing a sentence, I'm always thinking, "Is that the Italian word or the Spanish word?" Sometimes how you transistion makes a difference. I did one trip from Amsterdam, through Germany and Austria, to Rome. Since I can do better in German, the transistion was relatively easy from English to German. The later transistion to Italian was much more difficult even though I had crammed much more on Italian pretrip. I should have gone to Italy first, the transistion from Italian to German would have been much easier for me.

What a great topic!!! I thought I was the only one who would speak in 3 languages in one sentence. I grew up with British english, American english and French-Canadian (-ien) French and Franglais. I learned French french, Quebecois, and German in school. As an adult I have picked up a fair bit of Dutch and some Italian. I usually think before I speak, even in English, and when speaking one of my languages I think that through in that language but often it comes out in more than one. Many is the time I have spoken Dutch to Germans, or German to Dutch. Last year I was in Saltzburg and I started to speak in Italian, realized I needed to turn off the Italian tap and turn on the German and everything froze. I simply couldn't speak. In any language, not even English. For a full minute. Then the English came back, and the Italian. German, the one I'm probably best in other than English, took another couple of minutes. I was embarrassed.

Ken, Chur is in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, which is the only canton with more than two "administrative languages (Italian, German, Romansch). In all, there are 26 canton, and in only four is there more than one ("official") administrative language.

Jo's anecdote about her mother saying she didn't speak English reminded me of the time my husband walked up to the counter in a TI office in a town in France and asked, "Parlez-vous francais?" The agent did a doubletake, and then we all had a good laugh.

Lee, I suppose I was just a bit surprised that in restaurant presumably catering to tourists, that no one could speak any English. Overall, it was an interesting travel experience and also a good lesson that one shouldn't expect English-speakers in all locations in Europe. I was most pleased that I was able to put my Italian lessons to good use. Cheers!

Oh, I am so glad to hear, Rosalyn, that I am not the only one! That was my exact experience in Vienna...except in German!

I think that performance anxiety plays a large part in the inability some of us have to say what we want, in the language we want, when we want. During my extended stay in Poland when I was focused on how lousy I was at Polish, I had, on several occasions, French tourists come up to me and ask for directions or help. They just asked their questions without first asking, in any language, if I spoke French. I was so startled that I was being spoken to in French, and especially that I was able to understand, that I answered in French before I was able to get too nervous. I was absolutely amazed at what had come out of my mouth; all those French classes hadn't gone to waste after all:) I won't pretend that my French was all that great, but it was far more fluent than it would have been if I had thought about it too much first. Another problem is being able to understand more than you can produce. During my time in Poland, I got to where I could understand a fair amount of Polish, but speaking it was a completely different story. On occasion Polish people asked me directions in Krakow. Now, I knew what they were asking, and I was pretty familiar with Krakow so I knew where to send them, but the small amount of Polish I knew completely froze in my mouth. I resorted to giving directions in English, using exaggerated hand gestures like a flight attendant pointing out exits. Of course they thought I was crazy! If I couldn't speak Polish, how would I know what they were asking? Oh, so embarrassing:/