response 25 of 71:

Dec 7 06:13 UTC 1991

I believe I have purged it from my system.

response 27 of 71:

May 24 13:56 UTC 1993

I studied German for three years in high school. A language was required,
but I do not recall all the alternatives. The German grammar I learned
became the basis for my understanding of English grammar (it being
the last grammar I studied) - probably to my eternal confusion of English
grammar. My mother spoke German in her family when I was very young but
by the time I learned it, she had forgotten it. For a long time all I
thought i retained were the songs - Die Lorelei (in totality!) in
particular. Then I went to Europe, fifteen years after my study of German
ended, and I discovered, to my utter amazement, that I could speak German.
However, I was a little rusty: my German acquaintances said that I spoke
German with excellent grammar, good pronounciation, but that my
vocabulary was terrible. It was, however, quite useful in travelling in
the 60s in Greece and Eastern Europe, where many people learned German
during the occupations. Then, I lived in Netherlands for two years, and
learned Dutch - and that was the end of my German: I speak it with a
Dutch accent (and in part, vocabulary).

response 29 of 71:

May 24 22:20 UTC 1993

Don't sigh so hard - I envy you what you've got, Misti.  (A  lot of HS French
& some college, & when I heard a hockey game on the radio I had trouble
being sure it was hockey.  (I *think* they kept talking about "le disc".))

response 31 of 71:

Jun 1 19:56 UTC 1993

Emma,

I've heard that the UM Language Department can put you in touch with
translators. I think their office is somewhere in the Union.

response 33 of 71:

Jun 6 07:13 UTC 1993

Other languages, and competance therein, have been sort of a fantasy for
me. In HS, it was 4 years of Latin (ovr French and Spanish) because there
were more fundamentals in Latin. Still kicking myself for not starting and
continuing Greek, which was semi-offered in 7-8 grade, as an internal
corallary to the Literature class. 
  
I felt as if I cheated myself in college, taking a 3-in-1 Latin course for
my BA instead of a different language. 
  
However, when I was in Korea, I got into a language course RealFast and
it was totally absorbing. Still pays off, when I can find the right
people. Latin will always pay off. I'd like to be conversant in
Russian and for some reason, Hebrew, and perhaps another Romance language
and maybe Chinese. But at least the Russina and the Hebrew.

response 35 of 71:

Jun 7 00:52 UTC 1993

The first time I saw an adidas shoe did it for me.  I said: that's a shoe!
I decided I had to learn the language of the people who created it.

response 37 of 71:

Mar 11 07:59 UTC 1994

I first took a foreign language in 3rd grade: French.  Next, I studied Hebrew
in preparation for my eventual Bar Mitzvah.  In 7th grade, I took Spanish,
but flunked it due to an underwhelming effort to complete my assignments.
Now for the amusing part:  I went to try to take Spanish again in 9th grade.
There were about 40 people in the room, and the limit was about 25-30.
This was the first year that Latin was being offered, and since nobody at
all had shown up in the Latin room to sign up, the Latin teacher came into
the Spanish room to see if anybody knew Latin was being offered...
        I looked around, said "what the heck" to myself, and took four years
of Latin.  The only parts I really enjoyed were scanning Latin poetry, and
studying etymology of English words.
        I used my well developed skills with the English language to achieve
what success I achieved in Latin.  I think it was both interesting and useless.
I wish that I had spent the time taking a language that I could use, rather
than simply augmenting my command of roots, which would have resulted from the
study of any of the Romance languages.
        I took Hebrew in college, mostly because I figured that my odds of
success with it were greatest because of my early exposure.  If I had not had
a language requirement to fill in both HS and colllege, I probably would not
have taken language courses in either one.  I do feel, however, that given
a few months in an environment in which another language is essential, I
would have little difficulty picking it up and using it to my
satisfaction.   
        I have literally fantasized about being able to *think* in a language
other than English, but unless I spend some time living abroad, I fear that
this a fantasy shall remain...

response 39 of 71:

Mar 11 18:26 UTC 1994

linked to iq?

response 41 of 71:

Mar 11 19:16 UTC 1994

Er, no, I was asking if the Letter Match thingy was the thing that was linked,
and if iq was where it was linked to...

response 43 of 71:

Mar 16 22:50 UTC 1994

        My first exposure to foreign tongues was from my older
siblings' high school courses -- they each took 2 years of Latin & 2
years of German or French, & I often helped my brother learn or review
his vocabulary.  Then I set up a h.s. curriculum following their lead,
took 2 years of French, 3 years of German, & 2 or 3 years of Latin
(the first year I switched from the 1st-year to the 2nd-year class at
Christmas time, both classes were moving *very* slowly; the 3rd year
I was not enrolled in Latin, since I didn't have space in my schedule,
but I borrowed a Vergil text from the teacher and subsequently placed
first in the Illinois state high school Latin contest, with small
trophy to prove it). 
        In college I had 2 courses in German, I think, 2 years of Greek, 
2 years of Italian (beginning, & Dante), 1 year of Russian.  These were
more challenging, especially the Russian, almost all of which I have
forgotten. (Some of the Greek has been brushed up lately as I'm trying
to read through the N.T. book of Revelation in connection with a Sunday
school class)  Five years or so later, Dave & I took a course in
modern Hebrew through Hillel Foundation; I felt very much out of my depth,
and couldn't find proper time to do the homework.
        I was considered a good *student*, and enjoyed studying all of
these, but I never became a *speaker* of any.  I could have stumbled
along in German, maybe.  As it was, I was superbly qualified for my
years as a paraprofessional in the cataloging department (Western European
languages) of the Univ. of Michigan library.  No Catalan, or Finnish,
but we got few books in those languages, and between Italian & Latin
I had no trouble reading the essentials in Spanish books.  (My personal
triumph was assigning subject headings to a book in Portuguese on
topology, figuring out that <whatever it was> meant "compact" *without*
a suitable dictionary & 15 years after I had studied topology myself)
Languages are fun, especially as they illustrate differences in culture.

response 45 of 71:

Mar 18 03:52 UTC 1994

        Maybe "trophy" was the wrong word.  It's a tiny model of a she-wolf,
presumably Romulus-&-Remus's foster mother; it went onto the mantel clock
when I first brought it home, and I think it's still there (i.e. it did
not come away with me to Michigan).  I think I may have shown it to you 
once, our memories are imperfect.
        As to why I took the college courses: I was expecting to have to
take one course in German to fulfil the language requirement, so I took
one anyway even though I had placed out of the originally-intended
requirement.  The Italian was because of Dante (I was considering a
major in Medieval Civilization), the Greek was because I was considering
a course in the comparative grammar of Greek & Latin (never took it, it
was rarely offered & Greek alone was interesting enough), the Russian
must have been because my sister found it so fascinating.  (She did *not*
get me into Japanese!)

response 47 of 71:

Oct 31 14:32 UTC 1994

I also enjoy learning languages for their own sake, but I ran out of
time to teach myself languages somewhere between 21 and 30. (I'm 49)
I read and write Spanish well enough to help users by email, but I
probably would have trouble speaking/understanding it.
I am almost as fluent in French, but not quite.
I also know a bit of Hebrew, Russian, & Japanese, but not enough to
start up a conversation.

response 49 of 71:

Oct 31 17:51 UTC 1994

When I was in the second grade, my teacher used to teach us French.  It
was really cool, because it just sorta became a part of us.  When you're
seven years old, you don't have any other pressures in life to deal with,
so you can actually retain language quite easily.
In junior high, my father wanted me to study German, but at the time, it 
was not offered in the junior high, only in the high school.  The school
provided free transportation to and from, but because it was the last 
period of the school day, it would mean taking the school bus home with
the high school kids.  I didn't want to do that, because all my friends 
would be on the junior high bus, and I didn't want to miss the 
conversations there.  (If you knew my friends, you'd know why *grin*)
So instead, I took French until the end of high school.  It was almost 
like starting over again, because I didn't remember much from 2nd grade,
since it hadn't been re-enforced all those years inbetween, but I didn't
have a hard time with it.  I took a semester of French Literature in 
college.  Somewhere along the line, I discovered I had relatives in 
Quebec, and by writing one of them (penpals), I have been able to retain
my French.  I even write in French sometimes, because I have developed
the capability to think in another language, which is really cool.  :)