Are you learning your SOs first language?

[Wambby]

Although he lives in germany, my boyfriends first language is spanish. I only speak english so I am going to take sme spanish calsses this summer but in the meantime I am using duolingo and stumbling over some words/phrases in our discussions, its fun!
What are you doing?

[QueenReginaMills]

Yes, I'm learning Dutch which is my SO's first language, started as a surprise but he knows now, also using Duolingo and seem to be picking up some daft phrases like how to sell my family for a euro but I am understanding more and more now.

[La Daniela]

Although he lives in germany, my boyfriends first language is spanish. I only speak english so I am going to take sme spanish calsses this summer but in the meantime I am using duolingo and stumbling over some words/phrases in our discussions, its fun!
What are you doing?

Let me know if you need any help with Spanish

[La Daniela]

Duolingo is good, I just wish it was in some kind of logical order. I started to learn some Polish .... wanted to be able to count, learn some greetings etc. What I learnt was man, woman and apple!

[snow]

I was fortunate enough to start learning English when I was 10 so I didn't have to learn the language after we met, but I definitely had to brush up on my pronunciation and idioms as I to this they will be 100% sure a saying says what I want it to say and it is completely different.

My husband has it pretty hard as my parents are Polish but we have lived in Austria ever since I was born so I speak both of these languages. He picks up on things when I speak with my family, but he's not really keen on learning it lol

[erwin1973]

We have been talking about me learning Cebuano, but my lady said there's no need. Even though her parents don't speak English. Even if I wanted to learn, it's hard to find books with it. But I like to.

[beester]

My SO is Italian, living in Sudan. We talk in English (her only other language). She would like to learn Dutch, but for the moment her efforts go into learning some Arabic which is more useful in her current context.

Me I'm enrolled in Italian evening school since January. It's only 3 hours a week, but this in combination with Duolingo and Babbel helps a lot. Babbel is pay only (about 10 € a month I believe) but more structured than duolingo, but both are very nice. The secret about learning languages in my book is to do something with it every day, so your brain is constantly triggered. I don't tend to take my books out every day, but with babbel and duolingo you can sneak in quite a lot of fast 5-15 minute moments where you can still connect with the language.

I'm not speaking it yet, but I start to understand what she is saying if she talks slowly, and reading is already quite good (day to day texting).

[IvoryGrapefruit]

My first language is German while my boyfriend's mother tongue is Russian. We talk in English but I am trying to learn his language. I did duolingo some time ago but found it didn't teach me many useful things although it is good for practising how to make sentences. I also used memrise to remember vocabulary (it uses spaced repetition). Lately I've been listening to beginner podcasts and have some textbooks I work through with him (he insists XD). I collect the vocabulary on quizlet.

[Lio]

We both use English, and a few words/sentences in Korean and French. I should learn Korean more than I currently do, as the majority of people there doesn't speak English (her parents don't speak English much, just a few words - her dad's English is better than her mom's). She's learning French by herself, with books, and recently I noticed her improvement.

[kittyo9]

I've been learning Canadian lingo... does that count?

[autumn1790]

This is something that I struggle with. I want to be able to talk to him is his mother tongue, but frankly I'm way too lazy and otherwise occupied to put effort into it. Every time I have a flash of motivation to learn it, I'll randomly use the very little Hindi I know and promptly be corrected on the grammar/tense/gender that I had no idea applied. Hindi seems so tough that I've practically given myself a mental block. I do watch a lot of Hindi films with English subtitles on YouTube, so I can foggily understand some common sayings, but I can't remember how to say them when I need to. My SO hasn't made a big deal about it or asked me to learn anything, so I guess it's on the back burner for now.

[Wambby]

I've been learning Canadian lingo... does that count?

haha of course!

[Wambby]

Let me know if you need any help with Spanish

my spanish is sooo bad! i talk like a toddler haha!!

[Ali Schnee]

Ha thats so good to know that others also try to reach each other on the linguistic level. Me (Russia/Germany) and my SO (Argentina) started speaking english (we both are level C2, so it was the easiest way). And in the last 3 years I learned Spanish to a C1 (he is trying to learn German but i am the talented one haha ^^). I think its just nice to tell your SO in his language how much he/she means to you. You go folks!

[JLJR]

I tried to learn Tagalog (my SO's first language) because even though him and his parents speak English well, I would still like to learn. However, I ran into some complications with trying to learn on my own so when he comes down to see me this summer I am going to have him teach me.