Language/English proficiency in your family?

[Jerry]

Hi guys, my apologies if there has been a thread like this before. I'm still new to the forum.

Thought it would be interesting to know what kind of English proficiency you have in your family and for how many generations. And also other languages! Not applicable to native speakers, obv, for the English part.. You can also put the approximate birthdate of the people if you wish.

Please list as many generations as you wish and also your own nationality/mother tongue. Might look like a brag post a bit because my mom is actually a language teacher and my family is bit of an excpetion, but genuinely interested.

I'll start:
Me (80's) - Finnish/language: Finnish

I speak: English (fluently), French,Swedish (well), German (average knowledge, I understand well), Korean, Italian (basics).
On top of this I also understand written Norwegian,Danish and Dutch,Spanish to some extent (Dutch because of German/English and Spanish from French/Italian)

Dad (50's): Finnish (native), Swedish,English (fluent), Italian (good), German (OK)
Mom (50's): Finnish (native), Swedish,English,German (fluent), Italian, Latin (good), French (basics)

Grandmother (1930's, dad's side): Finnish, Swedish - her dad (1890's): Swedish (mother tongue), English, Finnish (fluent)
Grandfather (1930's, dad): Only Finnish

Grandmother (1930's, mom's side): Finnish (native), German (good), English,Swedish (ok) -> grandgrandfather (her dad, 1900's): Finnish (native), Russian, German, Swedish (fluent)
Grandfather (1930's, mom's side): Only Finnish

[Waidewut]

Me:Latvian (native), English (fluent), German and Russian (basic)
Mother: Latvian (native), Russian (fluent), German (basic)
Father: Latvian (native), Russian (fluent)
Paternal grandmother- Only Latvian
Paternal grandfather- Latvian (native), Russian (fluent)
Maternal grandmother- Latvian (native), Russian (fluent)
Maternal grandfather- Latvian (native), Russian (fluent)
Maternal great-grandfather was Polish, so Polish (native), Latvian (fluent)

[Damião de Góis]

Me: Portuguese(native), English(fluent), Spanish(basic)
Brother: Portuguese(native), English (fluent)
Mother: Portuguese(native)
Father: Portuguese(native)

[HungAryan]

Me: Hungarian (native), English (fluent), German (used to be fluent, now knows only a little), Latin (only a little), Arabic (a few words), Hebrew (a few words + I can read Hebrew), Russian (a few words)
My older brother: Hungarian (native), English (fluent), German (used to be fluent, now knows only a little)
My younger sister: Hungarian (native), English (semi-fluent)
My mother: Hungarian (native), English (semi-fluent), Russian (used to be fluent before adulthood, now knows only a little)
My father † (my parents got divorced in 2010, thus my father died 3 weeks ago) : Hungarian (native), Russian (used to be fluent before adulthood, knows only a little from adulthood to death)

[Jerry]

Your politics views seem very far from mine, but I'm very sorry about your father IVDEVS!

[HungAryan]

Your politics views seem very far from mine, but I'm very sorry about your father IVDEVS!

Thanks. :)
He was found dead in his bathroom in his apartment. Allegedly, he had some problems with his lungs. There was absolutely no evidence of any foreign object being the cause of his death.
His body was cremated, and during the funeral, he was placed next to his father in the grave.

[Gamera]

Me: Spanish (native), English (fluent), Italian (basic).
Father was fluent in: Spanish (native), English, Yiddish, Hebrew and German (basic).
Mother fluent in: Spanish (native), English, Italian and Hebrew.

[Albion]

0% :p

Nah, just kidding, I was about to say 100% but then I remembered about my uncle and cousin in Austria - barely a word of English.
Don't worry, I don't descend from anyone on the continent. :D My blood related Anglo-Irish aunty ran off with a Austrian bloke.

Me: English (native), German (Beginner)
Brothers: English (native)
Father: English (native)
Mother: English (native), Welsh

Aunt: English (native), German
Uncle: German (native), English (broken)
Cousin 1: English (native), German
Cousin 2: English (native), German
Cousin 3: German (native)

The rest: All monolingual in English as far as I know.

[Stefan]

Paternal Grandmother before she died: Spanish(native), English(very basic), possibly more.

Paternal Grandfather before he died: Spanish(native), English(fluent.)

Father: Spanish/English(more proficient in English I believe.)

Aunt: Spanish/English(equally proficient from what they've said. She is 20 years older than my father and probably had to use Spanish much more growing up, so that makes sense.)

Mother and the rest of her known family: English(I have to correct her often on her grammar especially the difference between don't and doesn't; apparently that is rude, I find it insightful when people correct me though. ;) )

Me: English(native; I try to be the best I possibly can at it) and the basic of the basic French from school. I have attempted to dabble in to other languages, but nothing extensive enough that I can get some form of expression across without issues. I'm thinking of taking Latin and maybe something else in college if I have extra classes, Latin so that I can increase my understanding of vocabulary in English, and something else just for fun.

[Comte Arnau]

Parents: Bilingual in Catalan and Spanish. In English they could say My tailor is rich and in French they could say J'ai perdu ma plume dans le jardin de ma tante, both very useful sentences.


Me, brothers/sisters/cousins... : We all are fluent in more than three languages.

[Sagitta Hungarica]

Me: Hungarian (native), English (fluent), German (used to be fluent, now knows only a little), Latin (only a little), Arabic (a few words), Hebrew (a few words + I can read Hebrew), Russian (a few words)
My older brother: Hungarian (native), English (fluent), German (used to be fluent, now knows only a little)
My younger sister: Hungarian (native), English (semi-fluent)
My mother: Hungarian (native), English (semi-fluent), Russian (used to be fluent before adulthood, now knows only a little)
My father † (my parents got divorced in 2010, thus my father died 3 weeks ago) : Hungarian (native), Russian (used to be fluent before adulthood, knows only a little from adulthood to death)

Őszinte részvétem!

[Electronic God-Man]

Me: English (native), German (learned in high school/college)
Father: English (native)...he would call it "American."
Mother: English (native), French (learned in high school/college)

Mat. Grandmother: English (native), could swear in Lithuanian.
Mat. Grandfather: English (native), Pennsylvania Dutch (not fluent, not sure how proficient), some French
Pat. Grandmother: English (native)
Pat. Grandfather: English (native)

Mat. G-grandmother1: Lithuanian (native), English (native), Polish (native? I suppose so since she learned it from her parents), Russian?
Mat. G-grandfather1: Pennsylvania Dutch (native), English (native)
Mat. G-grandmother2: English (native)
Mat. G-grandfather2: Pennsylvania Dutch (native), English (native)

Pat. G-grandmother1: English (native, parents from Ireland)
Pat. G-grandfather1: English (native)
Pat. G-grandmother2: English (native)
Pat. G-grandfather2: English (native)

[billErobreren]

Me, English(native) Danish, Spanish(can speak & read in both "fluently" however my writing sucks) Also speak Swedish, Deutsch, French, Icelandic quite well(but I have the advantage). I understand Faroese, Dutch, Norwegian, Catalan, Italian(can read & understand on an almost fluent level)Japanese(used to be good at it, then I lost interest). Russian & Farsi(Basic Words)

Ma - English(native), Spanish(fluent) also some Gaelic & Italian also understand Dutch & French.
Father- Danish(native), English, Norwegian(fluent in both). semi-fluent in Deutsch, Italian, Icelandic, French also knew some Russian his family also knew & knows a great deal but I'm not gonna get into them.

Gran(mother's side)- English, Gaelic.

The rest are a bunch of DUMBASSES!!!

[Derelict]

Me: English, Spanish, French. At some point my family decided that German wasn't useful anymore, so...
Mother: German, Spanish (native), English, French (fluent)
Father: German, Spanish, English
Maternal grandparents: German (native), English, Spanish
Paternal grandmother: German (native), spanish
Paternal grandfather: French (native), spanish

After reading the first post I feel like I don't know anything :P

[Caeruleus]

Me - Romanian (native), Russian (fluent), English (fluent), French (fluent), I understand ukrainian but cant speak it.

Mom - Romanian (native), Russian (fluent)

Dad - Romanian (native), Russian (fluent)

I'm the only child so no brothers and sisters for me :)

Languages that I would like to know - Serbian (I like serbs a lot), German (most manly language ever), Arabic (exotic)

[Caeruleus]

I'll start:
Me (80's) - Finnish/language: Finnish

I speak: English (fluently), French,Swedish (well), German (average knowledge, I understand well), Korean, Italian (basics).
On top of this I also understand written Norwegian,Danish and Dutch,Spanish to some extent (Dutch because of German/English and Spanish from French/Italian)

Dad (50's): Finnish (native), Swedish,English (fluent), Italian (good), German (OK)
Mom (50's): Finnish (native), Swedish,English,German (fluent), Italian, Latin (good), French (basics)

Grandmother (1930's, dad's side): Finnish, Swedish - her dad (1890's): Swedish (mother tongue), English, Finnish (fluent)
Grandfather (1930's, dad): Only Finnish

Grandmother (1930's, mom's side): Finnish (native), German (good), English,Swedish (ok) -> grandgrandfather (her dad, 1900's): Finnish (native), Russian, German, Swedish (fluent)
Grandfather (1930's, mom's side): Only Finnish

Jesus Christ :eek: The Einsteins :thumb001:

[Treffie]

Me - English/Welsh fluent - conversational French (getting worse by the year)
Brother - English only (mainly because there wasn't a Welsh school to suit his needs)
Sister 1 - English/Welsh fluent
Sister 2 - English/Welsh fluent
Mother - English with a smattering of Welsh, not conversational
Father - English with a smattering of Welsh, not conversational

Mother's mother - Welsh/English - she was more proficient at Welsh as she didn't speak English til she was 12 years old
Mother's father - English/Welsh

Father's mother - English/Welsh
Father's father - English/Welsh

[Osweo]

I speak Russian to a reasonably respectable standard for an Englishman with no formal education in it. My Castellano is getting better, and I can read history books, but speak like a retard. :p I know a few scraps of German, French, and tiny ones of Irish and Welsh.

My family are monoglot English speakers, apart from my sister who can speak Arabic to Cairo taxi drivers, and my grandmother who remembers a little bit of Irish from school.

I suppose my ancestors were English speaking since whenever Tipperary lost its Gaelic (1700s??) though my great great grandad is down in the 1901 census as an Irish speaker as he was a schoolteacher, and since my remote McKenzies left the Highlands in the 1800s. The English side have mostly been speaking English since around 600 AD. :D

[Han Cholo]

Me and my older brother speak English. I speak a bit Portuguese too.

The rest all Spanish with very basic English.

[Laubach]

Me: Portuguese and French(native); German, italian, spanish fluently. English(average knowledge) I can undertand Dutch and Catalan, Provençal, Galician and other dialects/languages in France, Germany, Austria and Italy

Father: French(native), Portuguese, English, Italian, German and Spanish fluenty.

Mother: French(native), Portugese, German, English fluently. Italian and Spanish averge knowledge

Sister: French and Portuguese(native); German, English, italian, spanish fluently; danish and dutch(basic)

My wife: Portuguese( native); English, spanish and french fluently. Italian(Basic) and a little bit polish too

Me, and all members of my familly : We all are fluent in more than three languages

[HungAryan]

Őszinte részvétem!

Köszönöm :)

[Unurautare]

Me: Romanian(native), English(fluent),French(basic),can read/understand the other Latin languages.
Mother: Romanian(native),French(fluent),Italian(basic),Rus sian(basic),English(a few words),Hungarian(a few words).
Father: Romanian(native),French(fluent),Russian(basic),Eng lish(a few words).

[Jack B]

I speak Russian to a reasonably respectable standard for an Englishman with no formal education in it. My Castellano is getting better, and I can read history books, but speak like a retard. :p I know a few scraps of German, French, and tiny ones of Irish and Welsh.

My family are monoglot English speakers, apart from my sister who can speak Arabic to Cairo taxi drivers, and my grandmother who remembers a little bit of Irish from school.

I suppose my ancestors were English speaking since whenever Tipperary lost its Gaelic (1700s??) though my great great grandad is down in the 1901 census as an Irish speaker as he was a schoolteacher, and since my remote McKenzies left the Highlands in the 1800s. The English side have mostly been speaking English since around 600 AD. :D

Irish is very odd where you can find it, my grandfathers on either side of my family are fluent in Irish and can't read or write English, and they're both from Leinster not the West which might be expected.