• Question: How many languages do you speak and what are they?

    Asked by 165enec48 to Hilly, Lee, Liz, Tadhg, Yasmin on 22 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by 421enec47, KStrachan.
    • Photo: Tadhg O'Donovan

      Tadhg O'Donovan answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      I speak English and Irish (Gaeilge) fluently. In Ireland you learn Irish from the age of 4 until 16 – taitinionn an teanga go mor liom (meaning: I like the language a lot)!

      I also studied French and German in school, but I’m not as good as I should be. And because I travel lots, I can be polite and order food in Dutch, Italian and Japanese.

      I now work in Scotland – they have a language all to themselves – I’m still learning!

    • Photo: Lee Margetts

      Lee Margetts answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      I speak English (native) and Spanish quite well (enough to speak to my 81 year old Spanish mother-in-law who doesn’t know any English at all). I also studied French and Latin at school, passing GCSEs in both. I am particularly proud of my Latin GCSE. I was told that I’d be the only pupil who would fail the exam. In the end, I was the only pupil who passed!

      I’d like to be able to find the time to learn Chinese – I think Chinese will be one of the most important second languages for young people looking for a job in the next 5-10 years.

    • Photo: Yasmin Ali

      Yasmin Ali answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      I can speak English and Arabic fluently. I studied French at school but I’ve forgotten most of that!! I also had some Turkish lessons when I lived there for work for 6 months, I could have basic conversations by the end of the 6 months!

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