Aphex

I think it really depends what you will be using the other languages for but as far as being able to communicate with the highest amount of people goes I'll have to say Chinese, Spanish and English are the most important ones which will cover a huge amount of people.

When I was still living in the Netherlands it was Dutch all of the time but having moved to the UK 5 years ago it's been mostly English. The only time I'll think in Dutch is when I'm either trying to think of a Dutch word, recalling memories from when I used to live in the Netherlands or when I have Dutch people visiting me and I'm speaking in Dutch.

I experience the same thing as you sayitwell as in that I will dream in the language I am exposed to around that time. When my Dutch family comes over the visit me in the UK I tend to have the odd Dutch dream here and there where even my non Dutch speaking wife suddenly speaks fluent Dutch which is a very odd experience to say the least.

I must say I like both the Welsh and Scottish accents the most. They both have got a great and unique sound to it which makes it instantly recognizable by anyone.

Everyone's got their favorite English accent but opposed to that everyone must also have their least favorite one. Personally I have to say that the Scouse (Liverpool) accent must be my least favorite. It just sounds very harsh to me. Please keep this thread civil as it's not meant to bash one accent or the other.

I had most of my eduction in the Netherlands which is renowned for it's bilingual population. Learning English starts very early for most people there not only through education but also through watching television where foreign TV series are subtitled rather than dubbed over in Dutch. Because of that is is hard to pinpoint a true age at which I started learning English but I suppose as far as real education goes I was about 10 years old when I first started being taught English at primary school.

As a native Dutch speaker that has now been living in the UK for the past 5 years I found it remarkably easy to adjust to life here and didn't really struggle at all. The only thing that was a slight problem sometimes was people speaking with a very, very heavy Geordie accent but even that is very understandable for me now.

Another native Dutch speaker here that's been living abroad for the past 5 years now. I too have noticed my Dutch writing skills declining slightly over the past few years. Whenever Dutch people come and visit me over here I've also noticed I struggle for words sometimes but that lasts for only a couple of days.