When did you start to learn a second language?

[Dora M]

I grew up bilingual. In my home we spoke German and Serbo-Croation. When I was 11 years old, I started learning English at school for four years. After that I continued at College for another 3 years. Also, I learned French for a couple of years, but never had much chance to practice it, so I can still understand a lot of it but I can't speak it very well.

[shamzblueworld]

I was in 6th grade when I started to learn the ABC at school so that was my first encounter with a foreign language, but it was after High School that I started to learn the language with passion, and here I am now with a decent comprehension over English language.

[gubernaculum]

When I was 10 years of age my asthma had become such a life-threatening problem that my chest specialist in the UK gave my parents a radical option in terms of treating my illness. I was sent to the Eastern Pyrenees area of France, to a small ski resort town called Font Romeu, for 9 months of high altitude treatment. They say that beyond a certain altitude, the dust mites that cause problems for so many asthma sufferers can no longer survive and at 1800m, Font Romeu was of sufficient altitude as to be an effective location for just such a purpose.

Being one of only two English speakers at the residential clinic and with all the other kids being barely able to speak one word of my native tongue, I was put in the position of needing to learn French quickly if I was to have any kind of a life over there.

Happily, the language came to me quite rapidly and, due to the immersive nature of the experience, I was able to retain it right up until the present moment. It is definitely true that a young brain is able to learn a foreign language much better than an old one!

[mbnuss]

I first started learning a second language when I was in elementary school. There was a single Spanish teacher who would go to the different classes and teach the kids some of the language. Although I found the Spanish language interesting, I knew it wasn't for me. Later on, in middle school, when we started taking a language class, I chose Italian, and I am still taking Italian today.

[Jennyflower81]

When I was in middle school (junior high) we had a choice of different languages to study. I think we got to choose a new language every quarter. So, by the end of your first year, you'd have learned a little of four languages. I remember learning Latin, Italian, Spanish, and French. French was definitely the hardest for me. Latin was very interesting. Spanish appealed to me and also came naturally. It seemed that I had no trouble picking up on the Spanish language. When I went to high school in 9th grade, I chose Spanish as a class selection. I believe that every student had to take 2 years of a language. I enjoyed Spanish class because I was good at it, and we learned about the history and culture of Spain, along with other regions that speak it. We would have days where we'd all bring in Spanish-themed cuisine and have a fiesta. I took 4 years of Spanish class in high school, all together. I was lucky to know this language, because I once worked at a business that was mainly Hispanic workers. I was able to communicate with my co-workers through my knowledge of Spanish. It has been a good language to know, and I hope to become totally fluent someday.

[Pink Glitter]

I think we start learning a second laguage very late in school  here in the US. Most schools don't start teaching a second language until the 7th grade some most of us are teenagers by the time we get started.

[tintiano]

Learning a second language was compulsory in the elementary school in which I studied. I think I started learning a second language in third grade. My second language in school was Tamil, and the medium of instruction for most subjects in school was English. To be honest, I've been pretty average in my speaking, reading and writing of my second language, although I've been dealing with it on a regular basis for almost 16 years now!

[Rainbow_Moonbeam]

I live in the UK and I started learning French in year 7. I'm year 12 now but I generally say that I've been learning for 2 years. This is because year 7-9 were mandatory and we went at such a slow pace and didn't learn very thoroughly. Now I feel more confident and I feel that I could express myself passably in an emergency.

[Sputnikops]

Like a lot of people, I started learning a second language at school. Back in my day, we started in the 5th grade, but right now they start in primary school or even earlier.

[whisperingspirit]

I started learning a second language my sophomore year. We only had French and Spanish at the time and I chose Spanish.

However I did know some Italian from learning from my grandparents. My great grandparents on my mom's side were from Italy and taught some some to my aunts and my mom when they were little.

[elbuntu]

I started learning a new language at the age of 18. I since then have got better and better and now live in the country that I was learning the language for, namely German.

[Meera]

I started at fourteen with Hindi and in High School I had to take French.

[darknessassassin]

I'm from Croatia and I started learning English in first grade of elementary school. In fourth grade I started learning German, and in high school I started learning Latin. I learned these three languages through whole high school. I also started taking Spanish courses in high school.

[punksluut]

I started learning a second language in 7th grade. At my school you are required to take languages.

[Gelsemium]

I think that learning languages at school should be worldwide mandatory. I think that in most countries it is, and that's great because kids learn far better than adults. I started to learn at age 7 probably.

[jgar06]

I started to learn English when I moved to the U.S. which was when I was 6. I picked up the language rather fast and soon I started using it more that Spanish, my native tongue. Now I much rather would have a conversation in English than in Spanish.

[jillanntan]

I was raised in a household speaking three languages but I only caught on two of the three. I cannot recall which was my second language. It would be either English or Filipino. I guess I learned both languages simultaneously.

[s3phrin]

Being a resident in the USA I only began learning my second language in the 9th grade. I had an interest in learning languages from the point when I first heard french though, and at that point I was about 9 years old. Unfortunately my parents were more focused on sports that anything else, so I had to wait until my school started teaching languages. Now I am proud to say that my German is nearly fluent and I am on my way with Italian and French!

[skywatcher]

It was grade-school for me. In the Philippines, since our National Language is Filipino and our Official, English, then we're actually expected to learn two languages during our childhood - which means we have both a Filipino subject and an English subject ever since we started studying. We have the same even in college - we have a separate writing and oral communications class in Filipino and English, each a semester apart than the next.

And then (depending on the school), we're about to learn Elementary Spanish this coming semester. Depending on your course, you could choose German or Japanese, or even Latin if you're currently taking Philosophy.

[Anju]

when I was about 6 or 7. That's when I started learning Chinese from school (But I didn't learn anything in the 9 years I did it).

Year 7 I learnt German for half a year and I know more of it then Chinese.

Year 7-9 I tried to learn japanese but lost interest.

At the start of this year I'm learning Korean.

[babyleans]

i started learning Spanish two years ago. unfortunately i didnt really have a good way of practising my spanish so i'm still not that fluent. the best way i've been practising is by chatting with my venezuelan friend.

[ailsa]

I started learning a second language in elementary school. I've actually started learning English in the kindergarten but I didn't understand anything lol so I guess I'm not counting it. Although Bahasa Indonesia is taught in some schools in Australia and the minority of Asia countries, it seems like the only country which uses Bahasa Indonesia is just Indonesia itself. Nevertheless, we have to learn English and hey, I didn't know that English could be this helpful the first time I learned it. And nobody around me speaks English anyway lol

[Pink Glitter]

The fist time I began to learn a new language was when I was in seventh grade. I studied French , that was a total fail. I just could not pick up the language. I gave it two years and still I struggled . The strange thing is there are words that have stuck with me years later. In The USA I think we wait too long to try to introduce a second language to students. We need to start earlier in the primary grades.

[eagle22]

I actually didn't start learning a second language until I graduated college and realized I want to continue studying something. I decided to study sign language and became fluent in ASL.  Now I am learning Spanish.

[pipps]

I started learning french in high school in year 7. However, when I got there I was completely surprised and shocked to find out that the majority of people in my class already spoke french! I always felt overwhelmed and behind from that point onwards. I just couldn't keep up. They had been learning french in primary school for years.