I speak English natively, and German and Spanish conversationally. I only have passing knowledge of a handful of other languages.
I started learning German in September 2002. It was then that I discovered I have a gift for learning languages, and I fell in love. My formal study of German ceased in mid 2006, but I mean to continue. I took French classes at my high school from early 2005 to mid 2006. I took a Russian class at the local community college in early 2007, and again in early 2008. I've also been learning Spanish there since September 2007. On the side I've been looking at Mandarin Chinese and Arabic.
Of all the languages, I like the Germanic languages in particular. I'd like to become a little familiar with Dutch, Frisian, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Yiddish, but my scope is broader than that. I like the distinct sound of each of the major Romance languages, and I like written Russian. I'm also intrigued by languages outside of the Indo-European family, such as Finnish, Arabic, and especially Chinese. I'm fascinated by the many characters that make up the language, which I consider to be inextricably tied to traditional Chinese culture. I like both traditional and simplified characters, though sometimes the traditional forms have too many strokes for me to write.
