i was just wondering where everyone was from, i know leia is from Bangladesh, and Anna-Marie is from Germany.  I'm a 13 year old girl living in North Carolina, USA but my family is mostly Irish and German.  Where are all ya'll from?

We just moved to a beautiful little town in Pennsylvania from Delaware, but I was born and raised on Long Island.  I am of Irish and Finnish descent, the first generation on either side to mix blood, so to speak ;)

Yup,I live and work in Germany now,but I was born in Kenya and have lived there (and in Togo,Western Africa) for over 25 years. I´m German /Czech ,with a little bit of French ;D (My Great-Grandmother)

I grew up and currently live in chilly, beautiful Minnesota and am of German decent.  I was born on a ship in international waters and spent the first few years as a Navy brat moving from base to base.

What a fun topic and fascinating histories!  :D

wrote on Jan 7^th, 2004 at 12:54pm:

Yup,I live and work in Germany now,but I was born in Kenya and have lived there (and in Togo,Western Africa) for over 25 years. I´m German /Czech ,with a little bit of French ;D (My Great-Grandmother)

Anne-Marie;
I'm always facinated with people from other parts of the world and how many languages they know.  I can take a good guess that you know German and English - any others?  

[My personal belief is that the US is terribly remiss in not requiring more than English be learned in school.]

How many languages do the rest of you know?  I admit to being fluent in English  ;D, do OK with sign language know a smidgen of German, French and Spanish.

wrote on Jan 8^th, 2004 at 12:06am:

[My personal belief is that the US is terribly remiss in not requiring more than English be learned in school.]

You mean they actually *require* English in schools?  Not from where I sit, they don't!  Just about everyone I know and everything I read seems intent on destroying the English language.

English is my only language, but I was a professional writer and editor for years.  I've forgotten more about English than most people will ever know ;)

Yes,English and German,apart from that I speak French and Kiswahili (but with Kiswahili I´ve forgotten quite a bit,it´s been  a while since I have last been to Kenya ). I also know a tiny bit of Czech,I picked up a little when I visited my relatives. I´m afraid that´s about it, ;D I don´t speak any Italian or Spanish etc.
I agree,it´s a big advantage when kids  learn at least one other language in school,Germany requires English,sometimes French and even Latin.And in most schools there´s a chance to study Italian,Spanish etc.voluntarily.

wrote on Jan 8^th, 2004 at 7:05am:

You mean they actually *require* English in schools?  Not from where I sit, they don't!  Just about everyone I know and everything I read seems intent on destroying the English language. English is my only language, but I was a professional writer and editor for years.  I've forgotten more about English than most people will ever know ;)

;D  Yes, I agree, there are times I wonder if English is taught (along with spelling and basic math - like making change!).  It is very frustrating to read poorly constructed sentences with horrible spelling.  I was brought up in a house with a father who had a degree in journalism and a mother who was a free-lance writer.  Needless to say, I absorbed a lot from them.  (But please don't ask me to diagram a sentence......).

wrote on Jan 8^th, 2004 at 7:05am:

You mean they actually *require* English in schools?  Not from where I sit, they don't!  Just about everyone I know and everything I read seems intent on destroying the English language. ;)

TOTALLY right! I speak Urdu/Hindi, Bangla, and English fluently, and I learn French in school, but I'm pretty much fluent in that too.  ;)

Oh, I realize that English is taught in schools all over the world!  I was actually feigning surprise that they teach English in U.S. schools, since so many here butcher the language ;)

i'm not familiar with Bangladesh, except it's near india and sri lanka, what religion r u leia?

I am from the United States.  The State of Montana to be exact.  I was born in Montana and I have lived here for almost 43 years now.

I have been to other states but it is always nice to come back to the mountains of Montana.  In fact, Montana is Spanish for mountain (so I here anyway).

Most of the people are pretty nice but it kind of depends on what city or town you visit pretty much like anywhere else.

Jerry

Lesse, I've lived all over the U.S... (in order) Alabama, Colorado, Alabama again, Maine, Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, and now I'm in Louisiana... Funny thing is, this is the first move I CHOSE to do. Once again in order of percentages, Irish/Italian/Scottish/English/Native American/French/Probably everything else in small quantities...
I speak English fluently, enough French to not make a complete arse of myself, and I'm attempting to teach myself Irish Gaelic in my free time. I started reading before I was four... Mom taught me to write before I started school because I'm a lefty, and there weren't any southpaw kindergarten teachers, or even any who were willing to try to teach one. If she hadn't taught me, I'd have been forced to use my right hand. Needless to say, devouring books at the rate I do, I learned fairly good english, and have a large vocabulary. I find any spelling mistakes, "internet speak", etc, to be annoying at best.  I can't stand the slang most of my generation uses... Ellipses are my worst grammar habit, I think.

I reside in southern California, USA. Born and raised there. And I, like most Americans, am of mixed heritage...but mostly Celtic.

I am a mix of all sorts - my American grandmother met and married my Irish grandfather in China (they lived in Singapore until the Japanese invasion, she fled to America and he was a PoW, and kept a diary which is now in the Imperial War Museum in London) and my dad was born in Malaysia.

My mother is far more mundane - born in Ireland, but both of her parents had families that could be traced to Scotland.  Interestingly, both sets of grandparents owned farms, but now my family own no land at all apart from the plot the house is on!

Hope that's of interest to someone!