Jhumpa Lahiri Quotes

It's important to me to work in my own language now and then. I love English, but you can never learn to master a foreign language if you're not brought up with it.

I've studied Spanish, but I need to improve. I'll probably improve when I work in the country one day. For most people, when they travel to a country, their language becomes better.

I might move to Finland, at least for a while, to learn the language a bit better, 'cause you don't learn any language better than in the country itself.

I'm pretty good with languages. I know a bit of French and actually want to live in France some day so that I can get fluent. I think it'd be tragic to go through life only knowing one language.

When I started writing, the first thing that came out was in English. I liked a few French things, but they were very overwhelming.

I don't ever want to stop learning. And I really want to learn French fluently. It would be great to go and live in France.

When I last went to Italy, over two years ago, I had a lot more trouble understanding the language than I used to when I lived there for a year. I used to speak very little but I could understand very well.

All my mom's side speaks Spanish. I speak to my grandparents in Spanish. Slowly. And they're patient with me! But I do speak with them in Spanish and carry on conversations with them.

'Marielena' was a wonderful experience that so many people still remember today. It challenged me to practice my Spanish. Having been born and raised in Miami, English was very much my dominant language!

The Malayalam connection has always been there and finally I am trying to learn the language to be active here as well.

I think the best part of learning a language is that you can see the country's culture through the language. And it gives you different levels of understanding of that culture when you really try to dig in and learn it.

I just can't stop doing Telugu films just when I have started speaking a little better Telugu.

I'd love to master another language properly.

I studied French forever, and when do I ever speak French? I clearly should have studied Spanish. I wish I had stuck with music, because that would still be great. I really wish I had learned to surf earlier in my life.

In addition to the research, I enjoyed learning French and assimilating the culture of another country.

I spent ten years in London; I trained there. But because I started in English, it kind of feels the most natural to me, to act in English, which is a strange thing. My language is Spanish; I grew up in Argentina. I speak to my family in Spanish, but if you were to ask me what language I connect with, it'd be English in some weird way.

I don't speak Spanish, I speak a little of Italian but no Spanish.

I like to listen to French radio; I'm trying to learn French.

I think the biggest difficulty is that when I'm here in America, there's a necessity of using English, so I really have a great sense of really wanting to learn, but unfortunately when I head back to Japan, the necessity vanishes and so does my enthusiasm about learning.

My mom taught me German before I knew English. And I went to French immersion school.

I unfortunately don't speak French, but my wife is now fluent in English, which really reflects rather badly on me.

My CIA godfather told me he'd never heard any American speak Japanese so well.

I've never lived in an English-speaking country, ever, but I lived in Austria. So, my second language is German. And when I went to school, I had a lot of classes in English.

I have a one-question language test that people who have lived abroad do better on than those who studied in a classroom. Try my test yourself: In a foreign language you've studied, how do you say 'doorknob'?

I would absolutely be down to do something in Spanish.