Describe a person you know who fluently speaks a foreign language.
You should say:
- who this person is
- when and where you met this person
- what you like /dislike about this person
and explain how that person has learned this language.
Model Answer 1:
I have always admired people who can speak a foreign language other than their native language. Of course, it doesn’t happen often that you get to meet such a person every day. But, I got lucky to meet such a person about a few years ago at an international book fair of my country.
The person, I am talking about, was a German native who also visited the book fair in order to learn about the popular books and literature of my country. Or so, at least, I thought, as far as his desire to learn about the literature of my country was concerned.
But, then, when I found him inquiring about our literature, as well as some of the most notable poets and writers of our country, in a foreign language (I mean, my native language), I felt like he was probably trying to offer literature lessons to the bookstall owner, he was talking with, instead of actually learning anything from him.
Anyway, after hearing him speak in such an eloquent manner in my own language, I felt very intrigued and asked him about his country of origin. Later on, of course, I also introduced myself to him and asked questions like what exactly had motivated him to learn such a difficult foreign language, and also how he managed to learn it, in addition to many other questions.
Needless to say, he answered all those questions in my own language very elaborately – perhaps more elaborately than I could ever do it myself. Anyway, his fluency in a foreign language is certainly unquestionable, but what I liked even more about him was that he considered himself like a true “world citizen” with no attachment to any particular country or culture.
Well, when I asked him how he, as a German native, learned my language, he surprised me by saying that he studied this language at a university in his country. He also told me that he visited my country many times in order to learn its culture, tradition and heritage, and thus understanding the true appeal of my language.
Sample Answer 2:
My Aunt Margarita, who works as a journalist, can speak German very fluently. Margarita is my maternal aunt and she is 29. She is married to a businessman and is the mother of a two years old son.
I know her my whole life. She is only 3 years senior to me and we are very close. She even stayed at our house during her university days. She often helped me with my studies and I liked her due to her ambient nature and remarkable spirit. Since we were at the same university, we often met at the university campus and had our lunch together at a canteen.
After Margarita finished her graduation, she went to Munich to complete her post-graduation in journalism. She stayed there for more than 4 years and worked for a daily newspaper as a part-time reporter. I guess this is the time when she learned the German language. As far as I know, she even tried to learn German when she decided to go to Garmany. She is a quick learner and she must have learned the language during her stay in Germany. She still works as an online journalist for an online magazine that offers their news in 5 languages including German.
I believe that learning a second language is always beneficial. It expands our understanding of the country where this is spoken, about their people, their culture, ways of life and many other aspects. Scientific research also proves that people who can speak multiple languages have a better understanding of foreign cultures and have less prejudice about their own culture. This in a way broadens our mind and ways of thinking. I like it very much that my aunt can speak German very fluently. She is an aspiring journalist and I am sure her talent, dedication and skill in foreign languages will help her ride on the top of her career ladder. Personally, I believe that skills in a foreign language enhance our career prospect and make us wiser and inquisitive about learning.
Sample Answer 3:
Learning is language in a matured age is really difficult. But Mr Christopher David is an extraordinary man who has learnt French and can fluently speak the language. He is an Australian and teaches English at my college here in Delhi.
Mr David is a genius with some other extraordinary qualities. He loves to sing and composes music as well. But he is primarily successful as a teacher. He can teach English in a skilled manner which I have never seen before. He is well aware of the pronunciations and regularly takes tests of his students. He is over 6’ and has a smart look. Mr David likes to be formal always and even he is formal at his home as well. Further, he is very kind in nature and always ready to support any of his students. Consequently, he has gained a reputation as a very good teacher in the college.
I got admitted to this college last year and I have a mandatory course in the English language. Mr David was the English teacher for the college and he has been playing the role for a couple of years. it appeared weird to me when I saw him first in the college. Later, I came to know about his identity as a teacher and wanted to attend his class. Fortunately, he was assigned to taking our English class in the first week after admission. I got familiar with him in the class and came to know about him. He described all of his life events in the first class. He also mentioned that he was able to speak fluently in some other languages other than English while the French language was one of them.
I like him very much and really he is adorable. Firstly, he never uses any other language in the class other than English. So, it is a great benefit for me that I could hear English round the class hours. As a result, I have developed an improved hearing of English and can pronounce many words with the exact pronunciation. Besides, Mr David makes the lessons easier. He breaks the lesson into different parts and explains them. He uses plenty of examples to make us understand the lessons and topics. This is a great way to teach and effective as well. Often I had to visit him at his home (he lives nearby to my residence) and found that he is really a cordial individual as he is in the college hours.
While having a conversation in the class, he was discussing the use of different language. Gradually, it appeared that how many languages do his students knew. Then he revealed that he knows five languages and French is one of them. He described that he had to learn the langue while he was in France for his career. He wanted to be a painter and thus went to France at the beginning of his career. But unluckily he failed to shine as a professional painter. Then he left the country. He struggled there for over three years before leaving the passion to be a painter. So, he had to learn the language to communicate with the surroundings. So, now he is a fluent speaker of French. But later, he took teaching as his profession and career and been engaged in teaching for seven years last.