I'm in the 40% only because I grew up speaking Spanish growing up. As an adult I've learned French, Arabic, and German at least on a basic level. Spanish has definitely helped as I've used it in almost every single one of my jobs, however the last three haven't helped at all job wise I imagine only because I'm not 100% fluent in them. They do however come in handy when I'm attempting to read literature in the native language as English translations are not always accurate.
I kind of hate the fact that I can't speak a second language because it makes me feel like an ignorant shithead and am envious of those who can. I took a semester of Spanish, German, and French in school and just couldn't grasp any of it.
The reality is most people whom are fluent (not school fluent) in more than one language learned both growing up. Or live somewhere that the other language is spoken often. I took 5 years of Spanish, did very well at it. Now? I fumble because after high school I never used it. Didn't have to. My point here is that if you went somewhere and lived around it long enough, you would pick it up. There are plenty of bi-lingual retards out there. It's just a matter of being around it enough to pick it up and get comfortable with it.
I took two years of middle school Spanish, four years of high school Spanish, two semesters of college Spanish and all I can do is curse, find a library, and order beer.
I can ask where the bathroom is. And say cat. Donde es el bano? Gato. Don't tell me if I'm wrong. Let me believe in myself. Even if only for a little while.
If I was going to live abroad for more than six months, I would probably take a night class on the country's language basics if it was available. However, I have to Chinese ladies who work on my shift in my plant who have lived here longer than I have been alive and they know maybe two dozen words. They are nice and always smiling, but I have a hard time knowing what the devil they want if the need something from me. They only ever call me "Pizza" because they saw me eating a slice of pizza at lunch when I first started. Apparently "Chris" is a tough one.
I made it 8 months in China and learned two words Nee-how, and she-she (phonetically spelled). Hello and thank you. If they didn't speak english you could just google shit or use your phone to translate. Quite often expats would be able to hook up with Chinese girls when neither of them new a lick of the other's language. It was kind of a thing for expats. I almost pulled it off one night myself but black out drinking got in the way.
At my old job, my boss was Italian, both him and his wife were born in Italy, she still holds an Italian passport. He is somewhere around 65 she is around the same. He went to school(elementary) in Canada, not sure her, but she has been in Canada since at least late teens, and she can barely speak English. If you didn't see him, and only heard him, you would never know he was Italian.
It's not fucking pronounced she-she. It's kind of hard to write phonetically in English, but it's more like she-eh she-eh. For some reason everyone who can't be bothered to learn any Chinese just stops the word halfway. I can't give you too much shit for it though. Most foreigners there pronounce it wrong, seemingly regardless of how long they've been there. That's the problem with having English as your first language. The rest of the world is built to accommodate you.
The problem with riding a road bike is that, subjectively, I'm just a guy going out for a morning bike ride before work. Objectively, on the other hand, I am a man wearing tight shorts riding around a residential neighbourhood while children wait for the school bus.
Happy belated b-day, Angel. Here's what looks like chunks of cake with icing glopped on. I'd probably still eat it. The 8 might look like a 3 if you squint.