Quotes about First Language

My first language is Gaelic. Votes: 4

French was my first language. Votes: 4

English is not my first language. Votes: 4

I learned Spanish at home and, since half my family doesn't speak English, it's my first language. Votes: 4

I grew up in France, my first language was French, and I tend to gravitate towards French cooking. Votes: 4

Somebody said to me that I speak English almost like somebody for whom English is not their first language. Votes: 4

I studied in American school, so yes, I grew up speaking English and Spanish. Obviously, Spanish is my first language. Votes: 4

My first language was shy. It's only by having been thrust into the limelight that I have learned to cope with my shyness. Votes: 4

Physical expression was my first language: Before I was an actor, I was a dancer, an acrobat, a mime and a street performer. Votes: 4

My dad is a minister, and my mum is a worker with the less fortunate and the disabled. They're Nigerian natives. Their first language is Yoruba, and their second language is English. Votes: 4

Even though many Indians can read or speak English, for most, it is not their first language. At the office, we speak in English, but we consume our culture in our own language. Votes: 4

My first languages are German and Spanish because I was brought up by a Spanish mother and a German father, so I always spoke both languages at home. I'm very thankful that I was brought up in a bilingual house. Votes: 4

Silence is God's first language. Votes: 3

Gratitude is the heart's first language. Votes: 3

Touch is the first language we speak. Votes: 3

God's first language is Silence. Everything else is a translation. Votes: 3

We breathe in our first language, and swim in our second. Votes: 3

Touch comes before sight, before speech. It is the first language and the last, and it always tells the truth. Votes: 3

Drawing - it's the first language of human beings, before writing, before even talking, before words, human beings was drawing. Votes: 3

If a person calls themself 'autistic' and you tell them they have to use 'person first language'... you're not putting the person first. Votes: 3

Drawing is the first language of the human being before writing. It's a transcription of how the human being sees reality, not reality itself. Votes: 3

We start our lives with blues . . . with music. It's our first language. It's the rhythm of the womb. It's your mama's heartbeat inside your head. Votes: 3

It is through our hands that we speak to the child. That we communicate. Touch is the child's first language, understanding comes long after feeling Votes: 3

Afrikaans is my first language, although you would never know, as my English accent has more of an American-British thing going on from all my years of travelling. Votes: 3

Sign language is my first language. English and Spanish are my second languages. I learned Spanish from my grandparents, sign language from my parents, and English from television. Votes: 3

I would like to spend more time with Spanish poetry. I know French better than Spanish, but Spanish was my first language, and my father spoke it to us. Votes: 3

Expressing emotion is not so easy. He has to remind himself that English is not her first language. Expressing emotion can be difficult even when the words are familiar. Votes: 3

The first language that I learned was Italian in Italy in the early and middle-'60s and I had to do that to keep up with the young men who were courting my wife. Votes: 3

Hebrew is my first language, so it's really the most personal and the most simple. When I write in Hebrew, I don't look for sophistication in music; it's just pure emotion that comes out. Votes: 3

No new reader, however charitable, could open “Fifty Shades of Grey,” browse a few paragraphs, and reasonably conclude that the author was writing in her first language, or even her fourth. Votes: 3

My first language is both English and Spanish. My mom was raised in Los Angeles, so with her we spoke English, but my father was born in Cuba, so with him we spoke Spanish. Votes: 3

My first language, the true language of the soul spoken only on our planet of origin, had no word for betrayal or traitor. Or even loyalty- because without the opposite, the concept had no meaning. Votes: 3

I speak Swedish, it's my first language. Of course, growing up with Latin American parents from Argentina, I also have some other influences from other cultures. But Sweden is where I feel the most at home. Votes: 3

It's difficult for me to write in English as it's not my first language, but French is even worse because of my father's influence and because the comparisons that I - not even other people - would make. Votes: 3

Because it's my first language, all the literature that I've read and all the things that I've been inspired by that have been written in Welsh have moved me beyond anything that I've experienced in any other language. Votes: 3

Our parents taught us to love God, love our family and love our country. Their own grandparents were immigrants. Their first language may not have been English, but the hopes and dreams they had for their children were purely American. Votes: 3

Well, my first languages are German and Spanish because I was brought up by a Spanish mother and a German father, so I always spoke both languages at home. I'm very thankful that I was brought up in a bilingual house. Votes: 3

Many people are intimidated by doctors. ... People also feel stupid when they don't understand what a doctor's talking about the first time around, so they don't ask again. And let's be honest here, people. English is not a doctor's first language. Votes: 3

I have never denied my background or my culture. I have taught my child to embrace her Mexican heritage, to love my first language, Spanish, to learn about Mexican history, music, folk art, food, and even the Mexican candy I grew up with. Votes: 3

My father is Cuban. Spanish was my first language, but I don't speak it that much anymore because I had dyslexia, and in school they work with you only in English. But I'm proud to be Latina, and most people don't know I am. Votes: 3

I think I am less self-assured when I write English than I would be if I were writing in my first language. I have to test each sentence over and over to be sure that it's right, that I haven't introduced some element that isn't English. Votes: 3

You'll hear people say it's racist to test. Folks, it's racist not to test. Because guess who gets shuffled through the system oftentimes? Children whose parents don't speak English as a first language, inner-city kids. It's so much easier to quit on somebody than to remediate. Votes: 3

I'm trying to talk to my kids in Japanese, because I'm not a pro English speaker. My wife speaks to them in English. That's her first language. I don't want my kids to feel the same as me when I was studying English. It was so frustrating. Votes: 3

The first time I was in Stockholm, everybody was real cordial, but I started having these nightmares that I was being watched by aliens, basically all the time. My theory on it was that it was really, really unnerving to be in a place where English isn't the first language. Votes: 3

Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler. Votes: 2

A common language is a first step towards communication across cultural boundaries. Votes: 2

I think in general I've never dared compose in Spanish. First of all, it is such an intricate language. Votes: 2

Language comes first. It's not that language grows out of consciousness, if you haven't got language, you can't be conscious. Votes: 2

The language of the Catholic Church - the liturgy, the prayer, the gospels - was in many ways my first poetry. Votes: 2

I hold 'Mi Tierra,' my first Spanish-language album, very close to me because that was all done in my native tongue and won me my first Grammy. Votes: 2

In the studio system, things are expected of a film. By the first, second, third act, there's a generic language that comes out of the more commercial system. Votes: 2

I will not compromise on language or content. At 15, people can handle the same language as me, they're just as complicated as me and are very interested in thinking about important questions for the first time. Votes: 2

I think of language as our first music. Votes: 0

English is my second language. Laughter is my first. Votes: 0

Clarity of language is the first casualty of authoritarianism. Votes: 0

Photography was the first foreign language of my artistic expression. Votes: 0

Language instruction should start in the first grade. Writing, also. Votes: 0

The most difficult step in the study of language is the first step. Votes: 0

The mystic lives and looks; and speaks the disconcerting language of first-hand experience. Votes: 0

Literature belongs first and foremost to the language in which it is being written. Votes: 0

The most disastrous thing that you can ever learn is your first programming language. Votes: 0

What is love at first sight but a proof of the powerful but silent language of physiognomy? Votes: 0

Learn your language well and command it well, and you will have the first component to life. Votes: 0

We've been speaking English as a second language so long that we've forgotten it as our first. Votes: 0

Sacrifice is the first element of religion, and resolves itself in theological language into the love of God. Votes: 0

The First Amendment...begins with the five loveliest words in the English language: 'Congress shall make no law'. Votes: 0

Like a baby learning language, we learn how to communicate with God by listening to His words first. Votes: 0

I'm just being honest about the fact that a second language won't resonate with you like the first does. Votes: 0

One of the first issues I dealt with was the struggle to find a language, to find my own words. Votes: 0

When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first. Votes: 0

Why in the world anyone in America is allowing another language (other than English) to be his first... I don't know Votes: 0

Each composer has their own language, and I try to meet the challenges, even if at first sight, they appear impossible. Votes: 0

Women want to talk first, connect first, then have sex. For men, sex is the connection. Sex is man's language of intimacy Votes: 0

Cat talk is a complicated, self-centered language. If you speak to your cat first, it probably won't speak back. Cats initiate conversations. Votes: 0

Whenever I write a paragraph in English, I first check it with the Google Translator, and most often it says no language detected. Votes: 0

Mine. The language of love is like that, possessive. That should be the first warning that it's not going to encourage anyone's betterment. Votes: 0

If you have an enemy, you first have to listen - whether he really is an enemy or just speaks in a different language Votes: 0

The writer's first affinity is not to a loyalty, a tradition, a morality, a religion, but to life itself, and to its representation in language. Votes: 0

When preparing a role, I work first on the body language and physical aspects of the performance; the psychological dimension comes naturally once I'm in character. Votes: 0

When a society decays, it is language that is first to become gangrenous. As a result, social criticism begins with grammar and the re-establishing of meanings Votes: 0

To work our way towards a shared language once again, we must first learn how to discover patterns which are deep, and capable of generating life. Votes: 0

Someone handed me Mexico City Blues in St. Paul [Minnesota] in 1959 and it blew my mind. It was the first poetry that spoke my own language. Votes: 0

Some people are born with the first word of a language resting on their tongue though it may take some time before they can taste it. Votes: 0

The first and most important thing of all, at least for writers today, is to strip language clean, to lay it bare down to the bone. Votes: 0

In other words, the man who is born into existence deals first with language; this is a given. He is even caught in it before his birth. Votes: 0

First we need to rethink the terms and recognize that we've imported this language from the technocratic class, from Silicon Valley, that talks about openness and transparency. Votes: 0

He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands. Votes: 0

I speak to people in the languagethey understand. First I have a dialogue, if that is not understood I speak inanother language. There is no remedy for this. Votes: 0

Greek mathematics is the real thing. The Greeks first spoke a language which modern mathematicians can understand... So Greek mathematics is 'permanent', more permanent even than Greek literature. Votes: 0

Chess is like a language, the top players are very fluent at it. Talent can be developed scientifically but you have to find first what you are good at. Votes: 0

In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech. Votes: 0

The Little Friend is a long book. It's also completely different from my first novel: different landscape, different characters, different use of language and diction, different approach to story. Votes: 0