[General] Talk in English or talk on English?

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dado1

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I wonder what is correct "I talk in English" or "I talk on English"?
 

euncu

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***neither a teacher nor a native-speaker***

Some possibilities depending on what you mean to say;

To talk in English.
To talk on in English.
To talk on English Language.
 

emsr2d2

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If you're talking about the language, we normally use "speak", not "talk".

I was speaking [in] Spanish with a friend yesterday.
He speaks in English on the phone every day.

We don't necessarily use "in". I speak Spanish. He speaks English every day.

I think it's better to use "speak" when the subject is languages. You wouldn't ask someone "How many languages do you talk?" or "Do you talk German?"
 

euncu

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If you're talking about the language, we normally use "speak", not "talk".

I was speaking [in] Spanish with a friend yesterday.
He speaks in English on the phone every day.

We don't necessarily use "in". I speak Spanish. He speaks English every day.

I think it's better to use "speak" when the subject is languages. You wouldn't ask someone "How many languages do you talk?" or "Do you talk German?"

What about such an example? ;

My friend and I were talking, and then I suggested him that we talk on in English to improve our speaking skills.
 

emsr2d2

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What about such an example? ;

My friend and I were talking, and then I suggested him that we talk on in English to improve our speaking skills.

Personally, I would say "My friend and I were talking, and then I suggested that we speak English so we could practice".
 

Offroad

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What's wrong with?

  • We were talking [about] the English Language!
  • Let's talk football!!!;-)
 

emsr2d2

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What's wrong with?

  • We were talking [about] the English Language!
  • Let's talk football!!!;-) - Very colloquial, and I don't particularly like it. There's nothing wrong with "Let's talk about football".

There's nothing wrong with those (well, apart from the missing "about" in the second sentence).

I said that we usually use "speak" when the verb is followed by the name of a language/number of languages.

We speak Spanish.
They speak German.
We speak four different languages.

We are talking about speaking English.
They are talking about speaking German.
He was talking about last week, when he was speaking Italian all week!
 
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