06.09.24: Follow-up on the previous post [2]; More from George Adler’s questions on languages

[i]

— Leguntne Germānicē? │ Do they read (in) German?

— Immō vērō Francogallicē legunt; nōs autem Anglicē legimus. │ No, they read in French; we, however, read in English.

[ii]

— Potesne iam Germānicē loquī? │ Are you already able to speak (in) / Can you already speak German?

— Nōndum possum; vērum incipiō. │ I still can’t, but I’m starting.

[iii]

— Ille melius scit Latīnē loquī quam ego. │ He knows how to speak (in) Latin better than I (do).

[iv]

— Incipitne frāter tuus linguam Ītalicam discere? │ Is your brother starting to learn the Italian language?

From this post and the previous one you can extract some key questions and answers:

[1]

[i] Loquerisne Lātīne? │ Do you speak Latin?

Lātīnē (bene / optimē) loquor │ I speak Latin (well / very well)

Latīnē discō │ I’m learning Latin

Latīnē intellegō │ I understand Latin

Lātīnē legō │ I read (in) Latin

Latīnē scrībō │ I write (in) Latin

[ii] You can also use lingua Latīna i.e. ‘the Latin language’

Loquerisne linguā Latīnā [ablative]? │ Do you speak in the Latin language = Do you speak Latin?

Linguā Latīnā [ablative] loquor │ I speak inthe Latin language = I speak Latin

Lingua Anglica est lingua materna mea │ The English language is my mother tongue.

Linguam Latīnam [accusative] discō │ I am learning the Latin language

[2] possum, posse [irr.] (to be able)

[i] Potesne Lātīnē loquī? │ Are you able ¦ to speak (in) Latin? / Can you speak (in) Latin?

Latīnē loquī (nōndum) ¦ possum │ I am (not yet) able ¦ to speak (in) Latin.

Latīnē (paululum / paulum / multum) scrībere / legere possum │ I am able to read / write (very little / a little / a lot) in Latin.

__________

Examples using lingua (Latina):

Quibus linguīs [ablative] loquī potes? │ In what languages are you able to / can you speak?

Linguā Latīnā loquī possum │ I am able to speak in the Latin language.

Linguam Latīnam et legere et scrībere possum. │ I am able both to read and to write the Latin language.

__________

[2] sciō, scīre, scīvī [4]: know; understand; know how to…

Scīsne Lātīnē loquī? │ Do you know how ¦ to speak Latin?

Lātīnē loquī sciō / nesciō │ I (don’t) know how to speak Latin.

Num Latīnē scit? (Cicero) │ He doesn’t understand Latin, does he?

Epicūrēī nostrī Graecē ferē nesciunt nec Graecī Latīnē (Cicero) Our Epicureans can almost not understand Greek, nor the Greeks Latin

[3] studeō, studēre, studuī [2]

The original meaning of the verb studeō was far broader than merely ‘study’: dedicate oneself to something, be devoted tosomething; by the Late / Mediaeval Latin period it has acquired the more specific sense of “study”; the verb is followed by the dative case

Linguae Latinae [dative] studeō │ I study the Latin language