Even if there is much jokin' here; I think we're a little too harsh on
our US friends here... They still know more of the world than most
Europeans - since they live in such a voluminous nation.
As a Dutch about Belgium or a Swede about Norway or (worse!) Finland..
Or a Greek person on Albania. They will know - nothing.

schillid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> QUESTION:
> What word is used to describe a person who speaks
> ONLY ONE language?
> ANSWER:
> American.
>


And Proudly So!!!

me to

Yo this topic is da shiznit homies....

I could not believe this when I saw it!

Quote
Edith Grove
I could not believe this when I saw it!

note: Fox "News." Nice blend of fact & opinion there. Leaves many unanswered questions in order to get just the reaction you had.

I think english is the hardest language to learn because it's rules seem to be much more ambiguous than other languages. English is a melting pot of several language trees (Germanic, Love, Latin, etc.). I actually think that most Americans (I am one) are unable to speak well; they rely on colloquisms, metaphors, hyperbole, etc. to speak. It seems that, generally, that are unable to form sentences on their own. For example, Bush's "fooled me once..." speach. Also, I hate how Americans always say that are "starving." Must we always use hyperbole? Do we know the difference between starving and hungry?

josh.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-21 07:01 by Josh2131.

actually Middle age English has lots of Dutch and Danish in it
but singing in Dutch will not sell a lot of records....
Sometimes for a non English born speaker it gets a bit challenging to communicate in a foreign language but then again who speaks Dutch so it is a no choice situation, the challenge is to actually speak better then native English speakers which sorry to say with our USA friends is not so hard to do....lol
Jochem

Know why ther are very few pretty woman in England and so many in Scandinavia??
Because the Vikings took all the pretty girls back home! I'm not kidding here

>>actually Middle age English has lots of Dutch and Danish in it<<

I'd even go further.

Take some Dutch, North German, Northtern British, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian fishermen to a little island - there'd be no language barrier between them.
at an instance!

you can throw in the French too actually, but there will be a serious cultural difference never mind the garlic smell

Interesting topic if a a little off but never mind. I think you'll find that a lot of people in England can't speak a foreign language although it is taught in schools.

The problem for Brits and Americans is that and I'm speaking from personal experience.

a) When we go abroad and we attempt to speak in the language of that country we get answered back in English so we therefore make no attempt to further speak the language. It is difficult to learn languages when no one speaks to you in anything but English.

b) We're not taught foreign languages in the UK from a young enough age.

c) I think certain sectors of British and American society still hold onto the illusion that they still own half the world and that they think everyone should speak English or are so blind to politeness that they assume they don't have to.

As a Brit I am ashamed of my lack of ability to speak a foreign language although when I go abroad my better half will tell you I have my head constantly in a phrasebook!! Perhaps I should at least attempt to learn a language properly before setting off for foreign shores.

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

Quote
Josh2131
I think english is the hardest language to learn because it's rules seem to be much more ambiguous than other languages. English is a melting pot of several language trees (Germanic, Love, Latin, etc.). I actually think that most Americans (I am one) are unable to speak well; (...)josh.

I think English is both things: Most easy to learn because you can express most things with a really small supply of words. Most difficult to use properly because of it's vast pool of expressions (much more for example than German has).

Quote
Edith Grove
What language do most people on the European continent
use as their primary language?

I'm thinking that would be German.
Am I correct?

Right you are (as long as we don't include Russia which covers parts of Asia also). There are round about 100 Million people in Europe who use German as primary language (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). But what counts on this board is a different thing. As we're from all over Europe and all over the world in this little community we choose the language most people speak as their preferred SECONDARY language ;-) And there you are: it's good old English!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-21 14:55 by Greenblues.

>>>>but i'd really way rather talk about how popular music changed the world,
and why that enormous surge of creativity came billowing up in Britain in the 1960s.
i get how the economy influenced that, and how ending the draft in 58 or whenever it was contributed -
but neither of those elements explain that creative explosion. is there any explanation?

Maybe there was a lot of creativity available in Britain before the 1960s as well, but the circumstances did not allow this creativity to be expressed? I think in the 60s for the first time in history the youngsters had the chance to ventilate their creativity.

BTW, I don't think this was exclusive for Britain, but the Brittish artists managed to spread their art (esp music) worldwide. In other forms of art we see more examples of new creativity emerging in the 50s and 60s. Think of the young artists from The Netherlands, Belgium and Danmark that worked together in Cobra. Here in my country a lot of creative writers emerged in the 50s and 60s, like Hermans, Reve, Wolkers and Mulish, who shook up the world of literature.

Just my 2 cents of course.

Quote
Edith Grove
I often hear that some of the best use of English
is by non-native speakers.
I tend to think that is true, especially where I live.

I think this statement is true as well, just look at the title of following thread.

'Who All is From the Bay Area on This Board?"


(Sorry Timbernardis, but that is just a terrible sentence)

statement :

i allow myself to say that I am sure that learning foreign languages makes one more understanding towards other nations.
Therefore if it was obligatory to learn at least 2 other languages, it would have positive effect on international issuses and problems.

Quote
Jochem
Know why ther are very few pretty woman in England and so many in Scandinavia??
Because the Vikings took all the pretty girls back home! I'm not kidding here

Hey! As far as I've seen, there are many pretty girls in England as well!

Quote
6853
statement :

i allow myself to say that I am sure that learning foreign languages makes one more understanding towards other nations.
Therefore if it was obligatory to learn at least 2 other languages, it would have positive effect on international issuses and problems.

statement:

AGREED!

We are Stones fans so we have superior intelligence. And I mean it. Most of my friends who are Stones fans are either well educated or financially successful. In some rare cases, they are both.