Re: Re: Re: What form of English are Euro-Students taught?
Originally posted by Sadako of Girth
Oh yeah...? So what will you do about a made/maid,
where/wear or and oh/owe etc situation...?
And could you have a 'would' in the morning...?You'd be stuffed, methinks.
And if you are rigid about your ethic, then please spell 'patronising' "Paytrunizing" and "Tomatoe" "T'Maytoh" etc
Good luck have a debate with the English communicating world with that stuff.
Not a point that I didn't think of already. I also thought of allomorphs posing problems and just simple word association via etymology. (Such as origin of a word to understand it's meaning or encountering a new word but knowing what it means because of the "residue" from the word amalgamation.)
Alas, I was far from original in my homophonic, etymological, and allomorphic thoughts. I would go as far as to say I am far from even close to being as in depth with my "idea" as these sources are.
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/vangogh/555/Spell/spel-links.html
Simplified spelling is superfically attractive but, first, has proven SO difficult to get right (the Simplified Spelling Society is onto at least its third iteration and it's still not right)- and if it is that difficult then it's nowhere near worth the enormous effort needed to make the shift.
But secondly, it's also cultural vandalism. Language tells a story and I'd hate to mess with that.
They learn a sort of American English in Germany, my son goes to a Germany school and the grammatical errors in the work books are amazing in some cases.
They also pronounce the "U" in a worse than cockney way so it sounds like an "A". So Bus becomes Bas for example.
The worse thing is they can´t get rid of the German movie steriotype making the "W" sound like "V", like Vat Do you VANT.
Ive been to Belgium often, and am amazed at how perfect they speak English, as someone mentioned they speak it better than the English.
Originally posted by BicnarokWe can't actually hear it in many cases. The casual speaker doesn't hear it because our ears were never trained for it. Of course that happens betweem most languages, for example English speakers often have a problem with the German "ch"...though, so do German people...the "ch" has actually quite a few different sounds to it that you don't usually think about.
They learn a sort of American English in Germany, my son goes to a Germany school and the grammatical errors in the work books are amazing in some cases.They also pronounce the "U" in a worse than cockney way so it sounds like an "A". So Bus becomes Bas for example.
The worse thing is they can´t get rid of the German movie steriotype making the "W" sound like "V", like Vat Do you VANT.
Ive been to Belgium often, and am amazed at how perfect they speak English, as someone mentioned they speak it better than the English.
Problems I had (and still have at times) are v - w (very - what), though the "w" sounds is less often noticed, we don't really have the "what" w, th - s (that - sat), again, because we don't have a "th"...and something that is hardly noticeable at all for German speakers j - ch (jet - chat)...that's basically the same sound for me unless I really concentrate a lot...
Originally posted by UshgarakHow dare you, I take offense to that. My grandfather fought in the war for your enslavement and that's how you repay him.
"Old weterans stick to their vays," as I believe was a Eastern European joke from immigrants in the 20th century.It does seem an odd one to mix-up though, from our perspective, because the mouth/tongue movements used are so very different.
But yeah, the thing is, since we don't have the tongue movement, we use the closest thing. The "w" we have in German is like a mix between your "v" and "w", like halfway there.
Yes the Dutch speak very good English as well, but you can tell they arn´t natural English speakers because they have a throatier sound when saying certain words, can´t put my finger on it but I could notice it. But with the Belgique (if thats the right term for them🙂) I cannot tell the difference, except for maybe the lack of accent, which some English people sometimes have if they´ve been abroad a long time.
I know Icelanders often speak with very natural accents, I think a big part of it is Television nowadays. France and Germany having a lot of homegrown Television as well as dubbing foreign stuff, do not expose their children to English much until they start learning it in school, which is why the unique parts of their language are more prominent when learning a different one, I believe.
I don't like many Southern US accents...for example John Edwards' (candidate for the Democratic Nomination in this years election) annoys me. There are also a few English once I dislike...though it is often the way (as in choosing words) people (especially youngers) here talk which annoys me more than the accent they use.
I find typical Scottish and Irish accents (that you might here on TV) extremely entertaining on the other end of the spectrum. Though it's hard to understand for me.
Originally posted by Sadako of GirthAh... Die Hard... How I love thee so.
Of course it does...
Some of it was Germanic in origin. 😛Speaking of language and translation, Bardock...
What would this mean, word for word if it actually anything...?
(Its a line from "Die Hard" and the caps "B" was meant to be your "s" sound thingy. btw)"was has'ich dir gesault?
Ich will, da Beskeiner sieght."The context was it was a part of Hans' reaction to finding Karl's brother dead in the elevator with all that "ho-ho-ho now I have a machine gun" business, if it helps.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
No offence at all to anyone from these areas, but strong Geordie and Glaswegian accents are very hostile to foreign language learners, in my experience.That's certainly the comment I get from such learners, anyway.