Tony Ruscoe Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 Originally posted by "Foxxx" You (as an english speaking person) try speaking another language without putting on an accent...they will normally give you a complete glazed over blank look because the accent is so important to the understanding of the language. So in that respect I would say English is reasonably easy to learn for foreign people as they can get away with odd accents and incorrect grammer. I disagree that accent is that important... look how many people speak English in this country with (for example) an Indian accent or even just regional accents. You can still understand them no problem, so I reckon if a foreign person has blank look when you talk to them, it's because you're not saying the correct words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxxx Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 I think you have totally misunderstood what I said and are infact agreeing with me! I said that people can speak English with any accent and you can usually understand them you used an Indian accent as an example and this is exactly what I was saying, you can understand the english with an indian accent as you can with a spanish, greek, newcastle, sheffield, london etc etc accent. However when you try to speak a foreign language (other than english) if you don't get the accent right the person native to that language can't understand you. I wasn't talking about speaking english to a foreigner. I am saying e.g you try speaking Maltese in an english accent...they will give you a blank glazed look. However, you speak it with a maltese accent and they will understand. Many foreign languages are very dependent on the pronounciation of the letters in the words. You say it slightly differently and you totally change the meaning of the word. Generally speaking English isn't affected like that. Does that clarify it better for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Prolog was tough though not as bad as Lisp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ruscoe Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Originally posted by "maxt" Prolog was tough though not as bad as Lisp. You must be as much of a geek as me... I actually "know" both those languages. :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ruscoe Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Originally posted by "Foxxx" Does that clarify it better for you? Yes, sorry I agree with you... except sometimes I do pretend that I don't understand my girlfriend when her Leicester accent turns into a Brummy one! "Blank glazed look" normally does the trick to bring back her "normal" (albeit non-Northern) accent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Originally posted by "Tony Ruscoe" Prolog was tough though not as bad as Lisp. You must be as much of a geek as me... I actually "know" both those languages. :oops: What car do you drive then Cdr Ruscoe? (Sorry, it's a joke you need to be geeky to understand) ROFL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ruscoe Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Originally posted by "maxt" What car do you drive then Cdr Ruscoe? /me hangs head and shakes it in shame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halevan Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 I can speak two languages fluently, english and south yorkshire, a few words of german, french, and danish after that I have to use sign language. Seriously though, in the old days there was a universal language developed called "Esperanto", but sadly it never caught on, but something like that is what is needed for the whole world to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clik32 Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 I started learning sign language a long time ago... at primary school to be honest, carried on learning for a while... got the basics. But how the hell do I get on to a course?? Halevan... where did you learn?? I find it easy to pick things up quickly and really loved learning Sign Language. I'm also going to be qualified as a nursery nurse in July, so I'm sure it would come in handy somewhere there! Any help anyone?? Chloé Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziegler Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 How about Chinese? It is my native language. I personally think it is beautiful on writing and in poems. But Chinese in China usually write simplified characters, maybe more efficient but look like some defects for me. I think English is easy to learn basics, but hard to master. I wish people here can correct my accent, but usually they just say "no, no, you speak very well" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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