Foxy Knoxy

[oafc0000]

You're missing the point, man. The arguement was that you should not be allowed to move there.

[sifi]

Have we now moved onto a discussion involving a load of people who can't speak more than one language - and some who can't speak even that properly - talking about the demands or otherwise of ... speaking another language?

[sifi]

What?

Edited December 8, 2009 by sifimaster

[Langdale Wolf]

Have we now moved onto a discussion involving a load of people who can't speak more than one language - and some who can't speak even that properly - talking about the demands or otherwise of ... speaking another language?

[oafc0000]

Some of the people on here are discussing what it means to be bi-lingual, and how a person becomes bi-lingual.

Most of those people aren't - to my knowledge - bi-lingual. How do people who can't speak more than one language have the faintest idea of learning to speak a second language?

Serious question. It's a bit like asking for sex tips from a virgin.

[sifi]

I can speak and understand Black Country. I daresay many people on these boards couldn't.

If anyone could go down The Cat at Enville and get into a conversation with a local, I would be mightily impressed. That is a task and a half even for me.

[rabid]

Look, regional accents don't count as an enitrely different languages. Stop it. Or I'll start posting about Hull again.

[Langdale Wolf]

Look, regional accents don't count as an enitrely different languages. Stop it. Or I'll start posting about Hull again.

[sifi]

Not really getting your point... Are you saying it is not easy to do ?

[-pogo-]

Hallo, Mein hessie ist Johnny. Ich wohnne in Larkhall, WestSchotland. Ich habe ein bruder. Mein bruder heisse ist Dale. Mein leiblingfacher ist geschist.

Sifimaster ist nul, ampersand ist grosse unt phil ist mein kaninchen. Mein leiblingefester ist atlantean.

Was ist das? Das ist mein hund!

[oafc0000]

I'm saying how would anyone here have the first idea as to whether or not it's easy to do? And whether it's easy to do before arriving here?

[sifi]

Hallo, ich heisse Johnny. Ich wohnne in Larkhall, WestSchotland. Ich habe ein bruder. Mein bruder heisst Dale. Mein leiblingfacher ist geschist.

Sifimaster ist nul, ampersand ist grosse unt phil ist mein kaninchen. Mein leiblingefester ist atlantean.

Was ist das? Das ist mein hund!

[sifi]

As we all already speak English and most of us where born here I would doubt we do... Unless it compares to learning French / Spanish / German etc...

[Tugger2k]

I'm saying how would anyone here have the first idea as to whether or not it's easy to do? And whether it's easy to do before arriving here?

English is a mess. An absolute mess. Compared to other languages the irregularities are near impossible to get a handle on. We don't have noun groups, verb groups, there aren't patterns which can be easily applied to all similar types of words in the same way as some foreign languages. Very difficult to learn from a book. Easier - but by no means easy, I'd say - to learn by living here.

[-pogo-]

I don't pretend to be an expert in German. I care not for tenses, grammer, masculine v's feminine v's neutral, etc etc etc.

[Langdale Wolf]

at least we dont have the stupid feminine/masculine rules for inanimate objects

trying very hard with my spanish at the moment and have to say that when i was a kid trying (not very hard i'll admit) with french it used to wind me up and now that im actually trying with spanish its even more annoying.

i still cant wrap my head around how a table can have a gender and then a chair a different gender. just use the word THE FFS

[Rufus Gwertigan]

The French - they'll f**k anything.

[oafc0000]

One of the first things you actually do learn when learning a foreign language is how your own language works, and how to construct phrases using nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, all those kind of things.

And it becomes very apparent very quickly that where most European languages follow basic groups and what have you, English has so many irregularities.

Edited December 8, 2009 by oafc0000

[sifi]

at least we dont have the stupid feminine/masculine rules for inanimate objects

trying very hard with my spanish at the moment and have to say that when i was a kid trying (not very hard i'll admit) with french it used to wind me up and now that im actually trying with spanish its even more annoying.

[sifi]

I think empowering people to buy stuff from the local shop or read a form applying for benefits is the sort of level we should aim form. Studying Shakespeare or the final points of the language can be left to choice.

[-pogo-]

The structure of the language has to be learned before any words. To truly understand how a language works, and to begin to be able to speak it properly, you don't repeat pigeon fashion. That's why most people fail.

[Tugger2k]

And yet it's those very rules which provide a simple template which allow the language to be quickly picked up and understood for most nouns. Unlike the British madness of irregularity.

[sifi]

if you already speak a latin based language

if you dont, as i dont, i find it annoying in the extreme.

[sifi]

Nah man, I can get by with my limited German from time to time.

[-pogo-]

But you aren't looking to move to Germany, or a German speaking country anytime soon, are you!