Comments on: #115 Promising to Learn a New Language

By: julia

julia — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:49:36 +0000

Here on the left coast of Canada there are thousands of immigrants from China and India who speak their original languages plus English. Also, in Quebec, many speak their original language plus French plus English. Of course, all our food packaging and other labels are bilingual, so you can’t help but know that MILK is LAIT, EGGS are OEUFS, etc.

Is it the same in the U.S.? I’ve not been for a while and don’t remember if your labels are Eng-Span or just English.

By: C.Wise

C.Wise — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:39:48 +0000

Part of the problem too is that apart from Spanish, the United States is not the best environment for learning a foreign language since English is the spoken language of all American states.

Nor does it help that foreign language instruction usually doesn’t begin until the 9th grade in the U.S. I’m living in Germany right now, and most kids here start taking their SECOND foreign language in 9th grade.

However, a good number of people I’ve spoken to here in Germany agree that English is actually pretty easy to learn. It also helps that thanks to the mass exportation of American media and culture abroad, picking up new English phrases and terms is not too hard.

This doesn’t excuse us white people though.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:23:41 +0000

Hey, I’m directing this at Jessica, and anyone else who has something horribly negative to say:

Go to the full list of what white people like, and read #101.

That’s all.

By: Nargis

Nargis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:44:11 +0000

Actually, a lot of people from African countries speak their native tongues and the colonial language. It’s not just Europeans. Also, a lot of Spanish-speaking immigrants come here because they are poor and cannot find jobs in their native countries. That means they probably couldn’t afford to pay for language classes..

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:57:05 +0000

Jessica = humourless

By: lowballer

lowballer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:21:37 +0000

This is def true. What I really hate is how people will inject their “second” language into english speech. I have worked in Germany and spend a great deal of time practicing so I can improve my professional skill in it. Aside from the first 5 minutes off the plane when I realize I can speak english again you will never hear me ask for “ein” minute, or start a conversation with a hearty “Gruss Gott”. Yet these people who can barely speak spanish or Japanese throw one of the two words they know into a sentence as if it means something. I have NEVER studied spanish or french but I can hold more of a conversation than most “fluent” friends of mine.

The speaking quickly thing though is a bit of a misnomer. I have only been studying German intensively for 2 years but if you speak clear “Hoch Deutsch” I can hold in depth conversations on a vareity of subjects. However if you immediately go mile a minute falling into your dialekt I am going to obviously have trouble. This is fairly common among intermediate learners who are just branching out into the language at large. Especially horrible with mandarin since your pronunciation is going to cause trouble though.

By: Clare

Clare — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:09:10 +0000

It’s humiliating how true everything on this site is. I had a completely shameful experience when I mentioned to a Portugese guy (who spoke fluent English and Spanish) that I could speak passable French. By passable I obviously meant “Je voudrais un baguette s’il vous plait” and “ou est la gare” etc etc but he went on to start chatting away quickly and incomprehensibly in French to me. I just gave him the stare of contempt. Smart ass.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:55:48 +0000

PWNED!

By: small correction

small correction — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:13:43 +0000

benelux

By: Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:36:47 +0000

What’s espagnol?

Blimey, the blog isn’t serious.