Yes, I know what you were talking about, I make lot's of mistakes myself, nobody's perfect.

It is kind of ironic that I make a grammar error in a rant about grammar.

 

I don't think I could work in this hobby if I had to do it in another language other than English.

Provided that you had no chances in your mother tongue you would do it for the same reason that so many people learnt a language: NECESSITY.

Never ending paragraphs? Forget. Next, please.

 

Provided that you had no chances in your mother tongue you would do it for the same reason that so many people learnt a language: NECESSITY.

Never ending paragraphs? Forget. Next, please.

I stink at languages.

I know a bit of Italian but almost never get to use it therefore it makes it difficult to improve.

English is a horrible language. I can't imagine having to learn it outside of being born into learning it. But I suppose the advantage is you are exposed to it everywhere.

 

English is a horrible language. I can't imagine having to learn it outside of being born into learning it.

I concur. I took it for granted until I started studying other languages. In the past I have studied Spanish, Arabic, and Tagalog - never succeeded in learning those, but I can remember a few words. It's only when I study other languages that I realize just how jacked up English is. So many double standards, stupid rules, exceptions to stupid rules, and it's backwards from just about every other language. In most languages the noun or verb comes first, so you know what the sentence is going to be about before reading all the adjectives and adverbs that describe it. That's the way that really makes sense, right? We talk backwards. I'm sure there was a better candidate for "universal language" than English.

 

Maybe we should all speak Esperanto?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

Italian (and I imagine Spanish) has some strange rules. My Italian friend tells me it is easier to learn to speak English. He gives an example latte = milk, to milk as in milk the cow is mungere. Frankly I don't speak the language well enough to determine if he is right but I can tell you I get confused by all of the tenses.

 

Does it not make more sense to have 2 seperate words for milk (noun) and milk (verb)? I think it does. We have many words for the same thing (car, vehicle, automobile, etc) and we have many meanings for the same word (I'm going to spring into action and forge some steel springs next spring). We would clear up a lot of confusion if every word had one meaning and every meaning had only one word. And eliminate the word "the" - try it, remove "the" from every sentence; point makes it through unscathed.

Maybe Esperanto, but I'm too lazy.

 

You think English is hard... try Russian.... million exceptions, different endings to everything and ways to change words to add subtle meanings. Oh yes and milk and to milk are different Sadly, English words are being russified (hope I am using this properly) including such words as texting.

 

I don't know a single word of Russian. I dropped Arabic like a hot potato when I learned that they have 12 tenses

 

in russian it's not verbs but nouns that are the killer - declensions and proper adjectives. Spelling is tough and 33 letters 2 of which are not really letters at all...

I like spanish (can read but not speak) and took latin in university which helps with some general linguistic skills and terminology. I do not understand texting language at all, probably because I do not use it. My brain hurts when I hear someone say LOL as I fear it may actually replace real laughter...

 

English? Hard? Pfft. Global exposure is good, sure, but I think modern English was designed to be easy. No conjugations in nouns or adjectives and only 3 actual forms for each verb. Have and Be do all the hard work.

Greek is admittedly a hard language. It has an accent mark, to denote the tonal syllabus in every word.
The nouns, past participles and adjectives have different endings for the number (singular/plural) and for the "tense" (you don't have a word for it) (the * - of the * - to the * - oh, *).
Verbs have all the tenses you have, but form only two with the help of auxiliary verbs. All the rest have their own form, not just ending. They also have inclinations, forms that reveal meanings like affirmation, command or wish.
Spelling is a b17ch to learn, but has (many) well-established rules, so that if you learn them, you can spell an unknown word correctly - as opposed to English.
All in all, Greek is a hard language. Ancient Greek was even harder and they make us learn some in school.

French is a bit easier, as the nouns and adjectives can't be conjugated.

Japanese, however, is on the other end of the spectrum. I studied for a year and was overwhelmed. I 've stopped for now, but plan to resume at some point. This language is like speaking with lego bricks. Nothing is conjugated, but rather broke down to one or two syllabus blocks. You have to pick the right blocks in front or a the end of each word to communicate the correct meaning. That makes for usually 10 such blocks in a small sentence.
And do I need to mention the hieroglyphics? They have 3 written forms of language. The first, Hiragana, is a syllabic alphabet used by children and illiterates as a form of simple writing. The second, Katakana, has the same phonetics as Hiragana, but is used explicitly for foreign words. Finaly, the Kanji, are the hieroglyphics that we see in Japanese writing and number in the thousands. Those who have highschool level education are expected to write using them, instead of Hiragana, when writing. Hiragana is still used for endings or very small words.
So, in all, apart from the unfamiliar talking system, you have to memorize thousands of symbols, if you want to read Japanese. Good luck with that.

 

I had a japanese exchange student do my name in three dielects,they carry

rice paper squares with them,also pen and ink. It was a thing nice. There was a

young man from Braizil,I told him he would be the head of Braizil some day an

impressive young man. I have taken young men to........different style of action.

Looking back the store front has some questions. Most spoke english better than

me,or they tryed to be on there best,from well to do families, I posted the other day

the pre k to 12th grade is for sale at local education boards,for $ 30,000.00 and

first shot at college. Most school boards changed there rules to allow out of country

student an education,that means once they arrive and learn our rules they will

apply for free education based on rules in place,I had one person to light up and

say"we only accept cash only,the student can get lost in the system.Who knows

what happens when they learn our system,we have heard this before with trails

U.S. Federal courts or military court marshalls.People on both sides of the story

try to beat our system.

 

, if you want to read Japanese. Good luck with that.

no thanks. I prioritize like this
#1 - tagalog, because my wife & daughter speak it.
#2 - spanish, because half the people in my state speak it
#3 - Chinese, because if anybody is going to invade us on our home land, it would probably be the chinese.

So far, I'm working on #1; I would say I have the vocabulary of a 2 year old. Spanish, I actually used to know a lot. I took 3 years of it in high school and actually used it, as I worked in a restaurant and none of the cooks spoke english. I had to speak spanish to get the job done, so I retained a little. But that was 10 years ago and I've forgotten a lot of it. I can still do it if I have time to think (as in, reading) but trying to listen to a conversation, I have no idea what's going on. Chinese - forget about it. That's just a word to fill slot #3, I'll never get around to studying it.