English Language

[Thorum]

I have thought of this often and I am not sure how to express myself on this but here goes.

I want to say to all people who know/speak/write the English language here on the Forum and aren't native speakers, I am very much impressed how you:

1 - Know the language itself

2 - Communicate so well in English

3 - Know more than your native tongue.

Perhaps in Europe, you are brought up with English as a second language. Regardless, I find it very impressive and quite an accomplishment to know a second language.

I do not know another language. I did study French and Russian years ago but have really not kept them up so I have lost those languages. With a Russian wife now, I hope to at least learn Russian again. I have no excuse.

I remember, while visiting Sweden, asking politely to people I met in stores, etc. if they spoke English and apologized for not knowing Swedish. I don't think it is proper to assume people should know your language outside of your country.

I just wanted my fellow Apricians, to know that it is appreciated and you should be proud that you can converse so well in another language!!

[MarcvSS]

I have thought of this often and I am not sure how to express myself on this but here goes.

I want to say to all people who know/speak/write the English language here on the Forum and aren't native speakers, I am very much impressed how you:

1 - Know the language itself

2 - Communicate so well in English

3 - Know more than your native tongue.

Perhaps in Europe, you are brought up with English as a second language. Regardless, I find it very impressive and quite an accomplishment to know a second language.

I do not know another language. I did study French and Russian years ago but have really not kept them up so I have lost those languages. With a Russian wife now, I hope to at least learn Russian again. I have no excuse.

I remember, while visiting Sweden, asking politely to people I met in stores, etc. if they spoke English and apologized for not knowing Swedish. I don't think it is proper to assume people should know your language outside of your country.

I just wanted my fellow Apricians, that is appreciated and you should be proud that you can converse so well in another language!!Well to be honoust my friend, I amaze myself each day how I can manage the English language...

But hey, it seems I'm doing fine, so another item to be proud of I guess...

[Lenny]

I am a native English speaker but I'll say this:


I believe that it is easy to learn the basics of English for a non-native-speaker; easier than most languages.
But ironically, English is harder than most languages to learn fluently and be able to speak/write in a polished academic manner.
Spanish is similar to English in this way- colloquial Spanish is the simple language of a lazy, laid-back people (they care very little for grammar rules); "the King's Spanish" is a good deal harder though.
German is said to be the opposite of those two- A steep learning curve at the beginning, but if you ever reach mid-level ability, learning the rest is a relative breeze.
I think Hungarian and the Finnic languages are among the hardest in Europe to learn; though Russian is a competitor (how can a language have 15 cases??):eek::p

[Hrolf Kraki]

Pronunciation is the most difficult, I think. And we spell funny. :p

(Ex. bone, phone, tone, done)

[Albion]

I have thought of this often and I am not sure how to express myself on this but here goes.

I want to say to all people who know/speak/write the English language here on the Forum and aren't native speakers, I am very much impressed how you:

1 - Know the language itself

2 - Communicate so well in English

3 - Know more than your native tongue.

Perhaps in Europe, you are brought up with English as a second language. Regardless, I find it very impressive and quite an accomplishment to know a second language.

I do not know another language. I did study French and Russian years ago but have really not kept them up so I have lost those languages. With a Russian wife now, I hope to at least learn Russian again. I have no excuse.

I remember, while visiting Sweden, asking politely to people I met in stores, etc. if they spoke English and apologized for not knowing Swedish. I don't think it is proper to assume people should know your language outside of your country.

I just wanted my fellow Apricians, to know that it is appreciated and you should be proud that you can converse so well in another language!!

Yeah, most of the members on here write very good English. Sometimes it is native speakers themselves which seem to write sloppy, I suppose it's just laziness quite often.

[Riki]

1 - Know the language itself- Yes

2 - Communicate so well in English- Yes

3 - Know more than your native tongue.- No:)

After many years of learning English,sometimes I still have difficulties in expressing myself when writing.
And I actually think I will never be able to do It as proper as in Portuguese.
I think my problem when writing In English,Is that I'm thinking in Portuguese.

[Riki]

I am a native English speaker but I'll say this:


I believe that it is easy to learn the basics of English for a non-native-speaker; easier than most languages.
But ironically, English is harder than most languages to learn fluently and be able to speak/write in a polished academic manner.
Spanish is similar to English in this way- colloquial Spanish is the simple language of a lazy, laid-back people (they care very little for grammar rules); "the King's Spanish" is a good deal harder though.
German is said to be the opposite of those two- A steep learning curve at the beginning, but if you ever reach mid-level ability, learning the rest is a relative breeze.
I think Hungarian and the Finnic languages are among the hardest in Europe to learn; though Russian is a competitor (how can a language have 15 cases??):eek::p


I agree with you to a certain point.
But just like in Brazil with Portuguese Language the educated people speak Portuguese just fine.With a natural different accent.

[Mindflare]

Russian has 15 cases? Well I'm definitely not learning that language anytime soon.

[brick]

I think Hungarian and Finnish have even more cases! I find it mind boggling that Russians actually use all cases in daily life, by the way. I myself learned Arabic, which has three cases, but none of them are used in colloquial speech.

[Ouistreham]

Russian has 15 cases? Well I'm definitely not learning that language anytime soon.

No. Only six (like Latin) or seven.

The use of cases isn't that complicated. It's often clearer and better definite than the correct choice of prepositions in Western European languages. For instance, German declensions are generally less tricky than German prepositions (how many time did I hesitate between ab, von and aus?).

In "Global English" to, for and at (and possibly others) are frequently used as if they were interchangeable in most cases.