I try my utmost to be cordial and pleasent with everybody on this board. Which is exactly how I behave in real life. Plenty of people here have met me in the flesh, so they can dispute that as they see fit. But when I stumble accross ignorant fools testifying their blind hatred for entire groups of people on this board in front of some of those very people, then yeah, the friendliness definitely gets tested. It saddens me that polycount would be occupied by anyone like that.
To me, it's an international community that has no borders or prejudice. We're here to bounce off of each other, inspire each other, learn from each other. Hate each other for no good reason? No pal. I dont think so. I dont think that anyone with that kind of attitude should be welcome here.
[ QUOTE ]
I try my utmost to be cordial and pleasent with everybody on this board. Which is exactly how I behave in real life. Plenty of people here have met me in the flesh, so they can dispute that as they see fit.
Daz: yes, I think so. Whatever happened to angsty artists expressing themselves through their angry art? way too much articulation around here, not enough drawing!
To us Americans, hating the french comes as natural as being fat and stubborn; it's part of our culture. Excuse me while I eat my bucket of freedom fries.
Not that i'd want to claim what you eat as being belgian, because from what i've seen of 'french fries', they're the thin sticks you get at mcDonalds, right?
If so, let the french keep their supposed fries, heh.
Man, i am SO in the mood for a large bag of fries now.
Daz: i have renewed respect for you, because you think like me, but you express it a thousand times better... not to mention in a gentler tone.
It seems completely stupid to make a statement like you hate the french or hate the americans without joking, such a massive generalization, so hic like,
anyway, Weiser had a point when it comes to the french governments hypocrisy. They have taken many steps to keep the language exact, to keep French the dominant language in its colonies, and to try to promote French whenever they can to other countrys (Because of the french government, Esperanto was never used as an international language by the UN, the french government wouldn't agree to any other language but French).
Baguettes are way too crusty, they make my the gums right behind my front teeth hurt. Had to eat them for about 7 days straight, inevitably with some sort of apricot preserves. Simply intolerable. I also got a ham sandwich with butter on it - it was revolting, butter is certainly not a legal pork sandwich topping. Also, Paris was really flat and I didn't like that much. Grey, too. And pay toilets at tourist spots. Those capitalistic bastards, making me pinch my ass cheeks together while I paw through a fistful of funny coins to find the right combination which will allow me to poop. I am filled with loathing at the mere thought.
yeah, the french are why the NATO operated E-3 Sentry AWACS planes have NATO - OTAN written on the side, for organisation d'treatie altantique nord. FFS, can't you just call it NATO?! and it's also why the UN troops have united nations nationes unies on their patches. WHY? more people speak freaking ARABIC than french! i hated learning french in school, why not learn a language which more people speak like spanish or chinese or russian?!
okay, actually, i woulda hated those two as well, a language is hard enough to learn without a whole new alpabet too...
i honestly do not hate the french people in general. as i said, i hated a few i met. i hate the stupid language and linguistic purity crap. daz may think i'm xenophobic, but honestly i'm not. i pretty much think we're all humans, why can't we just get along?
Ah, I guess you're one of those people who visits foreign countries and expects everyone to speak English? The UK has the lowest rate of second-language speakers out of all of Europe. Tells you something, doesn't it?
I think it's very good of all those other nations to kindly learn other languages in order to communicate better internationally, while us Brits just sit on our ass and expect everyone else to learn our language and save us some effort. Bah.
no, i'm one of those people who wishes he had a universal translator...
that or i'm going to get a camera phone and copy that guy in that commercial and just take photos of everything and wave it at people and hope they point me the right way!
[ QUOTE ]
I think it's very good of all those other nations to kindly learn other languages in order to communicate better internationally, while us Brits just sit on our ass and expect everyone else to learn our language and save us some effort. Bah.
[/ QUOTE ]
No offense, while you might have given it to us, I believe the US is responsible for the almost necessary learning of the english language, reguardless of your first language or country of origin.
But yes we are just as guilty of not learning other languages and expecting everyone else to learn ours.
That's kind of an interesting point, Ben - I was thinking something similar. English is the primary language on two of the six continents (Australia, North America) and there are nations with a primary English emphasis in both Africa and Europe. English seems the 'most important' language to know due to both it's global distribution and prominence amongst powerful nations.
What's the best choice for a second language, though? French might make sense for a European to learn, and France is obviously a global power, but with the exception of a few isolated pockets, French is almost unspoken in the entire western hemisphere. As an American, the most practical second language is Spanish - starting at Texas and nearly all points south, Spanish is spoken by almost everyone. But there's not a lot of benefit to speaking Spanish elsewhere - there are a large number of Spanish speakers in the world, but not much political power in those countries. Asian languages get a lot of press as the languages of the future global community, but they're still very regional despite the enormous populations as Asian languages really haven't migrated out of Asia. If you're not in China, you really aren't going to have much call for speaking Chinese - the same is even more true of Japanese, Korean and so on.
Considering all that, I think it's in the world's best interest to learn to speak my language, since I can't possibly learn all of theirs
I'd say American media control helps spread English the most now, rather than its global distribution, whether its the internet or CNN.
Maybe I am just bitter because the french government rejected esperanto, but I don't see any logical reason it is chosen as one of the main second languages (except in Canada)
[ QUOTE ]
I'd say American media control helps spread English the most now, rather than its global distribution, whether its the internet or CNN.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I didn't say anything about how it got to be that way and certainly wasn't making any judgement about it. Moreover, I really don't think it matters - for whatever reasons, English is the most global language at the current moment and it likely behooves non-native speakers to learn it before any others.
I have no bad feelings towards France, even though I had compulsory french classes in grammar school and am surrounded by people who parrot what the teevee tells them about the place
It's also the universal language for the airlines.
I am not taking any sides in this discussion, but it is.
In an international business like air travel thay have to pick a common language and English is it.
For what that was worth
I've once heard that French is the 18th most common language on the planet, right behind German. The way French is forced upon us it almost seems like the second most common. As a third language in school I'd have preferred Turkish over French, at least with that I'd meet people speaking it almost everywhere I go.
[ QUOTE ]
Ich mag Deutsch. Just wish I had more time to study it. Spanish would be more helpful tho, since all the germans I've met speak great English.
[/ QUOTE ]
Seriously? that actually comes as a surprise to me, since germans usually aren't too fluent in english. Not in pronounciation, at least. The same thing goes for the french, and also to a lesser extent the dutch, but that's just because their language makes them used to a certain way of speaking, and that usually makes them speak with a rather thick american accent.
If there was one language i would like to be more fluent in, it's definately french, but mostly because i'm rather helpless when it comes to asking directions and such in our country's capitol.
Replies
To me, it's an international community that has no borders or prejudice. We're here to bounce off of each other, inspire each other, learn from each other. Hate each other for no good reason? No pal. I dont think so. I dont think that anyone with that kind of attitude should be welcome here.
I like the getting back to work suggestion.
I try my utmost to be cordial and pleasent with everybody on this board. Which is exactly how I behave in real life. Plenty of people here have met me in the flesh, so they can dispute that as they see fit.
[/ QUOTE ]
He is hot too.
Not that i'd want to claim what you eat as being belgian, because from what i've seen of 'french fries', they're the thin sticks you get at mcDonalds, right?
If so, let the french keep their supposed fries, heh.
Man, i am SO in the mood for a large bag of fries now.
Daz: i have renewed respect for you, because you think like me, but you express it a thousand times better... not to mention in a gentler tone.
anyway, Weiser had a point when it comes to the french governments hypocrisy. They have taken many steps to keep the language exact, to keep French the dominant language in its colonies, and to try to promote French whenever they can to other countrys (Because of the french government, Esperanto was never used as an international language by the UN, the french government wouldn't agree to any other language but French).
Take that, France.
okay, actually, i woulda hated those two as well, a language is hard enough to learn without a whole new alpabet too...
i honestly do not hate the french people in general. as i said, i hated a few i met. i hate the stupid language and linguistic purity crap. daz may think i'm xenophobic, but honestly i'm not. i pretty much think we're all humans, why can't we just get along?
I think it's very good of all those other nations to kindly learn other languages in order to communicate better internationally, while us Brits just sit on our ass and expect everyone else to learn our language and save us some effort. Bah.
that or i'm going to get a camera phone and copy that guy in that commercial and just take photos of everything and wave it at people and hope they point me the right way!
I think it's very good of all those other nations to kindly learn other languages in order to communicate better internationally, while us Brits just sit on our ass and expect everyone else to learn our language and save us some effort. Bah.
[/ QUOTE ]
No offense, while you might have given it to us, I believe the US is responsible for the almost necessary learning of the english language, reguardless of your first language or country of origin.
But yes we are just as guilty of not learning other languages and expecting everyone else to learn ours.
What's the best choice for a second language, though? French might make sense for a European to learn, and France is obviously a global power, but with the exception of a few isolated pockets, French is almost unspoken in the entire western hemisphere. As an American, the most practical second language is Spanish - starting at Texas and nearly all points south, Spanish is spoken by almost everyone. But there's not a lot of benefit to speaking Spanish elsewhere - there are a large number of Spanish speakers in the world, but not much political power in those countries. Asian languages get a lot of press as the languages of the future global community, but they're still very regional despite the enormous populations as Asian languages really haven't migrated out of Asia. If you're not in China, you really aren't going to have much call for speaking Chinese - the same is even more true of Japanese, Korean and so on.
Considering all that, I think it's in the world's best interest to learn to speak my language, since I can't possibly learn all of theirs
Maybe I am just bitter because the french government rejected esperanto, but I don't see any logical reason it is chosen as one of the main second languages (except in Canada)
I'd say American media control helps spread English the most now, rather than its global distribution, whether its the internet or CNN.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I didn't say anything about how it got to be that way and certainly wasn't making any judgement about it. Moreover, I really don't think it matters - for whatever reasons, English is the most global language at the current moment and it likely behooves non-native speakers to learn it before any others.
English is the language of business.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's also the universal language for the airlines.
I am not taking any sides in this discussion, but it is.
In an international business like air travel thay have to pick a common language and English is it.
For what that was worth
As a third language in school I'd have preferred Turkish over French
[/ QUOTE ]
Dude dont even get me started on those Turkeys! Gobble Gobbling all over the place! Bastards.
Ich mag Deutsch. Just wish I had more time to study it. Spanish would be more helpful tho, since all the germans I've met speak great English.
[/ QUOTE ]
Seriously? that actually comes as a surprise to me, since germans usually aren't too fluent in english. Not in pronounciation, at least. The same thing goes for the french, and also to a lesser extent the dutch, but that's just because their language makes them used to a certain way of speaking, and that usually makes them speak with a rather thick american accent.
If there was one language i would like to be more fluent in, it's definately french, but mostly because i'm rather helpless when it comes to asking directions and such in our country's capitol.