Silly

-endorn · Post by **-endorn** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:05 am

Location: Germany

German I'm guessing

thehackerinside · Post by **thehackerinside** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:25 am

I think that its amazing that people of languages can speak English so well.
My French doesn't go past bonjour

, really I should study more!

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:27 am

That's what the internet does to people...

benol · Post by **benol** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:48 am

Yo puedo hablo espanol un poco.

dudex77 · Post by **dudex77** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:03 am

thehackerinside wrote:I think that its amazing that people of languages can speak English so well.
My French doesn't go past bonjour , really I should study more!

No it's just that Americans along with other native English speakers never really are forced to learn a language since most other people speak English anyway. America is so big you don't need to really go to other countries and since England is an Island it's separated from all the other Europeans with their thousands of languages.

Post by **CronoTriggerfan** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:28 am

dudex77 wrote:
thehackerinside wrote:I think that its amazing that people of languages can speak English so well.
My French doesn't go past bonjour , really I should study more!
No it's just that Americans along with other native English speakers never really are forced to learn a language since most other people speak English anyway. America is so big you don't need to really go to other countries and since England is an Island it's separated from all the other Europeans with their thousands of languages.

Actually, you'd be surprised just how much Americans have to know in the realm of foreign languages and cultures. Throughout elementary school, for me at least, Spanish was mandatory. Once you entered middle school, you picked a language, and for the next 6 years, that language was a requirement. The reason many don't pursue this after high school is as you said; most Americans don't leave the country, and for those who do, English is the business language of the world, so it's pretty much a given that any business you do overseas will involve an English speaker, or at least a translator. Though I must admit, it's much more culturally acceptable to speak someone's native language if you are to travel to other countries.

CTFan

theelk · Post by **theelk** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:44 pm

CronoTriggerfan wrote:
dudex77 wrote:
thehackerinside wrote:I think that its amazing that people of languages can speak English so well.
My French doesn't go past bonjour , really I should study more!
No it's just that Americans along with other native English speakers never really are forced to learn a language since most other people speak English anyway. America is so big you don't need to really go to other countries and since England is an Island it's separated from all the other Europeans with their thousands of languages.
Actually, you'd be surprised just how much Americans have to know in the realm of foreign languages and cultures. Throughout elementary school, for me at least, Spanish was mandatory. Once you entered middle school, you picked a language, and for the next 6 years, that language was a requirement. The reason many don't pursue this after high school is as you said; most Americans don't leave the country, and for those who do, English is the business language of the world, so it's pretty much a given that any business you do overseas will involve an English speaker, or at least a translator. Though I must admit, it's much more culturally acceptable to speak someone's native language if you are to travel to other countries.

CTFan

My dad can speak fluent Spanish, and so whenever we're at a Spanish restaurant, he'll speak to the waiter in Spanish. They love it. Oh, and I didn't see your location, Kyo. My dad actually speaks a little German, too.

dudex77 · Post by **dudex77** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 4:36 pm

CronoTriggerfan wrote:Actually, you'd be surprised just how much Americans have to know in the realm of foreign languages and cultures. Throughout elementary school, for me at least, Spanish was mandatory. Once you entered middle school, you picked a language, and for the next 6 years, that language was a requirement. The reason many don't pursue this after high school is as you said; most Americans don't leave the country, and for those who do, English is the business language of the world, so it's pretty much a given that any business you do overseas will involve an English speaker, or at least a translator. Though I must admit, it's much more culturally acceptable to speak someone's native language if you are to travel to other countries.

CTFan

Meh, I made it up through 8th grade in American schooling and the only Spanish that was required was knowledge of the present tense. It might be different from how they teach you French, but I never took French so I have no idea.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:05 pm

Actually, a couple of centuries ago America voted when they were independent, whether to speak English or German as their national language, apparantly it was a close call to use English. If this wasn't the case, the world would be very different now. America may not have been persuaded to side with England in the second world war which would have meant Germany was likely to have won, so the world would have been a very different place under The Reich. Think about it.

The reason English is the international language is not because of England but America, thanks to the internet and its dominance - so the world actually has American English as its international language, not Queen's English; which is different.

Post by **Skyone** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:29 pm

benol wrote:Yo puedo hablo espanol un poco.

You even fail at grammar in Spanish!

benol · Post by **benol** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:56 pm

Skyone wrote:
benol wrote:Yo puedo hablo espanol un poco.
You even fail at grammar in Spanish!

I know my Spanish sucks, but "even?" My English grammar fails? I think not!

Post by **CronoTriggerfan** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:26 pm

benol wrote:I know my Spanish sucks, but "even?" My English grammar fails? I think not!

Isn't the question mark supposed to be outside the quotations when citing something in this context?

CTFan

Post by **benheck** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:39 pm

My sister's cat is named Trash Cat. No seriously. A friend of mine found it near a dumpster and took it home. He said "Quick, help me name it before my wife calls it Snowball or something" So we came up with Trash Cat.

Later on when they moved they gave it to my sister. It's really fat, like 16 pounds. There's loads of photos of it on her Myspace.

-Ben

Post by **Skyone** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:13 pm

benol wrote:
Skyone wrote:
benol wrote:Yo puedo hablo espanol un poco.
You even fail at grammar in Spanish!
I know my Spanish sucks, but "even?" My English grammar fails? I think not!

Yes, even, as an adjective meaning equal. If considered slang, the phrase is still less wrong than "puedo hablo" is. It was just a joke on your frequent correcting of grammar, which you yet again do!

benol · Post by **benol** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:15 pm

CronoTriggerfan wrote:
benol wrote:I know my Spanish sucks, but "even?" My English grammar fails? I think not!
Isn't the question mark supposed to be outside the quotations when citing something in this context?

CTFan

No, it always goes inside. My lit teacher told me that last week.