No one speaks english anymore??

On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 02:14:41 -0700, Savageduck
wrote:
: On 2013-03-15 01:00:51 -0700, Rob said:
: The French don't want to speak to Canadian French speaking people. Must
: have been the war the French lost and still show hostilities.
:
: Most of the "Arcadians" ended up in Louisiana, and nobody understands them.

When my daughter was in prep school, she learned to speak fluent French. Some
years later, after her French had gotten a bit rusty from lack of use, she
found herself wandering around New Orleans, where her husband was attending a
convention. She decided to take a bus tour of the city, and there was a French
couple on the bus who spoke absolutely no English. They were under the
impression that in Louisiana *everyone* speaks French and that therefore
they'd have no problem. But it soon became clear that Betsy was the only one
on the bus who knew any French at all. So she traded seats so she could sit
beside the couple and did her best to translate the driver's spiel into
French. At one point Betsy was saying so little that the woman became
concerned that she wasn't getting the full picture, until Betsy explained that
most of what the driver was saying was translating the meanings of French
place names into English!

Bob

On 2013-03-15, Robert Coe wrote:
On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:02:40 +1100, Rob wrote:
: Sitting in a restaurant in Switzerland a group of Japanese were in to
: dine. The waiter spoke German (Swiss dialect) so in this situation they
: were communicating in broken English, funniest thing I've seen for a
: long time of course I knew what they were saying and understood the
: conversation but I don't think either understood each other.

Once at a hotel restaurant in Trondheim, Norway, the waitress addressed me in
English, but I decided to try out my 3-day-old Norwegian. She immediately
concluded that I didn't speak either language and smoothly switched to German.
I know enough German to grasp what she was saying, but I knew when I was
licked and reverted to English. The waitress didn't tell me I was crazy, but
I'm sure that's what she thought.

In Belgium we have a Dutch speaking community, a French one and even a (very
small) German one. All official languages.

I allways marvel at French (from France, that is) people trying to find
their way to a city they know the French name of, while staring at road
signs that points to that place... in Dutch.

:-)

PS: Oh, and most of us speak English, too.

PPS: I once spend the evening with a Danish collegue, who introduced me to
her new English friend. At the end of the evening, he complimented me on my
English, but added I *did* have a Scottish accent. Aye, I du. To much Billy
Connolly in that period.

PPPS: Does anyone also find they adapt to the specific accent of the people
they talk to? I sound completely different when talking to someone from the
UK, the USA and - say - India.


--
When in doubt, use brute force.
-- Ken Thompson

On 3/14/13 9:02 PM, in article , "Rob"
wrote:

On 15/03/2013 2:51 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 14 Mar 2013 23:21:00 -0400, Usenet Account
wrote:

On 14/03/2013 10:57 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:46:12 -0400, Usenet Account
wrote:

On 14/03/2013 1:55 AM, wrote:

Well English is an international language.English is a world wide
language.Many people now a days understand English.There are many
people learning English.

What makes you think that the native speakers of Mandarin, Spanish,
and the rest of the list do not also speak English?


Many do, and many are multi-lingual. However the premise to the OP, aka
spammer was the entire World speaks English is flawed.

Where do you get that? The OP said English is "an international
language". It is. He said that English is "a world-wide language".
It is.

He didn't say that English is spoken exclusively internationally, or
that English is the primary language of most people.




Sitting in a restaurant in Switzerland a group of Japanese were in to
dine. The waiter spoke German (Swiss dialect) so in this situation they
were communicating in broken English, funniest thing I've seen for a
long time of course I knew what they were saying and understood the
conversation but I don't think either understood each other.


That reminds me of a time when I was young and travelling with my mother. We
were in an old fashioned restaurant that had a U-shaped counter. My mother
and I were sitting at the bottom of the U. On one "arm" sat a couple from
the UK. On the other "arm" was a couple from the southeastern states.
Neither couple could understand the other, so my mother spent time
translating for them. We had no difficulty understanding both and yet we
all, at least technically, were speaking English!

--
Martha




--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:35:29 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:

On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:02:40 +1100, Rob wrote:
: Sitting in a restaurant in Switzerland a group of Japanese were in to
: dine. The waiter spoke German (Swiss dialect) so in this situation they
: were communicating in broken English, funniest thing I've seen for a
: long time of course I knew what they were saying and understood the
: conversation but I don't think either understood each other.

Once at a hotel restaurant in Trondheim, Norway, the waitress addressed me in
English, but I decided to try out my 3-day-old Norwegian. She immediately
concluded that I didn't speak either language and smoothly switched to German.
I know enough German to grasp what she was saying, but I knew when I was
licked and reverted to English. The waitress didn't tell me I was crazy, but
I'm sure that's what she thought.

I am told the difference in the dialects from one part of Norway to
another can be such that they use English as a common language. I do
know that the English of most of the speakers there is impeccable.
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

On Sat, 16 Mar 2013 11:57:12 +1300, Eric Stevens
wrote:
: On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:35:29 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:
:
: On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:02:40 +1100, Rob wrote:
: : Sitting in a restaurant in Switzerland a group of Japanese were in to
: : dine. The waiter spoke German (Swiss dialect) so in this situation they
: : were communicating in broken English, funniest thing I've seen for a
: : long time of course I knew what they were saying and understood the
: : conversation but I don't think either understood each other.
:
: Once at a hotel restaurant in Trondheim, Norway, the waitress addressed me in
: English, but I decided to try out my 3-day-old Norwegian. She immediately
: concluded that I didn't speak either language and smoothly switched to German.
: I know enough German to grasp what she was saying, but I knew when I was
: licked and reverted to English. The waitress didn't tell me I was crazy, but
: I'm sure that's what she thought.
:
: I am told the difference in the dialects from one part of Norway to
: another can be such that they use English as a common language. I do
: know that the English of most of the speakers there is impeccable.

There are two or three competing dialects of Norwegian, though I don't think
they differ enough to make them mutually unintelligible. To some extent,
they're maintained for political reasons, reflecting a split between those who
think it necessary to purge the language of all Swedish and Danish influence
and those who don't.

One reason I don't think intelligibility is an issue is that the Norwegians
told me that they have no difficulty understanding standard Swedish and
Danish. I tried to get them to say that the differences among the Scandinavian
languages (except, of course, Finnish) are comparable to the difference
between British and American English. They weren't willing to go that far, but
conceded that the premise would be more plausible if the pronunciation
differences between the two varieties of English were expressed in the
spelling of each to the degree that orthography tracks pronunciation in the
Scandinavian languages.

Bob

On 3/15/2013 3:14 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-03-15 01:00:51 -0700, Rob said:


The French don't want to speak to Canadian French speaking people.
Must have been the war the French lost and still show hostilities.

Most of the "Arcadians" ended up in Louisiana, and nobody understands them.


excusez-moi!!

Max

On 2013-03-15 20:07:31 -0700, MaxD said:

On 3/15/2013 3:14 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-03-15 01:00:51 -0700, Rob said:


The French don't want to speak to Canadian French speaking people.
Must have been the war the French lost and still show hostilities.

Most of the "Arcadians" ended up in Louisiana, and nobody understands them.


excusez-moi!!

Max

You have mois which need excusing?
OK! I guess I should have spelt it correctly, "Acadians".

Careful you don't OD on andouille, I understand the DEA is considering
labeling it a controlled substance.

--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 3/15/2013 3:35 PM, Robert Coe wrote:
On Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:02:40 +1100, Rob wrote:
: Sitting in a restaurant in Switzerland a group of Japanese were in to
: dine. The waiter spoke German (Swiss dialect) so in this situation they
: were communicating in broken English, funniest thing I've seen for a
: long time of course I knew what they were saying and understood the
: conversation but I don't think either understood each other.

Once at a hotel restaurant in Trondheim, Norway, the waitress addressed me in
English, but I decided to try out my 3-day-old Norwegian. She immediately
concluded that I didn't speak either language and smoothly switched to German.
I know enough German to grasp what she was saying, but I knew when I was
licked and reverted to English. The waitress didn't tell me I was crazy, but
I'm sure that's what she thought.

After spending a week in Spain, I worked up the nerve to try my pigeon
Spanish by asking for directions: The young lady I asked replied, with a
distinctly British accent, "I'm sorry sir, I don't understand Spanish."


--
PeterN

On 3/15/2013 11:19 PM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-03-15 20:07:31 -0700, MaxD said:

On 3/15/2013 3:14 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-03-15 01:00:51 -0700, Rob said:


The French don't want to speak to Canadian French speaking people.
Must have been the war the French lost and still show hostilities.

Most of the "Arcadians" ended up in Louisiana, and nobody understands
them.


excusez-moi!!

Max

You have mois which need excusing?
OK! I guess I should have spelt it correctly, "Acadians".

Careful you don't OD on andouille, I understand the DEA is considering
labeling it a controlled substance.


I hear there is a move to ban poutine.

--
PeterN

On 2013-03-16 20:03:03 -0700, PeterN said:

On 3/15/2013 11:19 PM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-03-15 20:07:31 -0700, MaxD said:

On 3/15/2013 3:14 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2013-03-15 01:00:51 -0700, Rob said:


The French don't want to speak to Canadian French speaking people.
Must have been the war the French lost and still show hostilities.

Most of the "Arcadians" ended up in Louisiana, and nobody understands
them.


excusez-moi!!

Max

You have mois which need excusing?
OK! I guess I should have spelt it correctly, "Acadians".

Careful you don't OD on andouille, I understand the DEA is considering
labeling it a controlled substance.


I hear there is a move to ban poutine.

I don't believe poutine made it into Cajun cuisine, or even much beyond
a minor intrusion, just below the North-Eastern Canadian-US border.
....unless there is a little known "poutine underground" which Homeland
Security has yet to unearth.


--
Regards,

Savageduck