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A few words about English

jeffman

By jeffman
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jeffman w3schools Guru

jeffman

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From time to time, we have a disgruntled member who is put off by a non-native speaker's use of English. I actually think our members who use English as a second language do pretty well overall, and I appreciate the patience they must have to understand some of our explanations, especially the long ones. And of course there are many who write as well as, and often better, than native speakers. Hat's off to you.Currently, there is a discussion going on about a less-than-successful post on a shibboleth board. It might put things into perspective, or at least provide a giggle. Be advised, the link I provided goes to a linguistics board, but this particular thread is not very linguistics-y.

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ApocalypeX Member

ApocalypeX

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I think a people learning any form of computer programming and web development pick up English better as high level languages are in English. Though I find myself turning American sometimes with certain words like "Colour" becoming "Color".

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boen_robot w3schools Guru

boen_robot

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Who did what to a dragon with a pole at goat-time? :)
No no. The goat itself likes "wind"-ing to the dragon's pole on its own time :)
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HTML5 Newbie

HTML5

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I think a people learning any form of computer programming and web development pick up English better as high level languages are in English. Though I find myself turning American sometimes with certain words like "Colour" becoming "Color".
Yeah I used colour most of the time before, but that changes when you use CSS.
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End User Member

End User

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From time to time, we have a disgruntled member who is put off by a non-native speaker's use of English. I actually think our members who use English as a second language do pretty well overall...
I agree, and I'd like to make an additional point. How many of the English speakers here even speak more than one language? A fraction of a percent, I'd bet. So before people dump on a non-native speaker for not speaking English well, consider the fact that the person went to the trouble to learn a 2nd (or 3rd) language in the first place. Then ask yourself how well you could communicate in their language. I'm one of those people who has virtually NO aptitude for learning a foreign language (and believe me, I've tried). Speaking a foreign language is like magic to me, lol, and I have a lot of respect for anyone who can. My wife, on the other hand, speaks four languages fluently (Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, and English), which is almost beyond my comprehension. I've only learned about a dozen words of Khmer in 3 years. :) On the plus side, I'm teaching her Canadian and Australian and she's doing pretty well with those so far. :)
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justsomeguy w3schools Guru

justsomeguy

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Sometimes disgruntled members are delaying the use of non-native speakers of English. I really can not be used as a second language, English is a member, but pretty good, I'm a long time we thought was very pleased with the overall as you'll agree, especially is part of the explanation must be understood that I needed to understand them. Similarly, of course, more often, to create a native speaker is. Hat is off to you.
Ah, thanks translationparty.com.
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justsomeguy w3schools Guru

justsomeguy

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Ja, drüben hinterm Dorfe, steht ein Leiermann. Und mit starren fingern dreht er, was er kann. Barfuß auf dem Eise, wankt er hin und her und sein kleiner teller, bleibt ihm immer leer. Keiner mag ihn hören, keiner sieht ihn an, und die Hunden Knurren um den alten Mann. Und er läßt es gehen Alles, wie es will, dreht und seine Leier Steht ihm nimmer still. Wunderlicher Alter, soll ich mit der gehen? Willst zu meinen Liedern Deine Leier drehen?

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Yes, over there beyond the village, is an organ grinder. And with numb fingers, he turns what he can. Barefoot on the ice, he staggers back and forth and his little plate remains, it is always empty. No one listens to him, no one looks at him, and the dogs growling at the old man and he makes it all go as it wants, turns and his organ is never still. Strange old, shall I go with? Want to turn your organ to my songs?
The deeper meaning eludes me.
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boen_robot w3schools Guru

boen_robot

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I agree, and I'd like to make an additional point. How many of the English speakers here even speak more than one language? A fraction of a percent, I'd bet.
I also speak Bulgarian... oh wait... you meant beyond your native language and English, right? Well, in that case, yeah, I too would guess only a small fraction of users here speak anything beyond their native language plus English.BTW, I'm not sure if I've said it before, but for me, English has always been easy for two reasons:1. Its morphology/grammar is actually very similar to Bulgarian, but simpler due to the lack of genders in words*. The vocablulary of the one has absolutely nothing to do with the other, but the rules for forming words and sentences are similar**. Think of it as Pascal vs. C - when you boil it down, they're both "imperative" programming languages, and in both you have variables, conditions, loops, functions, etc. which work in the same way. You express them very differently, but it's the same approach. If you compared Pascal vs. Prolog... vastly different in approach.2. It has always provided value. I've been working with computers since I can remember myself, and a lot of TV shows are in English too. Now, if I had watched more Animes, and if my OS was in Japanese, maybe I would've thought differently about it, but that's another thing entirely.[ignore unless you're curious about Bulgarian]*For example, if I say "Driver", you don't know if I'm reffering to a male or a female driver, though you'll probably assume male. In Bulgarian, Russian, and a few other languages, that's explicitly said with the last letter of the word.**In both, you morph a word by adding prefixes and suffixes to it, each meaning different things. For example, in English there's "-er" to signify someone who's doing a certain action (in Bulgarian it's "-ьор" or "-ист" with additional gender adjusting suffix afterwards if you're not talking about an object of male kind), or "-ly" to turn adjectives into adverbs (in Bulgarian, there are multiple suffixes depending on the gender of the adjective the adverb will be altered from, and the gender of the adjective depends on the gender of the noun... confused yet?). There's also "articles" (as in "the [something]"), though they're placed as (gender dependant of course) suffixes instead of a separate word.
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justsomeguy w3schools Guru

justsomeguy

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The deeper meaning eludes me.
Just a little poetry.
Way behind the hamlet stands an organ man and with freezing fingers grinds the best he can. Barefoot on the snowbank swaying to and fro - and his little plate has ne'er a coin to show. No-one comes to listen, no-one comes to greet, and the dogs are growling at the old man's feet. And he lets it happen, lets it as it will - cranking - and his organ never staying still.Old man, eerie stranger, Shall I walk with you? Will you, for my ballads, grind your organ, too?
Der Leiermann, the organ-grinder, represents Death. That one is by Wilhelm Müller. There appears to be a midget with really good vocals (Thomas Quasthoff) performing it with piano here (video #6):http://myweb.dal.ca/waue/Trans/Mueller-Winterreise.htmlCovenant has a slightly more contemporary version:
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HTML5 Newbie

HTML5

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I agree, and I'd like to make an additional point. How many of the English speakers here even speak more than one language? A fraction of a percent, I'd bet. So before people dump on a non-native speaker for not speaking English well, consider the fact that the person went to the trouble to learn a 2nd (or 3rd) language in the first place. Then ask yourself how well you could communicate in their language. I'm one of those people who has virtually NO aptitude for learning a foreign language (and believe me, I've tried). Speaking a foreign language is like magic to me, lol, and I have a lot of respect for anyone who can. My wife, on the other hand, speaks four languages fluently (Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, and English), which is almost beyond my comprehension. I've only learned about a dozen words of Khmer in 3 years. :) On the plus side, I'm teaching her Canadian and Australian and she's doing pretty well with those so far. :)
Well I know 3 ASL, Auslang, Canadian English and a few words of French and SpanishXHTML CSS and a little JavaScript probably don't count :)But yeah you're right I went to Quebec once, they make their students in school to learn English. Same as in some third world countries, while for us learning their language is optional. Something's not right here....
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Well I know 3 ASL, Auslang, Canadian English and a few words of French and Spanish
Auslang: My wife has successfully learned to say, "Roighto, throw anuthuh dingo on th' barhbie, mate". It's so cute I may use it for a ringtone, lol.
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trinistorm Member

trinistorm

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Jetzt, mein Kopf tut weh, aber : Its good to learn foreign language and programming, it makes for an integrated world. My Deustch is rusty though.

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  • 2 weeks later...
End User Member

End User

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Greetings from Cambodia. "Soks sa bey" :)It's hot and wet, and we're almost ready to come back. Today we're going to the Holocaust Museum and then (oddly enough) the machine gun range, where we'll pay some $$$ to shoot a variety of machine guns (AK47, M16A1, and a .50 Cal Ma Deuce). Kind of an odd itinerary, but what the heck. Cheers.

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