Have you ever tartled?
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14 wonderful words with no English equivalent
- Thread starter kwbMitel
- Start date
mscallisto
Technical User
Nice link OlafDoschke
I had fun with the untranslatable words on and
sam
I had fun with the untranslatable words on and
sam
SantaMufasa
Technical User
Olaf said:
Sorry Olaf, but I believe that English is as difficult to learn as perhaps Japanese, Chinese (i.e., Mandarin and Cantonese), and just slightly less complex than Navajo <grin>. When you consider that the letters "ough" have at least 7 different pronunciations in English depending upon what other letters you put in front of, or in back of, "ough", that's a clue of how "clueless" English is.
The easiest (spoken) languages to learn, IMHO, are Spanish and Esperanto. Both languages are extremely consistent/regular in their pronunciations and very regular in their construction and grammar.
The reason that English is the "world" language is because anyone wishing to be successful in international business and technology must speak and understand English.
![[santa]](/data/assets/smilies/santa.gif "[santa] [santa]")
Mufasa(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
Olaf Doschke
Programmer
Hello Mufasa,
I can follow your reasoning, and you are most probably very correct. But it's not only the business, another driving force most probably is music and lyrics.
I cannot talk much about other languages than German - my mother tongue - and English. I have tried to learn Spanish a bit, but soon gave up. I also had the dead language Latin in school, but wasn't very successful at it. I can see how Esperanto is more logical structured and less historically grown, as it's a constructed language.
If the world language would be defined by the number of persons speaking it, it would be Chinese, and from the top of my head, without referring to Google or Wikipedia, I think the next most frequently spoken language is Spanish, followed perhaps by Frensh, at least when you consider the official languages. The disadvantage with Chinese of course is, it's almost not spoken outside of China. And a non Latin alphabet is a hurdle.
Overall I don't disagree, but at least my personal experience differs very much. I tend to see myself as untalented in learning languages, but still have managed to feel very fine with English.
Bye, Olaf.
I can follow your reasoning, and you are most probably very correct. But it's not only the business, another driving force most probably is music and lyrics.
I cannot talk much about other languages than German - my mother tongue - and English. I have tried to learn Spanish a bit, but soon gave up. I also had the dead language Latin in school, but wasn't very successful at it. I can see how Esperanto is more logical structured and less historically grown, as it's a constructed language.
If the world language would be defined by the number of persons speaking it, it would be Chinese, and from the top of my head, without referring to Google or Wikipedia, I think the next most frequently spoken language is Spanish, followed perhaps by Frensh, at least when you consider the official languages. The disadvantage with Chinese of course is, it's almost not spoken outside of China. And a non Latin alphabet is a hurdle.
Overall I don't disagree, but at least my personal experience differs very much. I tend to see myself as untalented in learning languages, but still have managed to feel very fine with English.
Bye, Olaf.
CajunCenturion
Programmer
==>If the world language would be defined by the number of persons speaking it, it would be Chinese
There are lots of different ways to rank the various languages.
You can rank based as a first language of native speakers, or as a first language of actual speakers. You can add to that the use of the language as a secondary language. In other words, how many speak <insert language> as either a first or second language. Or you can extend that to the total number of people fluent, spoken and/or written, for a given language. You can factor in the number of countries in which that language is spoken, and/or whether it's a "legal" language for the conduct of business. It's difficult to agree or disagree with any language ranking without first understanding the ranking criteria.
--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. - Plato
There are lots of different ways to rank the various languages.
You can rank based as a first language of native speakers, or as a first language of actual speakers. You can add to that the use of the language as a secondary language. In other words, how many speak <insert language> as either a first or second language. Or you can extend that to the total number of people fluent, spoken and/or written, for a given language. You can factor in the number of countries in which that language is spoken, and/or whether it's a "legal" language for the conduct of business. It's difficult to agree or disagree with any language ranking without first understanding the ranking criteria.
--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. - Plato
Olaf Doschke
Programmer
Sorry, Cajun, I didn't specify more exact what I mean with persons speaking a language. You're totally right it depends. So? I was overall just describing my feelings towards this, nothing based on numbers, statistics, whatever.
Bye, Olaf.
Bye, Olaf.
Having been born in 1966, I have never seen them, except in the US on old (ancient/antique) cars...mscallisto said:
I thought that would get someone to reminisce... actually, that was quite often used by US soldiers back in the 70's and 80's (of last century), always had me chuckling...mscallisto said:
It is the World language, due to the fact that the British had so many different colonies around the world, where the top economic power in the 19th Century to be replaced by the USofA in the 20th Century... So watch out soon we all will be either talking Hindi or Mandarin-Chinese...Santa said:
Und dein Englisch ist sehr gut... (and your English is pretty good...)Olaf said:
Not everyone is talented language-wise...
Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"
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