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Post by vlk on Nov 19, 2022 1:24:34 GMT
It's a matter of taste but to me Spanish just sounds so much nicer to the ear than French.
Besides, Spanish is better articulated. The French shorten their words too much so it makes it harder for foreigners to understand.
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 19, 2022 1:55:28 GMT
It's a matter of taste but to me Spanish just sounds so much nicer to the ear than French. Besides, Spanish is better articulated. The French shorten their words too much so it makes it harder for foreigners to understand. In my experience the French went out of their way not to speak English, especially if they could see you were struggling. I have to say, it's a little tricky saying that now because I have a French daughter-in-law who's lovely, and couldn't speak a word of English before she met my son. She still cant really, they live in France so I suppose she gets little opportunity. Even she says the French are rude and she doesn't like Parisiens at all. As for Spanish, no experience really. Yes we've been to Spain a couple of times but you don't pick the language up in a couple of weeks. Mrs R's sister has lived in Spain for... years, she can cope with a simple conversation but is far from fluent. That's because she and her husband lived in a rural location, they weren't exactly reclusive, just private. Her husband died a few years ago and she didn't want to come back to the UK * so she moved to the coast and now lives in a thriving community that she likes, and everyone speaks English. * When her husband died she asked Mrs R and I if we wanted to go out to Spain, to live. She had a quite a large and remote property and didn't fancy living there on her own. Mrs R would have gone, but I'm afraid it was always a nonstarter for me. Which is why she moved to the coast, and I'm pleased to say she is quite happy. Are you sorry you commented, lol. |
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Post by vlk on Nov 19, 2022 2:11:09 GMT
France and Spain are big countries and are different compared to smaller countries like Scandinavian countries where nobody expects a foreigner to speak their language and people there jump to the opportunity to practise their English especially with a native speaker.
In fact, if you move to any of the Nordic countries and hope to learn the language the biggest obstacle is that you can't get practice since everybody wants to speak only English to you.
You would have to seek the company of the elderly who are more unlikely to be able to speak English but if you are not yourself elderly that is a bit boring.
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 19, 2022 3:21:36 GMT
France and Spain are big countries and are different compared to smaller countries like Scandinavian countries where nobody expects a foreigner to speak their language and people there jump to the opportunity to practise their English especially with a native speaker. In fact, if you move to any of the Nordic countries and hope to learn the language the biggest obstacle is that you can't get practice since everybody wants to speak only English to you. You would have to seek the company of the elderly who are more unlikely to be able to speak English but if you are not yourself elderly that is a bit boring. At the risk of sounding boring, I once briefly knew a girl from Aeroskobing. We were sailing and stopped there overnight. Her name was Pauline and she spoke perfect English, yet she was 100% Danish. We went to Norway a couple of times, a stunningly beautiful country. On those occasions, we were so removed from civilisation we may as well have been in Alaska, or Siberia. In Germany, as you say older people were less likely to speak English. Most young people spoke fairly good English, in southern Germany young people spoke English with an American accent which was initially strange. At the time (1970's 80's & early 90's) there were thousands of US servicemen in Southern Germany, accents rub off. Thanks to Churchill and Roosevelt, the Brits got the industrial north. Hey ho. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Nov 19, 2022 8:43:18 GMT
France and Spain are big countries and are different compared to smaller countries like Scandinavian countries where nobody expects a foreigner to speak their language and people there jump to the opportunity to practise their English especially with a native speaker. In fact, if you move to any of the Nordic countries and hope to learn the language the biggest obstacle is that you can't get practice since everybody wants to speak only English to you. You would have to seek the company of the elderly who are more unlikely to be able to speak English but if you are not yourself elderly that is a bit boring. At the risk of sounding boring, I once briefly knew a girl from Aeroskobing. We were sailing and stopped there overnight. Her name was Pauline and she spoke perfect English, yet she was 100% Danish. We went to Norway a couple of times, a stunningly beautiful country. On those occasions, we were so removed from civilisation we may as well have been in Alaska, or Siberia. In Germany, as you say older people were less likely to speak English. Most young people spoke fairly good English, in southern Germany young people spoke English with an American accent which was initially strange. At the time (1970's 80's & early 90's) there were thousands of US servicemen in Southern Germany, accents rub off. Thanks to Churchill and Roosevelt, the Brits got the industrial north. Hey ho. There was a young girl from Aeroskobing whom Red spent some effort disrobing but when playing in bed he hit his poor head when the Dane's middle finger went probing |
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Post by Einhorn on Nov 19, 2022 10:30:33 GMT
At the risk of sounding boring, I once briefly knew a girl from Aeroskobing. We were sailing and stopped there overnight. Her name was Pauline and she spoke perfect English, yet she was 100% Danish. We went to Norway a couple of times, a stunningly beautiful country. On those occasions, we were so removed from civilisation we may as well have been in Alaska, or Siberia. In Germany, as you say older people were less likely to speak English. Most young people spoke fairly good English, in southern Germany young people spoke English with an American accent which was initially strange. At the time (1970's 80's & early 90's) there were thousands of US servicemen in Southern Germany, accents rub off. Thanks to Churchill and Roosevelt, the Brits got the industrial north. Hey ho. There was a young girl from Aeroskobing whom Red spent some effort disrobing but when playing in bed he hit his poor head when the Dane's middle finger went probing Brilliant!  Though, I strongly suspect that Red was simply describing how he wishes his last prostate examination had gone. |
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Post by zanygame on Nov 19, 2022 21:45:44 GMT
I have been to many different countries all over the world and I have to say that whenever I have asked in a bar for 'two beers please' (in English) I have always received what I asked for. Foreign languages are vastly overrated..  I would go further. We travel a lot and everywhere you go you don't get a chance to try their languages as they address you in English as soon as they meet you. Indeed Germans and Norwegians, Dutch and Italians converse in English. I learned a bit of Spanish but its become a family joke that you can never get near enough to a restaurant to ask 'mesa para dos, por favor' before they are already moving the chairs out for you. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Nov 20, 2022 13:01:07 GMT
At the risk of sounding boring, I once briefly knew a girl from Aeroskobing. We were sailing and stopped there overnight. Her name was Pauline and she spoke perfect English, yet she was 100% Danish. We went to Norway a couple of times, a stunningly beautiful country. On those occasions, we were so removed from civilisation we may as well have been in Alaska, or Siberia. In Germany, as you say older people were less likely to speak English. Most young people spoke fairly good English, in southern Germany young people spoke English with an American accent which was initially strange. At the time (1970's 80's & early 90's) there were thousands of US servicemen in Southern Germany, accents rub off. Thanks to Churchill and Roosevelt, the Brits got the industrial north. Hey ho. There was a young girl from Aeroskobing whom Red spent some effort disrobing but when playing in bed he hit his poor head when the Dane's middle finger went probing LOL, brilliant. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Nov 20, 2022 16:13:53 GMT
There was a young girl from Aeroskobing whom Red spent some effort disrobing but when playing in bed he hit his poor head when the Dane's middle finger went probing LOL, brilliant. I was hoping you'd enjoy my deviant digit ditty. |
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Post by Paulus de B on Nov 22, 2022 13:09:42 GMT
English developed in England as Scots developed in Scotland - that's not "nothing to do with" either England or Scotland. Both are Germanic languages (as is modern German). The extent of the British Empire and trading network, succeeded in the 20th century by the global dominance of the United States, has given the English language the status of a global lingua franca. The fact that the Americans speak English also isn't "nothing to do with" England (and Scotland). We should in any case enjoy and exploit it while it lasts - nothing's permanent, and the 21st century may be very different in this respect. |
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Post by Paulus de B on Nov 22, 2022 13:18:35 GMT
...What I found studying foreign languages was terms about structure i didn't even realise we used in English as we had not been taught sufficiently about English language. I found that more than a little strange............. Same here. English grammar wasn't really taught at my oddly named "grammar school"; it was in Latin lessons that we picked up that there was such a thing as grammar, and then applied it back to English. A poor justification for learning Latin, though , the Romans had been gone at least a fortnight before we even started. |
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Post by bancroft on Nov 22, 2022 15:59:42 GMT
...What I found studying foreign languages was terms about structure i didn't even realise we used in English as we had not been taught sufficiently about English language. I found that more than a little strange............. Same here. English grammar wasn't really taught at my oddly named "grammar school"; it was in Latin lessons that we picked up that there was such a thing as grammar, and then applied it back to English. A poor justification for learning Latin, though , the Romans had been gone at least a fortnight before we even started. Yes I realised when studying Spanish and learning about the subjective and conditional tenses. |
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Though, I strongly suspect that Red was simply describing how he wishes his last prostate examination had gone.
