vandorssen Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I am just intrigued at how some of the forum users who do not hail from English speaking countries seem to get along with it so well. I’ve found English to be a most difficult language, and I have been brought up on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnoc Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I live in Switzerland, but I do have the advantage of having an American father (my mother is Swiss) and so I learned English together with German. I have also a natural gift for languages, so I never really had any problems with them (only with French, but I don't like this language; probably because of those idiot teachers we had). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesugandalf Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I am from Spain, and my English is good just because I've studied a degree on it at University, and I've also been in Northern Ireland for a year to improve it. Very nice place to go, by the way ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Where's the option for "English is my primary language but I speak it just as badly"? I could think of plenty of people who deserve that title... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnoc Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Truer words were never spoken :D It is a shame that people who have English as their primary language can't write (perhaps even speak :blink: ) it correctly. What do they learn in school nowadays? Where is education nowadays? When even I write better than someone who has English as primary language... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandorssen Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 (Peregrine): Where's the option for "English is my primary language but I speak it just as badly"? I could think of plenty of people who deserve that title... I had considered putting up such an option, but thought better of it in the end. My own brother has a hard enough time with it, and since he is also on this board, I did not want him to get the impression that I was in some way slighting him. It just amazes me though… Even my friend, born and raised in Sweden, has been here only about 10 years, and he has no trace of a Swedish accent, and only on a rare occasion will he stumble on some esoteric word. But as I said in another post elsewhere, we in Northeastern Minnesota have something of a northern European accent to begin with and I just may not as readily notice a Swedish or German or other Nordic accent (there is a reason, after all, why they call Minnesota “Little Sweden”, and it is not just because of our quasi-socialist leanings). I know one language (American-English) very well, and two others (German and French) well enough to get along. Of the three, I think English is the most difficult. I applaud those who have some degree of mastery over it despite it not being their primary language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkh Templar Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 My English is quite good since I've been in contanct with media on English ever since I was 2 years old. I remember my neighbours freaking out that I'll mix English with my native language and that I won't be able to communicate with anybody. This lead to the eviction of a 72cm TV from my 75 yearold neighbours house because she thought that it could happen to her and that she would be handicaped for life; which was a very wierd motive since she spoke 9 languages. It puzzles me even today. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaiv Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Born English, raised English. Except now I can't spell because of my speaking German. [Read English = Englisch] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maquissar Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I think my English is good enough for a born and bred Italian. I've mostly learnt it through music and computer games... I don't think I've ever even opened a grammar book. And, in the last few years, I must admit that chatting on the Internet has helped as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ëlwe (Thingol) Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 My English might be above average (of people my age), but in Holland it isn't really that hard excelling above your fellow Dutchmen becouse almost each Dutchman speaks English with a really clear Dutch accent <_< .And ofcourse i've always been quite good at English wich has been caused by a overwhelming quantity of hours behind computer :blush: . But I think this has some negative effects too because you sometimes accidently use 'words' like:u, ppl, etc. in a formal conversation. (Im only 15, man there are a lot of older ppl on these forums) Ëlwe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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