English skills

[Solar]

Theoretically, yes.

Lennart (a Swedish friend of mine) and myself found out that, every time our English vocabulary failed us, we just said the German / Swedish word, and found they were usually quite similar to the word in the other language. (About 19 out of 20 times over the course of a week.)

Then again, you might find that the scandinavian grammar totally eludes you, and that you have a natural talent for Spanish. You never know.

The thing is that, Swedisch, Norwegian, and Danish are reputedly so closely related that it suffices to talk slowly and pointedly. (Much more so than with German / Dutch, which is already pretty close.)

[Candy]

Then again, you might find that the scandinavian grammar totally eludes you, and that you have a natural talent for French. You never know.

My french grades were the only linear thing in middle school, they went down a full point each year. I started with a 7, and when it got to a three it was worse than was allowed .

Dutch was a 6, English an 8 and German a 9. What do I do wrong now?

[bubach]

The thing is that, Swedisch, Norwegian, and Danish are reputedly so closely related that it suffices to talk slowly and pointedly.

Swedisch?
Norwegian is as "easy as dell" (hmm.. all thoose tv commericials drive me crazy..)
but danish is a bit harder, it sounds like they have porridge (rice pudding?) in their mouths...

[Solar]

Swedisch?

English: Swedish. Deutsch: Schwedisch. (Deutsch: English: German.)

Hm.

I'm confused.

;D

And while we're at confusion, did you ever realize that Germans, French, and English people actually refer to completely different people when referring to "the Germans" in their respective languages?

Deutsche -> Teutonen
Allemans -> Alemannen
Germans -> Germanen

[distantvoices]

Oh jolly sweet, solar ... That's bad news.

prater du svenska?

habla espanol?

parles tu francais?

kovorisch hrvatski?

d'ya speak english?

That mush of languages usually causes someone to confuse the words a bit.

[Neo]

But a look-up in my favourite dictionnaire revealed that it is also: "I am going to take a bath at 4 o'clock am." So, you are definitely right.

hth

So does that mean that the bathtub (or something) is being taken somewhere?

[rwfromxenon]

Hmm... sounds like what happened when I moved to England from Scotland. Couldn't understand a friggin word a sasanach said, but now I can hardly understand anything my gran says

I used to talk like this:
I'll hae a poke eh chips and a canneh cake.

Now it's more like:
I'll have a pack of chips and a can of coke.

English itself differs completely depending where in England you are. There's the scousers (Liverpool), the Brummies (Birmingham), the Geordies (Newcastle), Bastards (London) and the Farmers (Everywhere else).

It's like a different language altogether.

[Solar]

My personal favourites are the Aussies... every time I see the "Crocodile Hunter" (Steve Irvin of Australia Zoo's fame), I could laugh my head off when looking at my wife (who had been with a York guy for quite some time, and cringes at every word Steve is saying). Ay, mate... ;D

[fraserjgordon]

Well, in the part of Scotland that I come from, dialects seem to change every 10 miles down the road. Seriously. The really worrying thing is when I've lived in this area for all of my life and I cannot understand what my younger sister says 'cause the language she speaks changes so often.

As she said about her chemistry teacher today: "twae hunner lines? I didnae do nothing wrong! He's jist a wee bam!"

Rough translation: "200 lines? I didn't do anything wrong! He's just a little [derogatory term]"

My grandparents are even worse - their dialect is a much older version, more similar to true Scots (different from Gaelic btw).
Words like "smirr" (misty-rain), "drookit" (soaked), "bothy" (a small cottage) and "breeks" (underpants) come up in their conversations all the time.

Personally, I just stick to good, old BBC English, with a vague Scottish accent. Most people understand. If I need help with French or German, I just ask my mum!

[Calum]

A few comments to make:

(1) The person who started this thread is an idiot, who speaks worse English than those who learn it as a 2nd or 3rd language

(2) We learn German in school, and the most difficult part is the articles (I think thats what Frau Dyer Van Wagenhoff [Good name isnt it ] calls them) which is the Der, Die or Das... Most of the time a guess suffices, and even a native speaking German must be congratulated if they can get them right 75% of the time, and

(3) Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, is considered by most Australians like myself to be utterly hilarious. But it's perhaps a little unfortunate that his accent and manner has forged a stereotype over in the good old US of A of us. They'll hang on your everyword, almost praying that you sound like Steve Irwin. If you don't they'll be a little dissapointed but still think that everything you say is quite amusing.... But it's good that we're somebodies favourites ;D

[Solar]

Most of the time a guess suffices, and even a native speaking German must be congratulated if they can get them right 75% of the time...

It is usually not commented upon when talking to foreign speakers, because we (in the sense of "we native German speakers") are aware it's one of the most difficult parts in an already difficult language. But rest assured that native speakers do achieve a 99% hit rate and better, and will be frowned upon when declaring a table is neutrum.

(3) Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, is considered by most Australians like myself to be utterly hilarious. But it's perhaps a little unfortunate that his accent and manner has forged a stereotype over in the good old US of A of us.

Most US people really take off on stereotypes. I've never worn a Lederhose in my life and can't stand Sauerkraut. For many a US citizen that means I can't be a real German.

[TheUnbeliever]

Maybe I'm gunna learn sum gaelic, that would be fun *ggg*

Being Scottish, I fairly recently started trying to teach myself Scots Gaelic. I'm progressing fairly slowly (because I'm a lazy git), but I am enjoying it. It's a nice sounding language if nothing else.

[Candy]

(1) The person who started this thread is an idiot, who speaks worse English than those who learn it as a 2nd or 3rd language

That isn't awfully nice. Don't do that unless you're 100% sure you're better than they are (and you're not, if you know what I mean).

(3) Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, is considered by most Australians like myself to be utterly hilarious. But it's perhaps a little unfortunate that his accent and manner has forged a stereotype over in the good old US of A of us. They'll hang on your everyword, almost praying that you sound like Steve Irwin. If you don't they'll be a little dissapointed but still think that everything you say is quite amusing.... But it's good that we're somebodies favourites ;D

IMHO nobody who knows Australia thinks they speak Irwinish.

[Calum]

Well I don't really know what you mean, but I'm sorry if that remark offended anyone

[Solar]

Calling someone an idiot is bound to offend. The person addressed in the very least, and some of the other readers because of the use of strong language.