Cat Using toilet and toilet paper

kirjoitti:
Christine BA wrote:

And of course, in Germany all tv-programs, films and whatever are dubbed
in German, so one wouldn't get any English that way either. I prefer
programs subtitled than dubbed. That way I hear the film like it's
supposed to be, and not with all the Tom Cruises and Samuel L. Jacksons
speaking German (or French in the programs DH watches).

LOL - around here, the Tom Cruises and Samuel L. Jacksons speak
Spanish when the movies they're in are dubbed for the Mexican stations.
They're a multilingual bunch.

Joyce


Dubbed programs always remind me of the character in the Police Academy
films, the black guy who would do all those sounds, and twist his mouth
differently to what he said, like a dubbed film...

--
Christine in Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
"Christine BA" wrote in message

Marina kirjoitti:
Christine BA wrote:
When I graduated back in '82, we had to choose at least four and a
maximum of six subjects. I took six, five of which were languages
(Swedish, Finnish, German, English and French), and the sixth the
"short course" in maths.

I did the same subjects as you, except I did the long course in
maths. I can't say I was ever fluent in French or German, but I can
get the gist of written text and, if it's simple enough, spoken F
and G. I did pass the written examination in French at uni with my
school French, though it was over ten years after I matriculated
from school. I though your Dad was German, Christine, but apparently you
don't
speak German with him if your German has rusted?


My active German (speaking it myself) has rusted a bit, the passive
side, reading and listening, is doing OK. We speak Swedish at home...
err... with my parents, always have. When dad calculates something,
for example, he does it in German. And of course he speaks German too.
Sometimes we speak German, sometimes Russian (dad's mum was Russian),
just for fun. And when DH's around my family, we speak English, even
though his English isn't very good, and neither is that of my parents,
but they get along. And if need be, I give DH the "Readers' Digest"
version of the ongoing discussion in French, if some other language is
used or he hasn't been able to follow. But I'm still not fluent in
French, just a lot better at it than I was about a year ago. It's a
multilingual environment here...

As a chronically monolingual person from along line of monolingual people,
those who can speak more than one language have my admiration and just a
tinge of jealousy. Those who are fluent in more than 2 also have my
amazement.

I hated French and subsequently failed it at school. I was *far* better at
German, although no where near as good at it as the rest of my subjects. I
did six months worth of each language when I was 13, and when we got to
choose which subjects were were going to do, foreign language was the one
of the first ones dropped (the first one was sewing - I was much worse at
sewing than I as even at French, and still am.)


I didn't particularly like French at school, but I am surprised how much of
it I still retain. It's only useful to read labels on food, for me.
German was not offered at my school. When I was talking to N on the phone
the other day I told her I had Bratwurst for dinner in my best German
accent. She had no idea what I meant so I repeated it. "you know, German
sausage thingie" When she said it back to me it sounded nothing like what
I'd said!
I was dreadful at sewing, (still am) I could never do it at school,
everything I tried to make took twice as long as anyone else and was spotted
with my blood where I'd pricked myself with the needle. The teacher told me
off continually.
I've come to realise that we all have different talents. Sewing is not one
of mine.

I can build a chicken run, no problem. I can cook quite well, sewing - no.

Tweed

"Christine BA" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell kirjoitti:
"Christine BA" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell kirjoitti:
Tweed
P.S. I offered to try and learn German - she said "don't bother,
you're too old.."
Tact lessons needed.

One is never too old to learn, it's the motivation to learn that is the
key, not the age. If you really want to learn something, you can.


Yes, but it seems to be not necessary. N would prefer to practice her
English on me rather than I learn German. Nobody speaks English where
she lives. Out in the wilds there.
She complains of an English "underdose" if we don't speak on the phone
often - there is no-one else to speak English to her.

I'll be visiting her next year again in May or June. I may come home
with more German words. I did try some but N's husband said " aww,
nice." which suggests they sounded a bit stupid.

Tweed


I'm having a German "underdose" at the moment. I've suggested to my
brother and father that we could speak German now and then, just to
activate my vocabulary, as our German-speaking clients (two of them)
haven't been very active lately.

And of course, in Germany all tv-programs, films and whatever are dubbed
in German, so one wouldn't get any English that way either. I prefer
programs subtitled than dubbed. That way I hear the film like it's
supposed to be, and not with all the Tom Cruises and Samuel L. Jacksons
speaking German (or French in the programs DH watches).

--
It's a pity you don't have a friend in Germany to phone so you can not have
an underdose, but rather an overdose
Brits are dreadful at languages. We think all the world speaks English so
we don't try much to learn any other language. So arrogant.

Tweed

Christina Websell kirjoitti:
"Christine BA" wrote in message
...

I'm having a German "underdose" at the moment. I've suggested to my
brother and father that we could speak German now and then, just to
activate my vocabulary, as our German-speaking clients (two of them)
haven't been very active lately.

--
It's a pity you don't have a friend in Germany to phone so you can not have
an underdose, but rather an overdose
Brits are dreadful at languages. We think all the world speaks English so
we don't try much to learn any other language. So arrogant.

Tweed


Bro and dad are quite fluent at German, so I wouldn't need to phone
anyone in Germany (and I couldn't afford it by normal phone either, but
Skype would work).

And if you forgive me for being blunt, it seems most people who speak
English as their first and foremost (only) language, seem to think
everybody else should speak English too. So I wouldn't say it's just the
Brits...

--
Christine in Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

Christine BA wrote:

And if you forgive me for being blunt, it seems most people who speak
English as their first and foremost (only) language, seem to think
everybody else should speak English too. So I wouldn't say it's just the
Brits...

Yeah, native English speakers in the US aren't so great about this,
either. However (and I can't speak for anyone else on this) I don't
*expect* everyone else to be able to speak English. But I'm pretty
dependent on the fact that so many people do speak it. Maybe it doesn't
matter so much on the receiving end?

I've made some effort to learn another language, but have been only
partially successful. Most of the time, I end up speaking English with
people whose English isn't nearly as good as my Spanish. Unfortunately,
as I've said before, I can't understand the spoken word very well. Maybe
I should speak Spanish with a Spanish-speaker while they respond in
English.

Joyce

--
In war you kill the people who are the victims of the tyrant you
claim to be fighting against. -- Howard Zinn

kirjoitti:
Christine BA wrote:

And if you forgive me for being blunt, it seems most people who speak
English as their first and foremost (only) language, seem to think
everybody else should speak English too. So I wouldn't say it's just the
Brits...

Yeah, native English speakers in the US aren't so great about this,
either. However (and I can't speak for anyone else on this) I don't
*expect* everyone else to be able to speak English. But I'm pretty
dependent on the fact that so many people do speak it. Maybe it doesn't
matter so much on the receiving end?

I've made some effort to learn another language, but have been only
partially successful. Most of the time, I end up speaking English with
people whose English isn't nearly as good as my Spanish. Unfortunately,
as I've said before, I can't understand the spoken word very well. Maybe
I should speak Spanish with a Spanish-speaker while they respond in
English.

Joyce


Well we pretty much *have to* learn other languages if we want to get
around in the world. There just aren't all that many around who speak
Finnish or Swedish in the world...especially Finnish, since Swedish is
more closely related to other Central-European languages, and one can
possibly piece together the gist of it with simple words from most of
the languages...

--
Christine in Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

Christine BA wrote:

Well we pretty much *have to* learn other languages if we want to get
around in the world. There just aren't all that many around who speak
Finnish or Swedish in the world...especially Finnish, since Swedish is
more closely related to other Central-European languages, and one can
possibly piece together the gist of it with simple words from most of
the languages...

It's true - people who come to the US are expected to speak English.
So while most Americans do learn a bit of another language in school,
they don't necessarily have a lot of opportunities to use it, or at
least, not the *necesssity* of using it. If you don't have to speak
another language, it's easier to fall back on using the one you're
familiar with.

Of course, a lot of Americans are bilingual or multilingual. I'm
talking mostly about people who are native English speakers, myself
included.

Joyce

--
Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good
many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia.
-- Joseph Wood Krutch

"Christine BA" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell kirjoitti:
"Christine BA" wrote in message
...

I'm having a German "underdose" at the moment. I've suggested to my
brother and father that we could speak German now and then, just to
activate my vocabulary, as our German-speaking clients (two of them)
haven't been very active lately.

--
It's a pity you don't have a friend in Germany to phone so you can not
have an underdose, but rather an overdose
Brits are dreadful at languages. We think all the world speaks English
so we don't try much to learn any other language. So arrogant.

Tweed


Bro and dad are quite fluent at German, so I wouldn't need to phone anyone
in Germany (and I couldn't afford it by normal phone either, but Skype
would work).

And if you forgive me for being blunt, it seems most people who speak
English as their first and foremost (only) language, seem to think
everybody else should speak English too. So I wouldn't say it's just the
Brits...

--
Christine in Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com

I'm afraid I have to agree with you, Christine.

Joy in California, USA

wrote in message
...
Christine BA wrote:

And if you forgive me for being blunt, it seems most people
who speak
English as their first and foremost (only) language, seem to
think
everybody else should speak English too. So I wouldn't say
it's just the
Brits...

Yeah, native English speakers in the US aren't so great about
this,
either. However (and I can't speak for anyone else on this) I
don't
*expect* everyone else to be able to speak English. But I'm
pretty
dependent on the fact that so many people do speak it. Maybe it
doesn't
matter so much on the receiving end?...

cut 'n paste from another forum, discussing single travellers
staying at Youth Hostels in the UK

"My favourite was while working at a Youth Hostel in London, when
a young lady, obviously from North America, came up to the desk
and drawled: "Excuse me, but do you speak English?"

For once, I had sufficient presence of mind to lean forward and
say, "Madam, we invented the language!" "

:-)

--
MatSav

"MatSav" matthew | dot | savage | at | dsl | dot | pipex | dot | com wrote
in message ...
wrote in message
...
Christine BA wrote:

And if you forgive me for being blunt, it seems most people who speak
English as their first and foremost (only) language, seem to think
everybody else should speak English too. So I wouldn't say it's just
the
Brits...

Yeah, native English speakers in the US aren't so great about this,
either. However (and I can't speak for anyone else on this) I don't
*expect* everyone else to be able to speak English. But I'm pretty
dependent on the fact that so many people do speak it. Maybe it doesn't
matter so much on the receiving end?...

cut 'n paste from another forum, discussing single travellers staying at
Youth Hostels in the UK

"My favourite was while working at a Youth Hostel in London, when a young
lady, obviously from North America, came up to the desk and drawled:
"Excuse me, but do you speak English?"

For once, I had sufficient presence of mind to lean forward and say,
"Madam, we invented the language!" "

:-)

--
MatSav

LOL! My sister lives in Alaska. Cruise ships used to stop at their town,
and it was not at all unusual for a tourist to ask a shopkeeper if they
spoke English.

Joy