What is your native language?

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7x6andchg: Well as to other languages:

I speak French...took 9 years of it in school. Sadly, it has lapsed over time as I don't have much of an opportunity to speak it.

I took two years of Spanish and can't do much more than count and say "I have to go to the bathroom".

I also took two semesters of Italian..which is like Spanish with French grammar.

As for Dutch - the company I work for is Dutch so we see that a lot - it looks WAY too complicated with all those vowels.

7x6&C

 

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Javierdude22: [quote author=7by6etC link=board=meetgreet;num=1063144626;start=20#20 date=09/12/03 at 14:42:57]Well as to other languages:
As for Dutch - the company I work for is Dutch so we see that a lot - it looks WAY too complicated with all those vowels.

7x6&C[/quote]

Ok...I don't mean to post this much in one thread, but....I do. It's just that....hm, I can't...oi, compulsive behaviour.

Paul, I know, Dutch sucks like there's no tomorrow. I mean, who could have been so cruel enough as to make it so complicated, cause well, even the Dutch scratch their heads when they have to write down more than 3 sentences. The vowels are actually the easiest part.

Into boasting and well, shamelfully proud mode

So which Dutch company do you work at? Shell, Unilever, Phillips, Ahold, TNT, Abn/Amro, ING?

:'( -snif- I'm so proud

Cause yeah people, whaddayaknow? This tiny little, without a microscope undetectable, swallowed by the ocean, freakishly densely populated country, is actually the 10th largest economy of the world. Well...it was two years ago...

Reboot

Hm...so much for Dutch lessons today...

 

[B_DoubleMeatWhopper]

But we should remember that Dutch is closer to English than any living language ... well, except maybe Frisian. Dutch and English both find their origins in Low German dialects.

 

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7x6andchg: Oh, they're very similar....it just looks odd to an English speaker to have ALL those vowels.

Let's just say the company I work for is the same thing that makes gerunds in English.

7x6&C

 

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longtimelurker: [quote author=DoubleMeatWhopper link=board=meetgreet;num=1063144626;start=20#22 date=09/12/03 at 19:35:08]But we should remember that Dutch is closer to English than any living language ... well, except maybe Frisian. Dutch and English both find their origins in Low German dialects. [/quote]

Personally, I'd have thought that the Scandinavian languages (except Finnish) were closer to English. To read, they look like a mid-way cross between English and German with a couple of extra letters, but unfortunately they must some one of the least phonetic languages around!

As for Dutch, I know it doesn't make sense, but I always feel that it has too many constanants and vowels at the same time - prob. because they are very bunched up.

 

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aznb: native is cantonese dialect
fluent in chinese and english
know a bit of german, french and japanese.

 

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Ineligible: I'm native English-speaking, but I spent a bit of time in the Netherlands when I was young. I've done some French and German and a little Latin at school, though I'm fluent in nothing but English. I find Dutch a relatively easy language that is rather close to English - and its spelling is very regular (thanks to spelling reform last century).

Probably people who don't know Dutch think it's hard to pronounce because of the ij's - ij is actually a single unit, often spelt ÿ - it's the "ay" diphthong. Similarly Welsh looks unpronounceable if you don't know w is a vowel.

 

[13788]

longtimelurker: [quote author=Ineligible link=board=meetgreet;num=1063144626;start=20#26 date=09/13/03 at 04:52:25]Probably people who don't know Dutch think it's hard to pronounce because of the ij's - ij is actually a single unit, often spelt ÿ - it's the "ay" diphthong. Similarly Welsh looks unpronounceable if you don't know w is a vowel.[/quote]

Welsh only LOOKS unpronounceable!!! I firmly believe that any language where the average word length is above 10 letters is just taking things a tad too far!

Of course, if anyone hasn't seen any examples of Welsh, a good one is the world's longest train station sign, found in Anglesey, N Wales:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Madness...

 

[13788]

7x6andchg: Welsh is beautiful to hear spoken though...

I tried taking that little BBCi online Welsh course and failed miserably.

7x6&C

 

[Pecker]

[quote author=Ineligible link=board=meetgreet;num=1063144626;start=20#26 date=09/13/03 at 04:52:25]...Probably people who don't know Dutch think it's hard to pronounce because of the ij's - ij is actually a single unit, often spelt ÿ - it's the "ay" diphthong. Similarly Welsh looks unpronounceable if you don't know w is a vowel.[/quote]

You mean that a Dutch-speaking Canadian is going to end every sentence in "ij"? Eh?



Pecker

(Patient: "Doctor, nobody listens to me." Psychiatrist: "Next!")

 

[13788]

luix: As I live in South America, my first language is spanish, though sometimes English is just the same.
I´m suprised to know how many of us speak spanish. What about starting a "spanish branch" of the group???

 

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stephaneparis: my native language... le français!

work hard to communicate in english
always surprise to meet people speaking french evrywhere!!!

amities a Raal!
amities à vous tous!


stephaneparis
:-*

 

[cork8x6]

Primarily English speaking and can "get by" with a little Spanish.

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

I'm German, Irish, Italian, Polish, so just english has been my first language, but you wouldn't believe how many times i've heard my family use Italian, German, Slavic, and on the rare occasion, Gaelic.

 

[13788]

Valkyrie: Swedish is my mothertongue.

English is my second language. I've used it so many years, and in so many settings it's almost to the level of a second mothertongue.

Fluent in German and French - albeit with some grammatical errors and a limited vocabulary at times - not a perfect command of either one. I do manage both languages well enough to work in the respective language (attending meetings, oral/written communication, understanding fairly complicated written texts etc.).

Good understanding of both Norwegian and Danish, as they are similar enough to Swedish.

/Val

 

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huge_cock_have_pic: Although born in the USA, I am a native Greek speaker. It wasn't until first grade that I started speaking in English, and that was only because I had to for school. Also know a bit of French and Albanian.

 

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Finnmark: lurker - (Llanfair PG) absolutely brilliant for bringing that one up ! Typical of the Welsh, you know - never know when to stop !
And Val - you put us (me, anyway) to shame. I'm typically English, and - unfortunately perhaps - can get by in most situations.
But for me - FRENCH is the one !!!
(Dutch probably looks worse than it is. And if you're looking for 'double vowels', what about Finnish ?)

 

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47boreas: Deleted

 

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jerkin4-10: being from arkansas...i speak, read and write ..
english and southern redneck...FLUENTLY

 

[13788]

7x6andchg: Ah, Jerkin, the dulcet tones of

rougeneckius dixius...

I have often heard its Northern counterpart ruddineckius yankeeus out here in my neck of the woods...

Finnmark - I haven't seen enough Finnish to know, but, as I've said on this board before - I'd hate to play "Wheel of Fortune" in Dutch...vowels make you NO money.

7x6&C