English Grammar 101

[jvdcande]

May the foreign-born put their two kopecks... sorry, cents in?

Is it OK that I use Eurocents?

There is one Dutch speaker who frequents this forum whose posts show a better grasp of the English language than a lot of us English speakers, I won't name him, but I am sure most of you know who I am talking about.

Well, I don't know who you're talking about, but I do know what the reason is. For us English is a foreign language and as such we do try harder to avoid mistakes. I have heard the same remark when talking to Germans. For me it's even easier, because I'm Flemish and it seems we have a natural talent for languages. This probably comes from the fact that in the past our little place has been conquered by many different nations: the French, the Austrians, The Germans, the Spanish and so on. I'm only lowly skilled in that area because I only speak four languages, which is normal over here for someone moderately skilled. Only those who speak over six different languages are considered polyglots over here. I personally know several people speaking eight or more languages.

Typoglycemia means we can read what we want to read.

That might be true, but I have problems if the messed-up text is another than my native language.

Kind regards,

 

[Tom Jenkins]

Is it OK that I use Eurocents?
I'm only lowly skilled in that area because I only speak four languages, which is normal over here for someone moderately skilled. Only those who speak over six different languages are considered polyglots over here. I personally know several people speaking eight or more languages.

I always feel ignorant when travelling in Europe. I know the American dialect of English and a little "cowboy movie" Spanish. I have an associate in Barcelona whose mother is Irish. He is essentially a native speaker of Spanish, Catalonian, and English, plus a working knowledge of French and Italian.

I'm sure part of the problem is that although we study languages here, we have so little exposure to their use that the academic knowledge fades quickly. The exception may be the Southwest, but the Americans I know that grew up within a couple hundred miles of the Mexican border know zero Spanish. They just didn't need to know it to communicate!

 

[monkeyhead]

English (no matter what side of the pond it comes from) is a terribly inconsistent language. Too bad it's the only one I know.

Sitting at a keyboard trying to remember what rules a word follows (more likely which ones it breaks) is a waste of time and energy that could be better spent doing something worthwhile.

If it were up to me, we'd lose a bunch of letters and spelling would be simplified to a much more phonetic approach. I enjoyed the Euro-English approach.

On the other hand, good grammar definately facilitates clear communication. I try to follow it, but it's definately not my strong point.

 

[Terry Woods]

A-B-C-D puppies?
L-M-N-O puppies.
O-S-M-R puppies!
C-M-P-N?

 

[PLucas]

A-B-C-D puppies?
L-M-N-O puppies.
O-S-M-R puppies!
C-M-P-N?

Paul

 

[Terry Woods]

OK, let's try it this way (for the phonetically impaired)...

A,B... CD puppies?
L... MNO puppies.
OSMR puppies!
CMPN?

So... is this what you were talking about monkeyhead?

 

[jvdcande]

Terry,

I'm completely lost . I guess I'll need another year in the English 101 class .

Kind regards and could you please, please, please help me out on this one?

 

[Terry Woods]

Damn... Now I'm just gonna have to let this go on for just a bit...

Surely there is someone...

 

[Steve Bailey]

C M ducks?
M R N ducks.
R 2 ducks.
M R N ducks!
O S A R. C M itty-bitty wangs?
L I B! M R ducks.

 

[rsdoran]

Too busy these days to respond but since I actually talk like this thought I would offer some interpretation.

CD puppies?

See the puppies

C M ducks?
M R N ducks.
R 2 ducks.
M R N ducks!
O S A R. C M itty-bitty wangs?
L I B! M R ducks

See them ducks
Them are not ducks
Them are too ducks
Oh yes they are. See them itty-bitty wings
Well I be! Them are ducks

I think monkeyhead was refering to words like fonetik instead of phonetic.

 

[gbradley]

That was Cute Terry
Without Steve and Ron's help I don't think I would have gotten it.


If you like dialects, Here is an interesting site that plays a wave file of someone reading the same English phrase depending on how the language is spoken in that particular area of the globe.

I like the south even though I'm not from there.
When I say Y'all, it just doesn't sound right.

 

[grs]

C M ducks?
M R N ducks.
R 2 ducks.
M R N ducks!
O S A R. C M itty-bitty wangs?
L I B! M R ducks.

LOL, I remember seeing it something like this though...

MR DUCKS
MR KNOT
MR SEW CEDAR WINGS
WHALE OIL BEEF HOOKED, MR DUCKS!

I think it was titled 2 newfies duck hunting.

 

[Rick Densing]

Old one

“Jeet, jet?”
“No, jew?”
“No. Seat.”
Translation:
“Did you eat yet?”
“No. Did you?”
“No. Let’s eat.”

 

[sronggot]

maybe we need same grammer software to correct our english

 

[testsubject]

All your base are belong to us

This one cracked me up when it came out.