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-- How do you become fluent in 11 languages?
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After watching an ESL video the other day about intonation, I think that the use of pitch in English sentences may be one of the trickiest things about it. It's definitely an easy way to pick out people who don't speak it as their first language, anyway.

Hahah, I'll let you know if I ever write a book on Japanese language, Moongoose

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Originally posted by Vector A After watching an ESL video the other day about intonation, I think that the use of pitch in English sentences may be one of the trickiest things about it. It's definitely an easy way to pick out people who don't speak it as their first language, anyway.

Really? For example?

Never noticed anything strange about it

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Originally posted by pointPi We also have our own weird way pronouncing our 9 vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y, �, � and �).

I simply love it!

I mean that when I listen to it objectively English sounds really "pitchy" compared to a language like Spanish, for example. Just seems like it would be hard to get right for people who come from a language with much "flatter" pitch contour.

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Originally posted by Vector A I mean that when I listen to it objectively English sounds really "pitchy" compared to a language like Spanish, for example. Just seems like it would be hard to get right for people who come from a language with much "flatter" pitch contour.

Ah, got it. Yeah, this is a problem indeed, although not one most students pay attention to (if you pronounce everything like a robot, you can still make yourself understood thanks to the syntax, for example).

Besides, there's also the problem that the intonation differs quite a bit depending on the region, doesn't it? I'd say that is even more annoying

It's interesting to hear Africans speak French because they use the trilled 'r' rather than the guttural one.

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Originally posted by Vector A It's interesting to hear Africans speak French because they use the trilled 'r' rather than the guttural one.

Brazilians tend to do the same when the letter "r" is preceded by a consonant... which is odd, because we've got both sounds in Portuguese (the trilled "r" and the guttural "r").

I really like the sound of non-France French. I prefer Spaniard Spanish though to Latin American Spanish.

I'm glad most French doesn't use the uvular trill anymore. I find that one quite hard to do. Alveolar is easy since I tried to copy some Spanish sounds from an early age.

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Originally posted by Joss Weatherby I really like the sound of non-France French. I prefer Spaniard Spanish though to Latin American Spanish.

I definitely prefer Latin American, personally. Specifically Mexican. Maybe it just seems "right" to me because I grew up hearing it that way.

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Originally posted by Joss Weatherby I really like the sound of non-France French.

+1. It's so bad ass to see some of the Africans around here speak French. It makes me want to buy a ghetto blaster, tan myself pitch black, and just roam around the world being awesome.

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Originally posted by Vector A I definitely prefer Latin American, personally. Specifically Mexican. Maybe it just seems "right" to me because I grew up hearing it that way.

Almost ditto. I like Argentinean Spanish better.

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Originally posted by Lira +1. It's so bad ass to see some of the Africans around here speak French. It makes me want to buy a ghetto blaster, tan myself pitch black, and just roam around the world being awesome.

pics if you do plz

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Originally posted by Vector A So are most other languages. I've taken classical Greek so I know all about grammatical gender (it has three genders rather than two) and weird pluralizations. So far French does not really seem so complicated compared to that...

Disregard what I said then! I think that the americans on xbox live screaming ''VOULEZ VOUS COUCHER AVEC MOI CE SOIR'' everytime they hear me speak french have shaped my view of americans and their linguistic abilities a bit too much

lol, that stupid song...

Catalan,Spanish,Italian--> When you learn one it's easy for you to learn the others. I have a fluent italian and i have been only 4 months living in Italy. I plan to move to Berlin sooner or later to try to learn german but that should be more difficult.

Is it true that Francophones are pretty much unforgiving about non-natives making errors in speech, and will switch to English as soon as the dumb foreigner slips up? That's what I've read in various places online. Kind of makes me want to learn a different language, really.

Stop looking for horns on horses, Brian, and just do it!

(Yes, that's a Brazilian saying, but it applies perfectly well to your case)

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Originally posted by Vector A Is it true that Francophones are pretty much unforgiving about non-natives making errors in speech, and will switch to English as soon as the dumb foreigner slips up? That's what I've read in various places online. Kind of makes me want to learn a different language, really.

It depends, if I see that you're trying to learn french and want to practice obviously ill speak in french, or I might ask you in which language you want to talk.

Else, i guess id switch to english. I mean if someone struggles to speak to me in french and I know his native language ill try to accomodate him and speak his language it would be pretty asshole-ish for me not to hahah. If you speak good but make some little errors that make you sound like an english dude ill just ask if youd prefer speaking in english or want to carry on speaking french.

quote:

Originally posted by Vector A Is it true that Francophones are pretty much unforgiving about non-natives making errors in speech, and will switch to English as soon as the dumb foreigner slips up? That's what I've read in various places online. Kind of makes me want to learn a different language, really.

I've had that experience 4932490234 times when I was in France. Then again, it was Northern Ontario French, so that kind of is a bastardization of the language right off the bat lol

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Originally posted by chris1011 I've had that experience 4932490234 times when I was in France.

Haha, that is what I am afraid of. Even if I do end up learning French, maybe I'll stick to English if I go abroad. Personally I'd rather be judged an arrogant American than a dunce any day.

quote:

Originally posted by Vector A Is it true that Francophones are pretty much unforgiving about non-natives making errors in speech, and will switch to English as soon as the dumb foreigner slips up? That's what I've read in various places online. Kind of makes me want to learn a different language, really.

Wait.. are you talking about the French or about French Canadians?

All French people I've spoken with (well tried to speak with I guess) simply refused to speak English. They just played dumb. I bet most of them understand English well enough to answer any question you have.

I know lots of Dutch people who, when on vacation, don't try to speak another language (French in this case) so maybe they've screwed up for the rest of us, but when I'm doing the best I can to make myself intelligible I'd like for the other to appreciate that.

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Originally posted by Frenkieee Wait.. are you talking about the French or about French Canadians?

France French are the ones I have read that about the most.

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Originally posted by Vector A France French are the ones I have read that about the most.

Well my experience is that they'll just continue to speak French, knowing that you hardly speak it, thus giving them the joy to see you struggling to make yourself understandable.

Maybe because I'm Dutch. They don't seem to be very fond of Dutch people.

Or maybe I've just been unfortunate with the people I spoke with?

Or maybe it is me..

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Originally posted by Lira I can't think of a single European language that isn't quirky, to be honest - It's like a family of body-builders with hunchbacks for grandparents It's quite hard to find a European language that is as neat as foreigners could wish.

Braiding! Knotting and untying braids, like our DNA structure...

quote:

Genes link Celts to Basques The Welsh and Irish Celts have been found to be the genetic blood-brothers of Basques, scientists have revealed. The gene patterns of the three races passed down through the male line are all "strikingly similar", researchers concluded. Basques can trace their roots back to the Stone Age and are one of Europe's most distinct people, fiercely proud of their ancestry and traditions. The research adds to previous studies which have suggested a possible link between the Celts and Basques, dating back tens of thousands of years. "The project started with our trying to assess whether the Vikings made an important genetic contribution to the population of Orkney," Professor David Goldstein of University College London (UCL) told BBC News. 'Statistically indistinguishable' He and his colleagues looked at Y-chromosomes, passed from father to son, of Celtic and Norwegian populations. They found them to be quite different. "But we also noticed that there's something quite striking about the Celtic populations, and that is that there's not a lot of genetic variation on the Y-chromosome," he said.

Several coins from the 1st and 2nd centuries BC found in the Basque Country bear the inscription barscunes. The place where they were minted is not certain but is thought to be somewhere near Pamplona in the heartland of the area that historians believe was inhabited by the Vascones. Some scholars have suggested a Celtic etymology based on bhar-s-, meaning "summit", "point" or "leaves", according to which barscunes may have meant "the mountain people", "the tall ones" or "the proud ones", while others have posited a relationship to a proto-Indo-European root *bar- meaning "border", "frontier", "march".



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1256894.stm

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