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The Universal Language - Part 4

de Leke, 30 iunie 2015

Contribuții/Mesaje: 10

Limbă: English

Leke (Arată profil) 30 iunie 2015, 16:07:31

Hi, remember this series? They've just released the final version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLx0hbGiZwc

robbkvasnak (Arată profil) 30 iunie 2015, 17:34:11

aĥ ja, Globisch! vel, zat iz ahlzo a praablem ven i go toh Yurope viss my haasbhn hu doz naat speek Tshömn an se peeple try toh tawk toh him - i must tranzleht from Globisch tooh Englisch fohr him.

nornen (Arată profil) 30 iunie 2015, 21:54:04

robbkvasnak:aĥ ja, Globisch! vel, zat iz ahlzo a praablem ven i go toh Yurope viss my haasbhn hu doz naat speek Tshömn an se peeple try toh tawk toh him - i must tranzleht from Globisch tooh Englisch fohr him.
Please see here.
I answered in the German forum in order to avoid "praablems" and cause for mockery.

bartlett22183 (Arată profil) 2 iulie 2015, 00:18:37

An excellent series. I had viewed the first three parts a long time ago, and I am glad that the final installment is now available. I was able to find links for all three parts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Enjoy. ridulo.gif

robbkvasnak (Arată profil) 2 iulie 2015, 14:24:39

Basically that he wants us in the countries where English is used as the national language is to dumb down our language. He is not only pleading for us accepting different pronunciation systems (I didn't understand him too well when he did his example, sorry) but also change our syntax and probably our vocabulary. Since I need English every day for practical purposes here where it is used by the judiciary and business for the purposes of regulating power structures, I cannot go along with it. Maybe when I am talking to foreigners for basic stuff - like, where is the bathroom? But for serious discussions, I find his argument hilarious and not to be taken seriously. It does in no way remove the dangers of misunderstanding such as when airplane pilots communicate with the tower.
I can give examples of where I had to use legal English to win an unjust case brought against us and plead before the court. Globish would not have cut the cake, believe me. I would have lost. And in the same way, politicians who venture onto the floor of an international forum who have no mastery of the language in which they are pleading are at a grave disadvantage. This is not a question of prejudice but of correct formulation and accurate understanding.

nornen (Arată profil) 2 iulie 2015, 16:54:11

I most probably misunderstood the video, because I am not a native speaker. What I think Mr Andreev said is this:

He doesn't want any English native speaker to dumb down their English. Nor does he promote some kind of dumbed-down English to be used as an official language in English speaking countries. He just pleaded, that native speakers be more willing to make an effort to understand foreigners. Not to belittle them because of their accent. To take them serious, even if they don't speak perfect Queen's English.

I think that this is neither hilarious nor unreasonable.

Please excuse my bad English.

robbkvasnak (Arată profil) 2 iulie 2015, 17:42:07

I do not speak anything near to the Queen's English. And I would NEVER attempt to speak their language. I would sound ludicrous if I did.

Vestitor (Arată profil) 2 iulie 2015, 19:12:46

To be honest I think Andreev has it quite the wrong way around. In England - and no doubt in other English-speaking countries - we are so accustomed to people from other countries speaking English (to whatever level) rather than us speaking their language, that much more patience is given to listening and very little nitpicking correction takes place.

Contrast this with English people in France, the Netherlands (especially) and Germany. People are always correcting you at every opportunity. The Netherlands where I've lived longest out of the three, is the very worst for this.
The reason as I see it is that these countries are more accustomed to people speaking English and are not accustomed to hearing foreigners speak their language quite as much. There is, therefore, the idea that your accent (grammar, word choices) needs correcting at every opportunity; all the while never imagining that their English accent is not exactly Laurence Olivier.

Suzumiya (Arată profil) 3 iulie 2015, 03:02:53

robbkvasnak:Basically that he wants us in the countries where English is used as the national language is to dumb down our language. He is not only pleading for us accepting different pronunciation systems (I didn't understand him too well when he did his example, sorry)
If you're an English native speaker and yet you didn't understand his accent when he was giving the example that just proves what often (not always) happens when non-natives speak among themselves (provided that their English is good enough). They understand each other just fine in their broken or heavily accented English, but natives have problems understanding it for some reason, even though it should technically be easier for them. I personally understood every word he said without a problem, it helps knowing other languages, too. When he used 'when' and 'will' together I immediately spotted the mistake, thinking of French speakers who are the ones who usually make that mistake. But as he clearly stated, it didn't hinder communication.

The point he wanted to get across in the video was fairly easy to understand, in my opinion. He realizes that the chances of Esperanto actually acquiring the power major languages have are extremely low, hence his labeling ‘hopeless idealist’. Therefore, if English is to keep growing and is to become the official global lingua franca natives ought to cut non-natives some slack, thus eliminating the prejudice which he speaks of (it doesn’t mean non-natives don’t discriminate against other non-natives). Non-natives can communicate, many natives understand them, meaning, English works the way it is. If these particular cultural and linguistic touches provided by non-natives are accepted into English and they still do not hinder communication in any way, then English will have become the Esperanto which Zamenhof dreamed of (that’s what he said and I understood at the end).

What I wonder, however, is whether this particular linguistic acceptance will create two kinds of English, the ones natives use and an international English which will not strictly try to make its speakers sound and speak like natives, which is what usually English courses aim for.

In a nutshell, it is OK to have an accent, it is OK to use some funny expressions here and there, it is OK that your grammar is a little off, but if you can convey anything you want and be understood English will have successfully suited its purpose as a lingua franca. The idea is to communicate. As an international language these mistakes should be more accepted.

bartlett22183 (Arată profil) 3 iulie 2015, 18:43:56

Suzumiya:What I wonder, however, is whether this particular linguistic acceptance will create two kinds of English, the ones natives use and an international English which will not strictly try to make its speakers sound and speak like natives, which is what usually English courses aim for.

In a nutshell, it is OK to have an accent, it is OK to use some funny expressions here and there, it is OK that your grammar is a little off, but if you can convey anything you want and be understood English will have successfully suited its purpose as a lingua franca. The idea is to communicate. As an international language these mistakes should be more accepted.
I totally agree. Even in the Esperanto documents I have read, native grammatical habits often intrude. I once read a very well written professional essay in E-o in which the syntax often differed from that of my native (USA) English, but I could understand it (usually due to the -n accusative!!!!! which so many deprecate).

I think the real issue is understanding. Yes, with some kinds of "international" English, there are differences. Years ago, I took shelter from a severe rainstorm in the doorway of a major Islamic mosque in my city. Several men came out after the prayer, and we took up a polite conversation. One gentleman was from India. His command of English grammar and vocabulary was excellent, but I had to try really hard to understand his pronunciation. Nevertheless, we could hold an amicable conversation.

This is the matter. How can we communicate? I still support the ideal of a constructed international auxiliary language, such as Esperanto or Interlingua, but I am realistic enough to acknowledge that something like a globalized (whatever that means) English (such as Nerrière's and Hon's Globish) may take place instead. So we native anglophones will just have to get used to it.

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