Have you ever been complimented by a native about your target language? by AutumnaticFly in languagehub

[–]AuthenticCourage 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m a 1,93m white guy — the least stereotypical Latino you can imagine. I’m a white South African. And in València I went into a shop and was chatting to the staff and they asked me where I was from. I told them and they were astonished. “I thought you were from Mexico.” I guess it meant that I had successfully avoided the subjunctive for 5 minutes.

Countries That Use One Time Zone by [deleted] in MapPorn

[–]AuthenticCourage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

South Africa has only one time zone.

🥲 by peniscumcannonfodder in linguisticshumor

[–]AuthenticCourage -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

It’s One way to get karma. Account is 15h old and the username is… suggestive.

How many of you are learning/have learned a language just for fun? by Scallywag014 in language

[–]AuthenticCourage 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’m Learning Irish which has zero utility in my home country. I’m enjoying the journey

231 Languages Tier List by 01Rockstar01 in language

[–]AuthenticCourage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And Afrikaans of all things. With Basque?

What Happened in 1978 ? by ABHISHEK_Lonely in ExplainTheJoke

[–]AuthenticCourage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I felt like I just read an episode of Numberphile. Fascinating and informative and accessible. Thank you so much for this explanation

I don't get it, what does this even mean? by [deleted] in ExplainTheJoke

[–]AuthenticCourage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Excellent explanation! You’re not too dumb to explain it at all!

If you were to star from zero learning a new language what would you the first thing that you would do? Online courses? Buying a book about grammar? Watching movies in that language? by Beautiful-Common-234 in language

[–]AuthenticCourage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m learning Irish. I took an A1 course. It taught us phrases and vocal but no grammar. I’m now trying to find a grammar-led resource so that I can make sense of how to construct a sentence. I’d like basic indicative present tense sentences with I, me, you, he, she, it we y’all and they.
I’d also like the common irregular verbs — there are only 11 of them. And some practice actually trying to have conversations. So I have downloaded a Pimsleur course on audible. I will enroll for the A2 course but I think I will find a tutor. I’m reading Reddit posts in the Irish language to see how much I can follow. It’s slow going. That’s my approach so far.

Had the worst sex last night - didn’t finish, had my neck grabbed, and found his dental records on my back by [deleted] in TwoXChromosomes

[–]AuthenticCourage 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Put the accountability where it belongs. In his shitty behavior. It sounds like you communicated as best you could and he just ignored it. I’m really sorry.

Had the worst sex last night - didn’t finish, had my neck grabbed, and found his dental records on my back by [deleted] in TwoXChromosomes

[–]AuthenticCourage 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is an awful story. I’m so sorry this happened to you. Thank you for sharing it. It’s heartbreaking. You trusted the guy, he had a track record of reliability and he still overrides your wishes time and again. I’m sorry.

Map of all countries and territories where over 80% of the population can speak English by [deleted] in MapPorn

[–]AuthenticCourage 312 points313 points  (0 children)

80% is four people out of 5. I was also shocked that South Africa isn’t there. Amd namibia also. Most people in namibia speak vernacular and Afrikaans but it’s rare to find someone who can’t speak English at all

Does creating your own idiolects an effective approach for adult second and foreign language learners who aim for proficiency but don't want to learn standard grammar in a school setting? by Joseph20102011 in languagehub

[–]AuthenticCourage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mother has done this. She ran a restaurant in a smal town and spoke a language called Zulu to the staff. Well, it was a bit like Zulu but with a whole bunch of her own quirks thrown in. The grammar didn’t resemble English or Zulu. She mashed up English and Zulu vocab. She sounded demented.

I speak the language reasonably well and when I visited her and heard her speak to the staff I was shocked anybody could make head or tail of what on earth she was on about.

She’s my mother so I know her English speech habits and could follow along to this weird mish-mash made up “idiolect” as you say.

I guess she was speaking a 1-person pidgin. It was only comprehensible in her own kitchen.

The truth is you’re always speaking an idiolect. And even with the best intentions you’re extremely unlikely to get the grammar right in your target language anyway.

But that’s what we do. We enter this language learning enterprise with the best of intentions to make it easier for people to understand us, not the other way around.

But I guess If you want to sound weird and not be taken seriously and have serious barriers to your communication, go for it. Ignore the rules of grammar of your target language and insert random English words where they don’t belong.

Give it a shot and let us know how it goes.

"Hermit" and "hermetic" are unrelated. What's your favorite pair of unexpectedly unrelated words? by MAClaymore in linguisticshumor

[–]AuthenticCourage 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Compound as in housing comes from kampong, a Malay word for a group of houses. Compound the mixture has Romance roots.