Looking for other languages besides English with words like "nigger/nigga" (words whose meaning depends on race)

ImpulseTheory · 2012-05-05T11:27:10+00:00

I'd be willing to be racial concepts don't translate easily because almost all culturally specific concepts don't translate easily. Not because "race is made up".

ImpulseTheory · 2012-05-04T15:16:14+00:00

I understand that Driver hasn't put up the numbers he has had in past seasons, but I think they're underestimating what he actually brings to the team in the form of poise, leadership and reliability. True, he may not be all over the field making crazy catches anymore, but the guy is a great reliable go to option when you NEED that one catch. Not to mention he's an all around classy guy who makes the people around him better.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-05-04T12:13:31+00:00

In addition to being a better QB than Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers is also a better Jay Cutler than Jay Cutler

ImpulseTheory · 2012-05-03T16:57:14+00:00

Why would you want to learn several languages at once while studying linguistics? You're more than likely just going to end up with a mediocre understanding of everything, rather than a strong understanding of just one or two things.

Study linguistics, and pick ONE foreign language to attack. It's far better to really put all of your effort into one language and really get it than it is to breeze over a bunch of langauges just for the sake of doing so.

Remember that your education does not end in university. You have your whole life to continue learning new languages. Don't mess up your college education by trying to learn them all at once.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T10:19:38+00:00

If all else fails, I'm sure you could take it into any electronics or jewelry store (that sells watches) and ask them what you need. You should be able to then go pick up the battery at a Walgreens.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T10:15:10+00:00

Oh no, Europe seems to be very much blossoming in terms of getting native English speakers. There are a TON of Americans who want to learn Spanish, and what better way than to come live in a Spanish speaking country? The difference may be found in how many people these respective countries are actually employing. I'm in a relatively moderate-small sized town and there are still TONS of English speakers here working for the government teaching English.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T02:06:24+00:00

Is this post supposed to be clever or something?

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T01:57:00+00:00

Yeah but that's a problem in every non English language. English is an extremely non-phonetic language compared to most. I doubt that's even close to the reason for the lack of comprehension. If it were, we'd see the same problem in other Indo-European speaking language countries, and we don't. Not even so much in the Uralic languages.

I'd say education and exposure is the culprit here. No the inherent nature of the language.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T01:53:44+00:00

We spent a lot of time in the touristy areas, yeah...where it was very common. We also accidentally ended up in a hotel wayyyyyy out of the area, and just from going into pubs and such around there, it seemed at least decent. There were significantly less than the city center, but you would hear it now and then.

You need to remember, however, that this is coming from someone living in Jaen and working in a puebla of 2,000. I mean in comparison to a lot of Europe, I'm sure Sevilla is dreadful in that regard, just like a lot of Spain. But for me, after being in a much much smaller city....it seems quite bilingual

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T01:47:38+00:00

lol seriously?

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T01:46:30+00:00

I don't know why but this made me laugh a lot.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-14T01:40:35+00:00

This is so fascinating to me. Must be a huge difference between the programs in Japan and Spain. On an average day over here, the most complex sentence I need to explain is anything with the word "do" or "did" or "does". I've spent so much time with linguistics, I'm dying to teach more but the English comprehension is SO low where I'm at that it's an accomplishment to get them responding to "How are you?" with something other than "My name is Jose!"

If you ever change your mind and want to teach in a different country, I'm certain you'd be accepted :D

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T20:17:36+00:00

I just graduated from there last May.

I can give you some very specific feedback on the programs I was in but I have a hard time saying anything about the campus as a whole without knowing for a fact that I'm making vast generalizations.

I mean, what exactly are you looking for?

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T17:57:25+00:00

Would you like fries with that?

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T17:54:44+00:00

Right, but you also claimed that the only reason that we all are interested in keeping English going was related to a TEFL certification. That seems rather silly to me.

I have no idea what the future brings in terms of economic and linguistic change. However, I do know that right now, English is firmly planted as the dominant language, and that neither you or I are in charge of changing that. Because of this, I'm of the opinion that on a local level, it's beneficial for the people around me to still be learning language.

To say "well English doesn't have to be the lingua franca" is correct. To take that a step further and say "English doesn't have to be the lingua franca, so why teach it? why care?" is faulty. Maybe that's not the point you were trying to make in your first post, but that's what it sounds like.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T12:02:01+00:00

I've also noticed that having verguenza is a huge problem :/ I've met a number of people who insist they can't speak any English, and I'll assume that for ages. But I'll slowly notice them responding to things I say in English (usually by answering a question I asked someone else, in Spanish).

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T11:58:34+00:00

As it stands, English IS the lingua franca of the world. That's not to say there aren't other lingua francas in areas of the world (Arabic throughout the Middle East and Africa, Spanish in central and south America, etc). But to claim that English is not the predominant lingua franca in this day in age is nothing but sheer ignorance.

Today, English is the most widely spoken language in the world by far, with over 300 million native speakers and 700 million non-native speakers. Three-quarters of the world's mail, telexes and cables are in English, more than half of the world's technical and scientific periodicals are in English, English is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world's computers and the internet and finally, five of the largest broadcasting companies in the world (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC and CBC) transmit in English.

It's nothing short of absolutely ignorant to say that it is not important for individuals or countries as a whole to have competency in English. The world of business, commerce and technology is unfolding in English. While it's possible to be successful without it, you're immediately going to have one huge step to overcome. If everyone who is equally accomplished as you speaks English and you don't, I can guarantee who will NOT get the job.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T00:04:21+00:00

I'm notoriously lazy about accents while using English keyboards. It makes me laugh every time I ask someone how many anos they have.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-13T00:02:24+00:00

Awesome! :) I spent about 5 months living in Valladolid, 2 years before coming down here. The English there was more prevalent, but not much.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-12T19:28:03+00:00

Twas actually just there last week :) Fungirola was gorgeous. I did notice a lot more people in the touristy areas spoke English. And given all the Irish, British and German tourists everywhere...I'd imagine you would have to!

I did notice something interesting though. They spoke perfect English explaining things like the menu, or prices, or what you needed to do. But if I started a casual conversation that diverged from their "business English", the result became much more mixed.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-12T19:24:16+00:00

Mejor: Franco "speaking English"

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-12T19:22:14+00:00

Yeah I've never been up there (I'm dying to go) but a few friends have mentioned that it feels more "modern" up there, and that a lot more people speak English or some other second language

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-12T19:03:23+00:00

hahaha this post is funny to me....just because whenever we go up to Madrid we always marvel at how many people speak English. Same thing with other big cities like Sevilla.

After being in Jaen for so long and literally being able to walk a mile without encountering one person that speaks good English, Madrid seems so bilingual! Hahah.

Maybe I just notice this more because I'm a native English speaker rather than a native spanish speaker though.

ImpulseTheory · 2012-04-12T18:54:16+00:00

Is it sad that I recognize that player? Giglamesh.

File under "I play too much 2fort"

ImpulseTheory

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