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| Thread ID: 146644 | 2018-10-10 05:04:00 | The English Language | Roscoe (6288) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1454298 | 2018-10-11 02:29:00 | as was English. At least what eventually became English ) There was no such thing as English. Old English was a german dialect. Then along came the romans, vikings, saxon, normans, etc etc, mix in Greek and bits and pieces from elsewhere too and Middle English became todays' English which really is a mish mash. www.youtube.com Very interesting there were too..... Explains the stupid spelling as well. |
piroska (17583) | ||
| 1454299 | 2018-10-11 02:49:00 | That must be why there is such a big push for everyone to learn Maori :) The 'extinct' language of Latin would actually be of more practical use than Maori. The health and science fields are awash with Latin. In 30 years of working with the public I have only had one case I can recall where someone was needed to translate between Maori and English, but I've had dozens, if not hundreds of cases where a rudimentary sign language was used to overcome either deafness or foreign language barriers. |
Paul.Cov (425) | ||
| 1454300 | 2018-10-11 08:33:00 | I think multi linguicism is a valued asset. I learned French at school, refreshed myself in Europe . I also learned conversational German and Italian and carried pocket dictionaries e.g. English to French, French to English. Very useful travelling on trains or hitchhiking. In South Africa I learned some Afrikaans. My rugby club there was 50/50 for bilingual training) -again useful for hitchhiking. Back in NZ I married a Kiwi Cantonese Chinese and my Mother in law spoke almost no English so I learned some Cantonese. I spoke only Cantonese (albeit limited) to my 2 daughters until each was about 4 years old then started them on English for school. Being able to have some sort of conversation in another language was a great "social barrier breakdown". I might also say that in my travels often the shared language was not our first language and because of that neither of us worried about grammatical or pronunciation errors. I have little sympathy for those who claim -can't speak Te Reo because punished for speaking it at school. What about Indian migrants -they speak Hindi etc it in the home. My wife was not allowed to speak Cantonese at school and was allocated an English first name by a teacher rather than her Chinese first name. In those days "white English " was enforced at school. |
Neil F (14248) | ||
| 1454301 | 2018-10-12 00:20:00 | I think multi linguicism is a valued asset. I learned French at school, refreshed myself in Europe . I also learned conversational German and Italian and carried pocket dictionaries e.g. English to French, French to English. Very useful travelling on trains or hitchhiking. In South Africa I learned some Afrikaans. My rugby club there was 50/50 for bilingual training) -again useful for hitchhiking. Back in NZ I married a Kiwi Cantonese Chinese and my Mother in law spoke almost no English so I learned some Cantonese. I spoke only Cantonese (albeit limited) to my 2 daughters until each was about 4 years old then started them on English for school. Being able to have some sort of conversation in another language was a great "social barrier breakdown". I might also say that in my travels often the shared language was not our first language and because of that neither of us worried about grammatical or pronunciation errors. I have little sympathy for those who claim -can't speak Te Reo because punished for speaking it at school. What about Indian migrants -they speak Hindi etc it in the home. My wife was not allowed to speak Cantonese at school and was allocated an English first name by a teacher rather than her Chinese first name. In those days "white English " was enforced at school. Excellent, Neil. It is the learning of another language at an early stage that is the secret - any language and then others will follow. My big regret in life is only being monolingual. |
decibel (11645) | ||
| 1454302 | 2018-10-12 01:47:00 | Tūranga, is the only word on the new Christchurch Public Library, it's opening today. I thought Maori was originally a spoken language. No they had hundreds of books before the Europeans arrived, printing presses, whole racks of books, universities they invented them all. I would not go to that library on principal, just as I would not send any of my relatives to a maori named polytech or university. Who would want a degree with some unknown language on it. |
Digby (677) | ||
| 1454303 | 2018-10-12 01:50:00 | Even most Maori cant be bothered to learn it. Apart from a few words or phrases . When that changes , then they can point the finger at us to also learn it. True dat I work with quite a few maori people who talk to me every day. Not one of them said any Maori word to me during Maori language week. They are too buys using street talk! and cracking jokes. |
Digby (677) | ||
| 1454304 | 2018-10-13 03:13:00 | ... just as I would not send any of my relatives to a maori named polytech or university. Who would want a degree with some unknown language on it. Well, that counts out Waikato and Otago universities. |
decibel (11645) | ||
| 1454305 | 2018-10-13 07:29:00 | So why cannot Maori evolve to include writing :-) Granted, they were taught to write their laguage in the early 1820's by catholic missionaries . |
Lurking (218) | ||
| 1454306 | 2018-10-13 08:38:00 | Not to mention the insight that even the most rudimentary knowledge of French and Latin gives to the understanding of English. I have found an even more rudimentary knowledge of Spanish and German to also be helpful, not so much as a conversational tool but an enhancement to my understanding of my mother tongue. I have yet to fathom why our New Zealand passport, a document intended to be used primarily in other countries, is printed at least 50% in Maori, a language neither spoken nor understood anywhere else in the world except by the rare Te Reo competent ex-pat. People abroad may like the sound of spoken Maori but only as a novelty not encountered before. They have no intention of adopting it. |
Blue Druid (4480) | ||
| 1454307 | 2018-10-14 01:59:00 | No they had hundreds of books before the Europeans arrived, printing presses, whole racks of books, universities they invented them all. I would not go to that library on principal, just as I would not send any of my relatives to a maori named polytech or university. Who would want a degree with some unknown language on it. Must have hidden them in that "white mans" cave top of the N.I.. It's on my "bucket list" of things "not to do in Christchurch" and I have been here 55 years. Better not forget those Ebikes either and keep off the footpaths. lurking. |
Lurking (218) | ||
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