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When someone insults your language.

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
76 messages over 10 pages: 1 2 3 46 7 ... 5 ... 9 10 Next >>
TheNightBefore
Newbie
United States
Joined 5820 days ago

29 posts - 31 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 33 of 76
08 July 2009 at 4:19am | IP Logged 
English just needs more loopty loops, curly cues and giggles to make it the cutest language ever!
3 persons have voted this message useful



Caveben
Diglot
Groupie
United Kingdom
Joined 5666 days ago

40 posts - 40 votes
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Italian, Romanian, Slovenian

 
 Message 34 of 76
08 July 2009 at 4:25am | IP Logged 
At the risk of being overly simplistic;If they think that my language is ugly and say so in a pertinent context, then no. If they are saying it to try and insult a person or people in an underhanded way then it is a different matter. I'd think that one of these happens far more frequently than the other in all honesty.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Juan M.
Senior Member
Colombia
Joined 5900 days ago

460 posts - 597 votes 

 
 Message 35 of 76
08 July 2009 at 4:46am | IP Logged 
Everyone keeps saying how easy Spanish is, yet I've only seen it properly employed by a foreigner once: a Japanese expert on Gabriel García Márquez who came to the book fair in Bogotá a few years ago. I saw an interview with her on the news, and save for one or two small mistakes, her rendering of our tongue was virtually flawless.
2 persons have voted this message useful



icing_death
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5862 days ago

296 posts - 302 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 36 of 76
08 July 2009 at 12:33pm | IP Logged 
JuanM wrote:
Everyone keeps saying how easy Spanish is, yet I've only seen it properly employed by a foreigner
once

properly employed?
1 person has voted this message useful



Arti
Diglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 7013 days ago

130 posts - 165 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, English
Studies: French, Czech

 
 Message 37 of 76
08 July 2009 at 8:08pm | IP Logged 
you know, everything depends on the insult itself. if a person sais just "Russian is ugly, stupid, no one needs it, etc. " it's his personal opinion, I don't care, really.

when I hear from the TV that an Ukrainian minister sais that Ukraine doesn't need this dog's barking language, I'm very offended for all my Motherland :((
1 person has voted this message useful



ReneeMona
Diglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 5336 days ago

864 posts - 1274 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, EnglishC2
Studies: French

 
 Message 38 of 76
20 December 2010 at 3:36am | IP Logged 
I don't mind if people express any kind of opinion about my own language or the ones I study as long as it's not stemming from ignorance. I quite like hearing how my language sounds to others but if someone is the 1782nd person to call Dutch ugly based on having heard a Nazi officer yell orders in German in a holocaust film, that's another matter. The ignorance and the fact that I've heard it so many times before can make me incredibly angry sometimes.

Even though I'm all for people expressing their opinions, I do think we have to exercise a little restraint in venting our dislike sometimes. For many people their language is an important part of their identity and, like someone said on another thread, nobody should have to feel like there is something wrong with their language.

Personally, I've noticed that since I've joined this forum I've become a little more self-conscious about my native language and when I'm speaking or listening to it I'm more aware of the gutturals it uses and how ugly they must sound to others. I've said a couple of thoughtless stupid things on this forum myself and I like to think I've learnt from them. These days I try to think of good ol' Thumper before I post anything.

Edited by ReneeMona on 20 December 2010 at 3:53am

1 person has voted this message useful



Levi
Pentaglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5568 days ago

2268 posts - 3328 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian

 
 Message 39 of 76
20 December 2010 at 4:02am | IP Logged 
Carisma wrote:
This brings an interesting argument I had with a friend to my memory. My friend dreams
of being the president of Argentina (quite ambitious, but well, let her alone) and says
she doesn't need to speak English to do so. And I was like... Are you crazy? If you
ever want to travel, English is essential. But she was convinced that she didn't need
to speak English, and that she could deal with the US and other English-speaking
countries through interpreters. I said that I still thought that it was impossible that
somebody who didn't speak English could be president of Argentina. Then she said that
Obama didn't speak any other language. I didn't know at that time that Barack Obama
does speak Indonesian, and that obviously counts as other language.
My class mates often tell me that English is not important, and I always argue with
them. It does hurt me, taking in account that I take six weekly hours of classes (apart
from school) and am constantly practising. But I know that they are only jealous in the
bottom of their hearts because they don't speak English really well.

Perhaps you should show your friend this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZhu8SaodPw
2 persons have voted this message useful



zerothinking
Senior Member
Australia
Joined 6373 days ago

528 posts - 772 votes 
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 40 of 76
20 December 2010 at 11:24am | IP Logged 
I don't attach my identity to the language or languages I speak. I think that's rather
silly.


1 person has voted this message useful



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