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Ziad Fazah - does he exist? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| epingchris Triglot Senior Member Taiwan shih-chuan.blog.ntu. Joined 7031 days ago 273 posts - 284 votes  5 sounds Studies: Taiwanese, Mandarin*, English, FrenchB2 Studies: Japanese, German, Turkish | Message 33 of 377 30 August 2005 at 8:02am | IP Logged | ||
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Hmm, I don't know since when has Singlish take its present form. Is Singlish available at that time? No, this can't be right......the four major language in Singapore are Chinese, English, Hindi(am I right?), and Tamil, as I know. Since the former three were already taken for national languages, maybe they were referring to Tamil?
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| victor Tetraglot Moderator United States Joined 7321 days ago 1098 posts - 1056 votes 6 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, FrenchC1, Mandarin Studies: Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 34 of 377 30 August 2005 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Epingchris, English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil are the official languages of Singapore. Singporean English, or Singlish, is a colloquial form of English spoken by many Singaporeans. It is English mixed with Hokkien, Mandarin, Malay and sometimes even Cantonese and Tamil.
Some of the expressions can be found no where else in the world. However, the Singaporean government is encouraging its citizens to speak less Singlish every day and learn "standard" English. (Though every educated person DOES know how to speak "standard" English) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 7148 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 35 of 377 31 August 2005 at 1:51am | IP Logged | ||
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What exactly does all this have to do with the title of the thread 'Ziad Fazah - does he exist?'
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| epingchris Triglot Senior Member Taiwan shih-chuan.blog.ntu. Joined 7031 days ago 273 posts - 284 votes 5 sounds Studies: Taiwanese, Mandarin*, English, FrenchB2 Studies: Japanese, German, Turkish | Message 36 of 377 31 August 2005 at 3:04am | IP Logged | ||
Because on the list of the languages that Ziad Fazah speaks, there's "Singaporese", and we're trying to find out which language that is.
So it is. I got it now. Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Nephilim Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 7148 days ago 363 posts - 368 votes Speaks: English*, Polish | Message 37 of 377 01 September 2005 at 3:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ok. I was following the thread and then I lost it. Thanks for clearing that up epingchris.
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| Latin Newbie Chile Joined 7002 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes | Message 38 of 377 28 September 2005 at 11:34am | IP Logged | ||
Hi. Well, I have read carefully all this thread. And I just want to add that I saw Ziad on a Tv show in the mid 90's in Chile, he was invited because 'of course' he 'is' the major polyglot in the world. The TV show was well prepared and some people in the studio were natives of not very common languages, I don't remember very well, but they were Chinese, Finnish, Hebrew, Arabic, and others. When the turn of this man came, these people ask him easy questions in their languages and here begin the catastrophe (some people would consider this story funny, but it is also sad at the same time) he started to sweata lot because he wasn't able to respond properly, it seemed that he didn't understand a word of what they were saying, he stuttered and mumbled trying to speak something coherent but he failed badly. At last he could speak something simple in Finnish I think, but of the others, almost nothing. It was very disturbing see this man collapsing in front of everybody, because he seemed a humble man, or I'd say an ingenuous man, he thought that he had learned of those languages. But the story doesn't end here. After the show he claimed that nervousness was the cause of his failure. And the people of the program agreed to a new performance some months after. And here came this poor man again, same story, same ending, same failure. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7208 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 39 of 377 28 September 2005 at 6:06pm | IP Logged | ||
Are you saying the TV show didn't float him any easy pitches - common languages - just to get warmed up and give him some dignity? If they were coming at him from a "debunk" perspective, rather than an investigative one, it reminds me of the movie, "Game Over - Kasparov and the Machine" about the chessmaster and the IBM's "Big Blue". 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 7194 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian | Message 40 of 377 28 September 2005 at 8:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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That is kind of sad, and it makes me wonder. Either he was seriously caught up in his own lies or he'd done the equivalent of listened to the Pimsleur tapes and thought he'd mastered the language. And of course, faced with real language at real speed he found himself in over his head.
Which is what happens to most of us the first time we try to use our new language in a practical setting. We say, "How much does this cost?" and expect to hear, "It costs 10 dollars," and the real answer is something like, "Well, let's see...that'll set you back a ten spot." 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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