|
 |
American flag or British flag for English | ||
Tags: Cultural Identity | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5262 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 17 of 66 17 June 2012 at 5:03am | IP Logged | ||
Me too, @emk, sadly the point of this thread has nothing at all to do with language learning. It only serves to foster divisiveness based on jingoism and nationalism- two qualities antithetical to international understanding and cooperation. 12 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| wv girl Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5239 days ago 174 posts - 330 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 18 of 66 18 June 2012 at 2:53am | IP Logged | ||
|
If I may try to add a little humor ... on my first trip abroad, my first time in London, I took a tour on one of those
double decker buses. They had some ear phones that allowed you to listen to commentary about what you were passing. Languages were listed by flags and I couldn't find the Stars and Stripes. I was thinking, "Why can't I find English? Is it because everyone from England already knows what they're seeing and just doesn't need it?" Like I assume everyone from the US could identify the Washington Monument ... So I listened to it in French ... good practice for the second part of my trip. Well, later I realized that that OTHER red, white and blue flag (the Union Jack) was the one I needed to get the English version!!! But I still got some language practice in with "le bleu, blanc et rouge." Live and learn. Confessions of a first-time traveler ... I never told my boyfriend about my problem, but sure wondered what he was listening to! He did have a heads up on me, though, having previously lived there. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5585 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 19 of 66 18 June 2012 at 3:23am | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm not sure how I stumbled into this warzone, but I just wanted to come in here and say this thread has done nothing productive :D
American English was invented by the settlers to separate themselves in every way from Britain. They would take out letters they didn't think they needed, just to be different. Webster copied them all down. For the record, I've never met one American that thought American English is superior..or even anyone that cared. Honestly I'm sure most of the people don't even know there's a difference besides the accent. I've noticed when I'm on a foreign website that has a flag in the corner, I just click the flag that looks like the English language regardless of what flag is flying. I never noticed. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5565 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 20 of 66 18 June 2012 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Can I just point out that the English flag is not red white and blue but white with a red cross on it.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5130 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 21 of 66 18 June 2012 at 3:41pm | IP Logged | ||
I wonder how true this really is. I highly doubt that the original settlers made a conscious decision to change the language. I've also read that it was Webster himself that introduced some of the spelling changes, not copied them. In any case, his first dictionary wasn't published until the early 1800s... many generations out from the original settlers. Anybody with some historical knowledge care to weigh in? R. == 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5034 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 22 of 66 18 June 2012 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't understand this at all. I have heard that whole "Americans don't like other accents because they find them confusing" and other variations of the same idea. Really? Really?! As there is no one single accent in this country, we don't even have to look beyond our own borders to find something that's very different from what we know. So it is rather idiotic to think Americans have some kind of problem with accents. As an aside, I find it irritating that many people like to paint my countrymen as a whole as ignorant and stupid. Yes, there are individuals who are this way, but the same is true in any large group of people. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| D+C Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4578 days ago 31 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Sign Language | Message 23 of 66 18 June 2012 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Just a quick sortie into what seems a fairly ill tempered thread! Firstly Elexi beat me
to the punch in pointing out that the Cross of St George is the flag of England, not the Union Jack! Secondly, I just wanted to pick up on the idea that nationalism is antithetical to language learning. I disagree. I have always agreed with GK Chesterton's view of nationalism, that if everyone loves their own little patch of earth then every patch of earth is equally loved. As long as this does not become aggressive or exclusionary I think that is entirely positive. I also think the same applies to languages; it is only by virtue of nationalism that linguistic diversity can persist, otherwise we'd all be speaking Esperanto, or more likely- English. To the OP I don't know the answer, but as an avowed British patriot I don't really mind. Perhaps it refers to the dialect, perhaps it refers to the country that is maintaining the prominence of the English language since the British Empire spread it across the globe. Either way, I'm not sure it really matters. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| D+C Newbie United Kingdom Joined 4578 days ago 31 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Sign Language | Message 24 of 66 18 June 2012 at 10:11pm | IP Logged | ||
I completely agree. I have travelled extensively in the USA, through cities and small towns, and if any generalisations can be made it is that most Americans are extraordinarily warm and welcoming people. Most I met were curious and enquiring, in no way ignorant or stupid. It is an idiotic stereotype. 8 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
