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Urban legends about languages... | ||
Tags: Stereotypes | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Zimena Tetraglot Groupie Norway Joined 4535 days ago 75 posts - 146 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish Studies: Czech, Mandarin | Message 33 of 81 19 July 2012 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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- Swahili is the most difficult language in the world to learn (The "most difficult" of anything is never measurable!)
- No foreigner can ever learn to speak with a native Norwegian accent, due to not being able to distinguish the two tones. (Oh, really? I know several foreigners who can do this perfectly fine.) - Catalan is just a dialect of Spanish. Oh, and so is Basque! (Some years ago I tried to explain the idiocy of this to a Finnish friend. She refused to believe me, as her Spanish teacher had presented this stupid myth in class.) - Norwegian is just Danish spoken in Swedish. (The fact that many Danes constantly ask Norwegians whether they are speaking Swedish might be taken as "confirmation" of this, but it's still not true.) 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5396 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 34 of 81 19 July 2012 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | ||
Then, you should have explained to her that Finnish is just a dialect of Swedish, and then she would have understood... 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Jappy58 Bilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 4581 days ago 200 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Guarani*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi), Arabic (Written), French, English, Persian, Quechua, Portuguese Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 35 of 81 19 July 2012 at 7:38pm | IP Logged | ||
A sad but common misconception indeed. :( This especially holds true, IMO, when it comes to Quechua, and there's no doubt that it applies to many smaller indigenous languages as well. Guarani is pretty much the only indigenous language that is revered with pride in South America. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6540 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 36 of 81 19 July 2012 at 7:49pm | IP Logged | ||
I bet there are people who can distinguish/produce the tones but still don't sound like natives... Edited by Serpent on 19 July 2012 at 7:49pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Zimena Tetraglot Groupie Norway Joined 4535 days ago 75 posts - 146 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, German, Spanish Studies: Czech, Mandarin | Message 37 of 81 20 July 2012 at 11:46am | IP Logged | ||
Yes, I mean that. Given the amount of foreigners I know or at least have known or been in contact with in my life, I don't think this is a surprise. I'm still impressed with people who are able to learn a foreign language to that level, though - I just mean that I've seen several cases of living proof that it's possible to do it. Obviously, I also know foreigners who have been here for 10 years and still speak Norwegian in a way that is barely intelligible, though :D 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6540 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 38 of 81 20 July 2012 at 2:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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It kinda sounded like you know only several foreigners who can distinguish the tones :D Not that it's not an accomplishment.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| catullus_roar Quadrilingual Octoglot Groupie Australia Joined 4511 days ago 89 posts - 184 votes Speaks: Malay, Hokkien*, English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese*, French, German, Spanish Studies: Italian, Latin, Armenian, Afrikaans, Russian | Message 39 of 81 20 July 2012 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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- Only little kids can learn languages to a fluent level
- Languages are 'useless'; this is particularly prevalent in Asia, where mathematics and science are given precedence over anything humanities-based - Asians learning Western languages are attempting to because Caucasian/equally racist and derogatory comments - Languages are boring D: 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4565 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 40 of 81 07 August 2012 at 2:39am | IP Logged | ||
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It is hard to practise your German in Germany because unless you already speak the language to a high level and keep mistakes to a bare minimum, native speakers will not want to engage with you. Instead they will switch to English the moment you betray any lack of fluidity in your speech. All Germans speak near-flawless English and are able to converse effortlessly in this language. They are itching to practise with you.
In Holland and Scandanavia, it doesn't matter how good your grammar and vocabulary is. The merest hint of a foreign accent will instigate a switch to English and it is nigh impossible to persuade the people to converse in their native language in their homeland. Every citizen in these countries speaks absolutely perfect English, in fact they speak English better than the English themselves. But it's somewhat different in France. These sneaky rascals will scorn your attempts to speak French. No French person takes an outsider seriously unless they speak clear accent-free French. Yet they offer little assistance in English, which is rather mean of them, considering all French people do actually speak English, they just secretly pretend not to. A move to Spain, however, would be hassle free. All Spaniards speak English because that was the case in the airport and hotel when you went there on a package holiday. If any communication problems should arrive, speaking louder will instantly alleviate the problem. 6 persons have voted this message useful |
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