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Olympics According to Languages | ||
Tags: Olympic Games | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5960 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 1 of 45 24 February 2010 at 6:47am | IP Logged | ||
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How are your languages faring in the Winter Olympics? Have a look...
*FINAL RESULTS* Gold medals: 26 - English (U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K.) 20 - German (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) 9 - Norwegian 6 - Korean 5 - Chinese, Swedish 4 - Dutch 3 - Russian 2 - French, Czech 1 - Polish, Italian, Slovak, Belarusian *I only considered the main language of each country. Otherwise it would be too complicated. **I'll update it again after the Olympics end. Edited by lichtrausch on 01 March 2010 at 3:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Wilco Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6330 days ago 160 posts - 247 votes Speaks: French*, English, Russian | Message 2 of 45 24 February 2010 at 7:25am | IP Logged | ||
And so did the Olympic Committee. The IOC is a bilingual organisation, Canada is a bilingual country, and yet, I saw more French in Beijing than in Vancouver. Really shameful. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Iolanthe Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 5641 days ago 410 posts - 482 votes Speaks: English*, DutchC1 Studies: Turkish, French | Message 3 of 45 24 February 2010 at 12:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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My newly adopted country is doing a lot better than the motherland. The Netherlands have 3 Golds, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze. All for speed skating! (We would have had one more Gold but Sven Kramer's coach pointed him to the wrong lane and he was disqualified)
GB has one Gold for Skeleton. I haven't watched anything with a Brit in it. The summer Olympics are more of a big deal, especially next time since they're in London. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5986 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese | Message 4 of 45 24 February 2010 at 2:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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As a not-very-nationalistic Vancouverite, I have the opposite view. I think there's way too much French going on. Vancouver has had a very strong Chinese presence since its founding (40% or more of the population in many areas of town), but French has never been much more than 1% here. The debate about French is not actually about French, it's about Canadian nationalism. I think if we really wanted to showcase Vancouver, there'd be more Chinese and Punjabi.
As for other languages, I've heard lots of them being spoken on the streets. I saw several Swedish fans dressed up in viking horns and blue and yellow clothes, but I usually see them in a big crowd so I haven't had the chance to try and talk to any of them. I did get to give some directions to people in Mandarin and German though :) 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| WortDrauf Already banned: zarathustra, lifelover Newbie Canada Joined 5395 days ago 23 posts - 47 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 5 of 45 25 February 2010 at 12:34am | IP Logged | ||
As another citizen of Vancouver, I'll agree with this. The significance of French in Canada seems to be exaggerated internationally. Really, it's only of importance in Quebec. In BC, Mandarin, Korean, Punjabi and about a dozen other languages come first. I'm glad there isn't anymore French than there already is. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5677 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 6 of 45 25 February 2010 at 2:00am | IP Logged | ||
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I think the argument for more French is based on the fact that Vancouver was the Canadian
Olympic Committee's candidate for 2010. It's not so much Vancouver hosting these games as it is Canada hosting these games in Vancouver (and Whistler). Plus, French is a language of the IOC. Edited by Paskwc on 25 February 2010 at 6:42am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6768 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 7 of 45 25 February 2010 at 4:44am | IP Logged | ||
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Native BC'er here.
What Paskwc said. Quebeckers, Nouveau-brunswickers, and Ontariens should be comfortable coming over to Vancouver and experiencing the Olympics in French. Canada has always been about bilingualism no matter where in the country you come from. That said, I agree that it would be nice for them to let Chinese play a larger role, since it is Vancouver's number- two language. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5960 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 8 of 45 01 March 2010 at 3:12am | IP Logged | ||
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*FINAL RESULTS*
Gold medals: 26 - English (U.S., Canada, Australia, U.K.) 20 - German (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) 9 - Norwegian 6 - Korean 5 - Chinese, Swedish 4 - Dutch 3 - Russian 2 - French, Czech 1 - Polish, Italian, Slovak, Belarusian 1 person has voted this message useful |
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