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Your earliest foreign language memory | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5556 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 89 of 98 25 March 2010 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I agree with both cordelia0507 and Impiegato. It's a sad party indeed when you switch on the Eurovision Song Contest giddy with excitement to hear songs in different languages from all over Europe, and are instead presented with a programme for the night predominantly in English instead with rushed voting and hurried introductions to countries and cultures. Edited by Teango on 25 March 2010 at 11:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Impiegato Triglot Senior Member Sweden bsntranslation. Joined 5433 days ago 100 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Italian Studies: Spanish, French, Russian | Message 90 of 98 26 March 2010 at 12:08am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I think the main reason is that people from all over Europe want to hear what the song is about, and this is only possible if it is in English. The only alternative I can think of is French, since it is beautiful in music and understood by quite a number of people. Actually, I think it is exactly the same when it comes to literature. I guess that more than half of the novels that are marketed by and sold in our bookstores here in Sweden are originally written by someone from an English-speaking country. It is not reasonable that books from other countries are of lower quality, but there are not enough translators in other languages and publishers do not want to risk losing profit. Edited by Impiegato on 26 March 2010 at 12:14am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5481 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 91 of 98 26 March 2010 at 2:35am | IP Logged | ||||||||
That'd suck for me since I don't even usually hear lyrics anyways. Like... I do HEAR them, but I usually focus on the music in the background, or the tones of the voice. I have a hard time remembering song lyrics but I remember the tonal changes much more. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6142 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 92 of 98 26 March 2010 at 3:05am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Same, I can almost never hear the words in song lyrics, not even in English. So I don't have that as a goal for my foreign languages at all. Not that I listen to that sort of music, though, anyways. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 93 of 98 27 March 2010 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I don't accept this argument AT ALL! They could very easily subtitle the song in the local language (this is broadcasted by national/state TV companies and they have access to the lyrics beforehand). Or they could have a column with the text on the side, like in karaoke. It's seamlessly sorted for live sports events and countless films and TV shows. Really, this can be solved for the Eurovision without switching the songs to the language of a non-European country or one particular EU country (not the biggest) depending on your view. Plus some of the people who sing in English on Eurovision are definitely in need of some English pronounciation tutoring if that's the road they want to take. But then again, we might just all start speaking and reading in English across the EU and be done with all this local language nonsense, which is nothing but a source of confusion and waste of resources in translation... ;-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Impiegato Triglot Senior Member Sweden bsntranslation. Joined 5433 days ago 100 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Italian Studies: Spanish, French, Russian | Message 94 of 98 27 March 2010 at 1:23pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I don't think your suggestion about subtitling would work out at all. What is the point in knowing the lyrics in the local language if one doesn't understand it anyway? Moreover, I truly dislike the comparison with films because of several reasons: - When I hear a short song on TV I don't want to be distracted by a column or a subtitles. - How do you think we could resolve the problems of playing the song on the radio in the weeks after the contest if the song is not in English? Presuming that we introduce subtitles to be presented on the evening when the contest is broadcast: is it enough to see the text once if it is an unknown language to most people? Edited by Impiegato on 27 March 2010 at 1:39pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Impiegato Triglot Senior Member Sweden bsntranslation. Joined 5433 days ago 100 posts - 145 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Italian Studies: Spanish, French, Russian | Message 95 of 98 27 March 2010 at 1:32pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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ManicGenius and ellasevia:
Alright, I see what you mean about the lyrics. It is the same for me when I listen to songs, but I think the importance of the lyrics is underrated. The lyrics of a tune ia often a little bit like poetry: you have to reflect on the lyrics in order to understand. Furthermore, it is sometimes difficult to hear some words. Often we don't care about trying to interpret the meaning of the song and instead focus on the melody. Anyway, we have to figure out why it is so common to sing in English in the contest. Is it because English is a prestigious and useful language, because the singer wants to create a hit, because English is understood by almost everyone in Europe or because English is particularly beautiful or convenient to use in music? Edited by Impiegato on 27 March 2010 at 1:38pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 96 of 98 27 March 2010 at 2:02pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Is it because English is a prestigious and useful language -- is it? Perhaps, Peoples view on that would vary. because the singer wants to create a hit -- That has probably a lot to do with it, I think. because English is understood by almost everyone in Europe -- That's certainly not true on my experience. Only for certain countries and certain groups of society. Plus how "deep" are these songs, really? Do you need to understand every word to appreciate it (assuming you like schlager...) It's usually a love song or a very uncontroversial political message like peace, unity. I respect the countries that refuse to sing in English and never win anymore as a result. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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