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Popular misconceptions about languages? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| Envinyatar Diglot Senior Member Guatemala Joined 5330 days ago 147 posts - 240 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 17 of 100 19 November 2009 at 6:01am | IP Logged | ||
I've heard about the Hebrew-Japanese connection before, there are claims that hiragana and katakana are based on Hebrew characters too and there are those who think Japanese people have Israelite origin. Look at this video from Japan for example, interesting theory. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dainty Newbie United States Joined 5279 days ago 38 posts - 53 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 18 of 100 21 November 2009 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | ||
Another thing that I surmise contributes to the confusion is the mislabeling of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" language spoken in Amish communities throughout the US. Technically it is Pennsylvania German, but if you call it that either no one will know what you're talking about or someone will say, "Oh, you mean Pennsylvania Dutch?" :P I think having a German dialect blatantly labeled as Dutch really cements the misconception that there is little difference between the two. Edited by Dainty on 21 November 2009 at 5:37pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5315 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 19 of 100 21 November 2009 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have never heard of that before, confusing Dutch with German. I do have two similar ones, though:
I knew this Austrian girl, who thought that since Swedish is a "Germanic" language, it was somehow a historical dialect of German, that had turned into a language. I tried to explain to her that it was something of a coincidence that the language family almost had the same name, it might have been called Northern or Norse or Borean or anything at all really, but she thought I was just trying to make excuses and that the relationship between German and Swedish weren't in fact quite symmetric. Another thing, I have often had this happen to me: Japanese person: So where are you from? Me: Sweden. Japanese person: Interesting, what language do you speak in Sweden. Me: ! Me: ? Me: ... It is not uncommon that they actually think that we speak English in Sweden. What a monstrous idea. Considering that most countries around Japan have their own languages, I don't know where this comes from. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6233 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 20 of 100 22 November 2009 at 4:54am | IP Logged | ||
Strange. I've usually had people from Japan (and to a lesser extent, North America) think that because I live in Switzerland, I must speak Swedish. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6562 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 21 of 100 22 November 2009 at 8:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Japanese people tend to be almost as uninformed about Europe and the West as Europeans are about the Far East,
unfortunately. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Gusutafu Senior Member Sweden Joined 5315 days ago 655 posts - 1039 votes Speaks: Swedish* | Message 22 of 100 22 November 2009 at 11:46am | IP Logged | ||
I am not so sure. Japanese often have pretty reasonable ideas about the Swedish welfare system, and they know about Pippi Longstocking and IKEA, so the reason must be more specific. Even Americans don't assume that we speak English in Sweden. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6562 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 23 of 100 22 November 2009 at 3:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, Japanese have certainly heard of most European countries, including Sweden, but the average bloke-on-
the-street's knowledge of some of them might consist mostly to stereotypes. For example, ask any Japanese kid what he or she knows about Finland, and the answer will be that that's where Santa Claus lives. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5368 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English* | Message 24 of 100 22 November 2009 at 6:53pm | IP Logged | ||
Perhaps, but quite a few of my fellow countrymen would tell you that they speak Swedish in Switzerland. And many still confuse Japanese with Chinese (despite an entire generation having fought a world war where one was an ally and the other the enemy...) Certainly not all; not even most. But enough to make you wonder. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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