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Ziad Fazah - does he exist? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| Sir Nigel Senior Member United States Joined 6886 days ago 1126 posts - 1102 votes  2 sounds | Message 137 of 377 08 June 2006 at 2:06am | IP Logged | ||
That type of sentence structure is something straight from a web translator if you ask me. BTW, as a joke I put my above sentence from English to Portuguese and back again and got this! This type of sentence structure is something straight-line of a translator of the fotorreceptora leather strap if you as me. Edited by Sir Nigel on 08 June 2006 at 2:08am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6638 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 138 of 377 08 June 2006 at 2:09am | IP Logged | ||
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Fotorreceptora leather strap? Sounds kinky.
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| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6550 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 139 of 377 08 June 2006 at 2:11am | IP Logged | ||
I think that's called "writing with an accent". :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6650 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 140 of 377 09 June 2006 at 11:30am | IP Logged | ||
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I mentioned this to a friend of mine and read some of the emails I've recieved from him, and she thought it sounded like he didn't grasp the nuances of certain words, even though what he said could be understood. Example: I sent him an email wishing him a happy Easter, and he responded saying "Merry Easter".
In my opinion, I want to learn the nuances of a word as well as I can when I learn, but really I still think he speaks English quite well, even with this factored in. On the phone, even though it has the "accent" that Capt. Haddock said, his English is still quite expansive, he is able to express himself most of the time quite clearly, and seems to understand nearly all of what I say. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rafaelrbp Pentaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 6795 days ago 181 posts - 201 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Spanish, English, French, Italian Studies: German | Message 141 of 377 09 June 2006 at 12:51pm | IP Logged | ||
And this should be enough to consider him fluent in the language. We are talking about a man, not a machine. If one day, somehow, I could manage to speak English, Spanish, French, Italian and German the way you describe, I would be more than happy! :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dave M Groupie United States bfmfightwear.com Joined 6708 days ago 56 posts - 63 votes | Message 142 of 377 09 June 2006 at 1:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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The standards you people set are impossible. I speak to him 2x a week and I can tell you, his english is like that, as is his portuguese and every other language he speaks. He is a formal person and always uses the formal language.
He also makes the occasional misplacement of a preposition here or there and doens't quite speak the way a native would although he could easily pass off as a college professor in an American University visiting from a foreign country. As opposed to native fluent he is educated foreigner fluent. I mentioned my book at the end of the year, when I feel fluent enough in Hindi and Mandarin I will publish it and I am looking to open a website for him so he can teach online classes through Skype and webcams. Now heres the deal. Everyone who speaks many languages speaks some better than others. Just like Shaquille O'Neil is a great power forward but less of a free throw shooter no one is expected to excel at every language in the world to the same level. So, if you do choose to study with him choose the languages he speaks best and profit from it. He speaks Vietnamese, but if you are indeed resolute in learning Vietnamese you are probably better off with a specialist in that language. The fact that he himself accomplished it is an achievement. If you want to learn any Semetic language (Arabic,Persian,Farsi,Dari)Romance language, Chinese, Russian or any Germanic language, especially German then I'd put him on level with anyone short of a full time scholar of the language. In Arabic,Portuguese,French, and Persian he is a native. As for things like Thai and Cambodian, appreciate the fact that he does speak those languages and if its what you want to specialize in those languages, find a course in that language and visit that country, otherwise you'll have a hard time. Ziad had to go to foreign embassies to find natives. If you want it yourself - do the same I would also tell you his English lessons are phenomenal. The difference between learning from a native, who takes for granted the complexities and nuances of the grammar that has to be learned through repetition and not instinct versus someone who understands the rules of the language is vast and sometimes a non-native can do a better job. His English is impeccable and please take into account we are talking about someone who speaks impeccable English without having ever lived in an English speaking country. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6650 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 143 of 377 09 June 2006 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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No hostility meant, Dave. Indeed, if I could speak my languages as well as Ziad speaks his English, I would consider myself a success in the language in question. As you well know, Ziad speaks with a commanding ability, he does not bumble around looking for words or pause to think of how to say something, on the contrary he speaks with the confidence of someone deeply fluent, and his ability to shift from English to German to Spanish to Portuguese (and the other night he gave me a bit of a demonstration in Hebrew, Chinese, and Persian) is really quite impressive.
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| Dave M Groupie United States bfmfightwear.com Joined 6708 days ago 56 posts - 63 votes | Message 144 of 377 09 June 2006 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Its ok, Im not offended.
I am worried about him. I am going to publish a website for him hopefully so he can find students. I've mentioned before in this thread I can't believe that the ability to speak 58 languages is so unrewarded as to have a guy who literally has to panic if he loses 1 on english student and a fiery debate exists as to his actual existence See if this debate closes with nothing coming out of it, that is to say a website or a book or something, we are talking about a man in his early 50's who will, like many before him, die unrecognized and will be like Cardinal Mezzofanti, little more than an anecdote in Wikepedia. I have a full time martial arts career to tend to and my own language studies, but like I said at some point I want to enter the world of language instruction and make something truly relevent and up to date using the best of modern technology. I think their is some good material out there but Ill be honest, outside of 8 languages or so, lets be generous and say 15, their is virtually no materials out their for most languages. Languages die every day unrecorded. I am studying Hindi, I can't find one real good grammar book. Not one. If its thout there its in some university somewhere in a special language department. I am unimpressed by most of the language learning material I have seen. It rarely goes into detail on the structure of the language, rarely progresses from beginner to advanced, and usually has no mention of slang whatsoever, I like a few courses and I haven't seen all of them to make a true judgement. I like Pimsleur, Barron's and some Vocabulearn. Others I wont coment on till Ive heard them but like I mentioned I hate going over to my teachers house and seeing him barely able to pay the light bill and using study materials from 1972. He uses an Urdu book he got from a Brazilan ambassador to Islamabad 20 years ago. Thats his ONLY material. I want to make a difference. Especially if their are people out there just like him who need the help. Sorry for the soapbox, I don't mean to preach or be sanctimonious. I just get terribly frustrated. Not so much with people but with the situation in general. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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