The Language (and travel) Thread

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Yes in the US we use friend broadly.  Someone we met once at a party might still be considered an acquaintance here depending on how well we got along.  There are some musicians I know & they know who I am.  I would consider us a step above acquaintance but not quite to the level of friend since we would not hang out apart from interactions at their concerts when they are in town and definitely not the German level of friend.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

I have the feeling that the word "friend" has been devalued a bit over recent years.  I still use it fairly sparingly, and use "acquaintance" or "someone I know" for other people, but -- well, just look at Facebook!
 

And German is so insane. There's a word for everything (I know there's a word for 'a man who sits to pee' -- sitzpinkler).

Well then, is there also a word for those annoying women who apparently crouch over the toilet in public restrooms, and end up peeing all over the seat? 

 

[Schlauer Fuchs]

I have the feeling that the word "friend" has been devalued a bit over recent years.  I still use it fairly sparingly, and use "acquaintance" or "someone I know" for other people, but -- well, just look at Facebook!

 

And German is so insane. There's a word for everything (I know there's a word for 'a man who sits to pee' -- sitzpinkler).

Well then, is there also a word for those annoying women who apparently crouch over the toilet in public restrooms, and end up peeing all over the seat? 

 

Unfortunately not, I'm afraid. Maybe it's time we make one up

 

[T.o.b.y]

I guess I tend to "germanize" my English. (Small wonder, since I live in this little country instead of that big one or that island across the sea). When I say "friend", I mean the "Freund" kind of friend. Otherwise, I say "someone I met" / "someone I know" / "colleague" or, yeah, "acquaintance". "Acquaintance" is a proper word. What do I care that it's out of style? The whole me is out of style, I might as well talk the way I like...

[T.o.b.y]

Um... Carol or somebody, shouldn't we maybe take the last few posts to the "language and travel" thread?

[Schlauer Fuchs]

What do I care that it's out of style? The whole me is out of style, I might as well talk the way I like...

 

I'd like to give you a hug for that sentence. Be assured that I'll quote you some day!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Um... Carol or somebody, shouldn't we maybe take the last few posts to the "language and travel" thread?

 

Yup! 

 

And here we are!

 

[T.o.b.y]

I've known several bi-national couples who inexplicably did NOT raise their kids to be bilingual. It's apparently very easy for kids to absorb languages in their early years, so denying them a second language that they could have learned quite naturally at home seems a dreadful shame.

 

Well, it seems that a while ago, some self-proclaimed experts advised parents against it. Don't ask me why. It was supposed to have some kind of negative effects on... something. Whatever is wrong with me now, I guess.

 

So I wouldn't blame those parents. They did what they thought was best for their child. Not everybody can be like my mom, who just does things her way no matter what anybody else has to say about it (mom, I know you're not reading this, because you'd be shocked if you knew your daughter was vulgarly spilling her thoughts out into an online forum, but you're the best).

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

But -- but -- but I wanna be bilingual and actually know a second language instead of being able to just name like five or six colors.

 

I'm looking at all you inefficient Spanish teachers right now. >:C

[SherlockedCAMPer]

But -- but -- but I wanna be bilingual and actually know a second language instead of being able to just name like five or six colors.

 

I'm looking at all you inefficient Spanish teachers right now. >:C

 

Join the crowd.  I need to be diligent with my son and Chinese (using Rosetta Stone).  He has had some Spanish when I had him at a private school.  I also have an account on that program so that I can learn it too.  

[T.o.b.y]

Chinese? You guys are learning Chinese? Isn't that fiendishly hard?

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Chinese? You guys are learning Chinese? Isn't that fiendishly hard?

 

technically yes as it is a quad-tonal language that even the native speakers have a hard time with because everyone has a different pitch.  I wouldn't learn the language without Rosetta Stone or a teacher that does visual (pinyin & chinese characters) & verbal together.  And Rosetta Stone makes you have a minimum level of mastery before you can continue on at least in the Homeschool Edition that we have.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've known several bi-national couples who inexplicably did NOT raise their kids to be bilingual. It's apparently very easy for kids to absorb languages in their early years, so denying them a second language that they could have learned quite naturally at home seems a dreadful shame.

 

Well, it seems that a while ago, some self-proclaimed experts advised parents against it. Don't ask me why. It was supposed to have some kind of negative effects on... something. Whatever is wrong with me now, I guess.

 

So I wouldn't blame those parents. They did what they thought was best for their child. Not everybody can be like my mom, who just does things her way no matter what anybody else has to say about it (mom, I know you're not reading this, because you'd be shocked if you knew your daughter was vulgarly spilling her thoughts out into an online forum, but you're the best).

 

Hurray for your mom!

 

Actually, one set of those parents had a perfectly understandable reason for denying their kids a second language.  The parents were both second-generation Chinese Americans, living in Hawaii during the years (roughly 1920-1960) when that state had two separate public school systems -- one taught in standard American English and the other taught in Pidgin English (the local creole).  Even though both parents spoke fluent Chinese, they were terrified that if their kids learned Chinese as well as English, they might become confused and fail the entrance exam.  (Yes, six-year-old children had to pass an oral proficiency exam in order to get into an English Standard School.)  Their kids became a doctor, an engineer, and a school teacher, so that turned out OK, but they never did learn Chinese.

 

I've heard people saying more recently that schools in largely Spanish-speaking areas of the US should be taught in Spanish.  I think that's a dreadful idea.  Teach Spanish language, literature, and culture in Spanish, sure -- but for goodness sake teach all other subjects in English.  What good does a thorough knowledge of, say, chemistry do for kids who know the terminology only in Spanish, and want to attend an English-language college?  How does a young person get a job with a national corporation if their only language is Spanish?

 

I assume that most of the people who support such ideas mean well, wanting the kids to retain their culture.  But accomplishing that by denying them the opportunity to gain English-language skills in school amounts to ghettoization of an entire generation.

 

Chinese? You guys are learning Chinese? Isn't that fiendishly hard?

 

technically yes as it is a quad-tonal language that even the native speakers have a hard time with because everyone has a different pitch.  I wouldn't learn the language without Rosetta Stone or a teacher that does visual (pinyin & chinese characters) & verbal together.  And Rosetta Stone makes you have a minimum level of mastery before you can continue on at least in the Homeschool Edition that we have.

 

So I take it you think Rosetta Stone is well worth the cost?  I've wondered if it's as good as the ads claim.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

 

 

 

 

So I take it you think Rosetta Stone is well worth the cost?  I've wondered if it's as good as the ads claim.

 

 

Yes I do believe it is worth the cost.  Keep an eye out for sales.  They have a homeschool edition for several languages that they typically have on sale from late spring to early fall when homeschoolers typically buy curriculum.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

Finally found the word for when you know you know something, and it's on the tip of your tongue, but the word won't come to mind --

 

From Wikipedia:

 

 

 

Presque vu (from French, meaning "almost seen") is the sensation of being on the brink of an epiphany, such as when attempting to recall a word or name.

 

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks, Bendy -- I could sure use a word like that!

 

Only trouble is (gee whiz!), if I ever wanted to use it, I'd have to explain what it means, 'cause I doubt that whoever I'd be talking to would know the term.

 

Easy enough to remember, though -- the first part is like Presque Isle (a literal French translation of "peninsula" or "almost island" -- and no, I didn't know what Presque Isle actually meant till I looked it up just now).  And the second part is like in "deja vu" ("seen before").  So yeah, "almost seen."

 

[Schlauer Fuchs]

In my linguistics classes at university we learned the term "tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon," which I really like. I guess anyone would understand what that refers to

[Carol the Dabbler]

Definitely.  It's such a common concept that Radagast could even make a joke about it in Hobbit I.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, you're saying that's a well-known synonym for presque vu?  Hmm.  Probably would be in some circumstances, but I think I'd generally use the two terms in slightly different situations.  To me, "It's on the tip of my tongue" refers to something less elusive than my interpretation of "presque vu."  I see that Wikipedia calls them synonyms, though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

One odd thing -- I haven't thoroughly read that Wikipedia article, but I don't offhand see any mention of one thing I often find helps me retrieve a word -- stop trying!  A lot  of times, the word will come to me almost immediately after I start thinking about something else.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

... one of my students is from the UK and we had a loopy discussion the other day about chips, crisps, biscuits and digestives. I'm still confused.

  

Near as I understand it:

 

British . . . . . . American

chips . . . . . . . . French fries

crisps . . . . . . . chips

biscuits . . . . . . cookies

digestives . . . . graham crackers

[SherlockedCAMPer]

When I was in India 15 years ago, they broke down biscuits into 2 categories: sweet & salty.  The first meant cookies, the second meant crackers.

[Arcadia]

American: crackers (not the graham kind, the other kind)

British: ????

[SherlockedCAMPer]

It would be salted crackers (saltines or Ritz) not graham crackers

[Carol the Dabbler]

Near as I can tell from my Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (which is aimed at non-native speakers), in British English, "biscuit" means "cookie" unless otherwise specified.  They define "cracker" as basically "salty biscuit."  But I suspect that certain types of what we'd call a cracker do exist in the UK, and presumably have specific names there.

 

Maybe one of our British posters can tell us -- do y'all have some sort of thin dry salty biscuit that you might eat with cheese or with soup?