Re: CHAT: An introduction

CG = Christophe Grandsire
SC = Sally Caves

CG> Why is it always French which suffers from such dislikes? :((((

SC> First of all, I don't think that it's always French that suffers from
SC> dislikes.

I agree.  I've heard many remarks about the unpleasantness of a language -
either its sound or the difficulty of learning it - applied to virtually
every language I know anything about. :)  Most recently, a correspondent
in the Netherlands remarked that even after years of immersion and the
achievement of near-native fluency, Dutch just sounds ugly to her ear.
And her husband, a native Dutch speaker, agrees.  Of course, that could
just be the universal predilection for husbands to agree with wives. ;-)

SC> Personally, I'd put my bid in for disliking Spanish more than I dislike
SC> French, but that dislike has personal reasons.

Well, if they're not *too* personal, I'd like to hear them.  I'm rather fond
of Spanish. :)

SC> In fact, I quite like French; I think the nasalities are original to the
SC> Romance languages,

Do you mean that only the Romance languages have them, or only French has
them among the Romance languages?  Or do you just think that they originated
with the French?  (Those thieving Portuguese!  Who do they think they are,
English speakers? ;-) )

SC> I like how they sound, I like the uvular r, and I find it something of an
SC> achievement that I learned to pronounce it at all (Spanish is so easy, and
SC> I've had so much exposure to Mexican Spanish, bein' a California girl), much
SC> less speak it (after a fashion) when I lived in Geneva.  It's so full of
SC> idioms and bons mots.  :)

I think living, spoken French is the most different of any language
I've encountered from the written language you learn in class.
And I don't mean just the  discrepancies between orthography and
pronunciation, but the actual choice of vocabulary.  It seems that
the word "nous" exists only in written French, for instance; you
won't hear it on the street in Paris (unless it's coming from a
non-native speaker).  This fact does not seem to be mentioned
anywhere in my high school French textbook _Allons_Y!_, which leaves
one with the impression that "nous" is as common in spoken French as
"we" is in spoken English. :)

SC> I think, however, that Italian will be my favorite Romance
SC> language, if I ever master it.

I must admit, I love Italian.  It has a beautiful sound to it
(notwithstanding the statements of John Cleese's character in
"A Fish Called Wanda"), matching the beauty of the country.
Plus, that Spanish you dislike so much gives a heckuva head start
in Italian. :)

SC> Right now, I'm trying to get a handle again on German.

Good luck!  I'll refrain from quoting any of Mark Twain's damning
commentary on the subject. :)

-Mark

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