Re: OT: Slightly OT: French as a second language

>If the guy is a native Hebrew speaker, he could be reacting to the differences
>between the Hebrew >he was used to and English, which is a very different
>system. My kids, who are native Hebrew >speakers, also don't like English
>even though they are fluent in it. Their reasons are mostly the >following:
>1. Due to the triconsonantal-root structure of Hebrew, the grammar seems to
>them to be a lot >more predictable than English: especially after having
>learned Hebrew grammar in school and then >having learned English grammar as
>part of English class, they think that English is mostly
>exceptions with a few rules thrown in rather than the other way around.
>2. Could be the phonology too: Israeli Hebrew doesn't diphthongize its vowels
>the way English >does: "e" is /e/, not /ej/ for example. Also, there is no
>/I/ or /&/ or /U/ (as in Midwestern American >"put"). And the (American at
>least) English "r" is not trilled or tapped. Might be a bit too much of a
>difference for him.
>3. And let's not forget the spelling, a topic of extreme youthful anguish often heard in our home.
>;-) Hebrew is spelled a lot more like it is pronounced than English is. Typical
>rant in our home: >"Why are there 50 million ways to spell (and they
>pronounce /i/)? If it sounds like (pronounced /i/), >it should be written "i"
>and be done with it!"
<snip>

Well... he speaks English just as good as anyone, so it probably isn't so much
pronunciation... might be, but not sure... maybe I should ask him someday.

>It's a line from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode, where
>they're trying to figure out the reason why people are spontaneously
>breaking into choreographed songs :-)
>
>
>-Stephen (Steg)
> "mew... meep!"
LOL... okey....


>"Beloved" is "Chéri(e)", and AFAIK not related to Cheryl. But I may be wrong. After
>all, who knows >that "gay" is really a French borrowing into English? :)))
>(even the orthography. At the time of the >borrowing, "gay" was written with
>a "y" in French too :)) )
It doesn't look close enough to me to be related, but I'm no linguist...
Really? Weird.

>You're welcome! :)
:)

>I don't even understand how teachers can teach you such things. Don't they talk?
I know! It's weird.

>They used to have a different meaning. The simple past was more or less
>equivalent to the English >preterite (but then, since we also have an
>imperfect, the equivalence is not complete), while the >compound past was
>more or less like the present perfect. But we stopped using the simple past
>>in speech, and the compound past became used this way, losing its perfect
>sense (completely.
>For "I've been looking for you for hours", we say: "Je te cherche depuis des
>heures" with a present >tense). Only in writing the simple past is kept (but
>the compound past is not used then. We >simply don't have anymore a perfect
>tense, whether in writing or in speech).
Ah, I see.... ;) It makes more sense now... to my english-thinking brain.... ;)

>:)) I can understand. They confuse French people too :) .
HEHE.

>And for the French too :) .
That's so funny... of course, a lot of English speakers don't use your and you're;
their, there and they're; and a lot of other things right.

>Indeed. Using "ne" in speech sounds extremely formal and artificial. Good for an
>official speech, >but not for daily life.
Man... that makes things a lot more simple... I don't think my french teacher would
let me get away with it, tho.

>Evil creatures in the Legend of Zelda (the first game on the 8bit Nintendo
>Entertainment System). >:))
>
>Christophe.
Hehe... I just love getting 2 completely different explanations... fun...


The Aquamarine Demon
Gesám ayi mozuká. Gesám dohíng mozuká. Gesám adohíng mozuká!


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