English, innit?

[aruif]

i'm currently using pirate english on facebook


Arrr!

[the-mental-one]

i'm currently using pirate english on facebook


Arrr!

Arr, be a nice thing t' see the landlubbers confusion when it comes t' talk like a pirate day. All the scurvy dogs I work with don't understand its appeal.

[Aziemah]

I'm from the Borneo Islands where English is a third or fourth language. However, since we were under the British regime blablabla, English as a subject is rather imperative to the curriculum. Since studying in London, I can conclude that in theoretical English - written and whatnot - non-native speakers have the upper hand since their grammar and spelling would be immaculate. It's the reverse for spoken English, since theory does not necessarily complement application.

I guess it has something to do with the native speakers taking the language for granted?

[cruk]

I'm from the Borneo Islands where English is a third or fourth language. However, since we were under the British regime blablabla, English as a subject is rather imperative to the curriculum. Since studying in London, I can conclude that in theoretical English - written and whatnot - non-native speakers have the upper hand since their grammar and spelling would be immaculate. It's the reverse for spoken English, since theory does not necessarily complement application.

I guess it has something to do with the native speakers taking the language for granted?

It's a small world isn't it? I am from Borneo (smallest part of the island) as well and I fully agree with the points you've made. My english friends can speak very well but I was surprised when they couldn't spell simple words correctly. I think it's due to the way we were taught using a different system with English not being our native language.

[Aziemah]

It's a small world isn't it? I am from Borneo (smallest part of the island) as well and I fully agree with the points you've made. My english friends can speak very well but I was surprised when they couldn't spell simple words correctly. I think it's due to the way we were taught using a different system with English not being our native language.

I'm guessing you're from Brunei? Hello, neighbour! I love how, in our respective countries, regardless of how good your written English is, if you speak with a British accent, you're basically labeled a genius. I'd better stop talking lest this becomes a foreigner infested topic and irritates some people.

[aruif]

I'm from the Borneo Islands where English is a third or fourth language. However, since we were under the British regime blablabla, English as a subject is rather imperative to the curriculum. Since studying in London, I can conclude that in theoretical English - written and whatnot - non-native speakers have the upper hand since their grammar and spelling would be immaculate. It's the reverse for spoken English, since theory does not necessarily complement application.

I guess it has something to do with the native speakers taking the language for granted?

I wouldn't say it's due to it being taken for granted. There are many reasons why it is not spoken the same as it is spoken, one is local dialects and accents and youth culture as well as outside influences. Very few people talk the Queen's English as it's known, for the most part in some groups, it's uncool.

England isn't the only country where this happens either. I'm half spanish and from the south of Spain and the way they speak is very different to the way you are taught "proper spanish" they drop letters, whole words from sentences, have a very hard accent and speak soooo fast that it's almost not the same as talking Spanish at all.

[Aziemah]

I wouldn't say it's due to it being taken for granted. There are many reasons why it is not spoken the same as it is spoken, one is local dialects and accents and youth culture as well as outside influences. Very few people talk the Queen's English as it's known, for the most part in some groups, it's uncool.

England isn't the only country where this happens either. I'm half spanish and from the south of Spain and the way they speak is very different to the way you are taught "proper spanish" they drop letters, whole words from sentences, have a very hard accent and speak soooo fast that it's almost not the same as talking Spanish at all.

I hadn't taken that into account. I guess if we're playing on gradual, physical evolution of multi-organisms, then who's to say the less tangent things - like language, in this case - doesn't evolve as well. I can't wait to see how language would turn out after a few hundred years. I'm confident that I'll live to see this because I KNOW they will perfect the science of cryogenics by then. Note to self: Watch less Sci-Fi.

To the English though, good luck preserving your Queen's English.

[the-mental-one]

I learnt more about English Grammar when being taught Latin than I ever did in an English Language or Literature class, our teacher was quite irritated by that fact that no-one knew anything really about things like what the different verb tenses were called or what noun declension and verb conjugation meant. I did go to several different schools as we moved around a lot when I was younger, maybe in the normal curriculum English schools to teach about things like the past participle as well as things like onomatopoeia and I just missed it.

I also noticed a marked difference in the French and German I was taught at school and that which I learnt when living/travelling around Europe. Also there was a big difference from the German I learnt whilst living in North West Germany to that I heard when I was in the East or in Bavaria. I never studied Dutch at school but I'm sure what I learnt whilst living in The Netherlands would have been very different to that found in a text book.

I often speak in the same way that I type, I don't think that's common as a lot of people will have a totally different conversational style to their written style. I suppose it depends somewhat on who I am speaking to; if I'm talking to someone as part of my job I tend to be quite proper in my spoken English, I avoid contractions and my natural RP tones come through. If I know that my natural polite and slightly posh tones are likely to cause problems with my audience I tone them down, drop a few of my 't's and maybe add a 'k' instead of a 'g', I still wouldn't say 'innit' but it's a noticeable difference. I have to be careful when I'm talking to someone who has a marked accent as I find it far too easy to fall into the same accent and that can be unfortunate, especially if they feel you're taking the mick out of them.

[soonforgotten]

Have just seen someone using "won't" in place of "want"... twice in two sentences.

[raj101]

one thing i've always wondered is how far back in time you could travel (given a handy time machine) and still be intelligible in your native tongue.

the 17th and 18th centuries would be no problem, given that the literature of that time is pretty much written as it is now, but more formal sounding, if we assume that its sound is on par with how its written (which is loosely true today for some of the British Isles, for instance..accents only sound like they would spell in a oddly familiar foreign language away from south east england).


going back further I'm not really sure. Medieval english, for instance, looks like pretty outlandish to me. It'd be nice to know what it would sound like.