Thank you, Graham. I admire your knowledge of languages. I at various times studied French, Latin and Spanish. I'm barely fluent in English. Because of my retentive memory I got the highest grades in French and Latin. I can even read them - sometimes. But I have never been able to carry on a coversation in any language but English. My youngest brother, Peter, was fluent in French and English. He told me the reason I couldn't converse in other languages is because I think in English, so, when attempting to converse in French I translate each word from English to French, then translate the response back into English.
I am literally in awe of your command o f so many languages.
Thank you, Fay. I am very flattered. This summer, I went to visit an old friend in Italy. We knew each other from our joint time working together in Germany, so German had always been our lingua franca, but it now gravitates to English. However, she took me to a party organised for an ex-work colleague who was retiring and, there, the lingua franca was most definitely Italian, which is the least accomplished of my languages.
I received generous compliments for my Italian, however, because when one is pushed to it and one has but one means of communication only, then one reformulates every idea one has in order to achieve some kind of communication.
The secret to languages is not learning them, it is needing to use them. Quod erat demonstrandum!
True, and in both Canada, and the US we're so bloody snobbish we expect everyone to speak English. However I have learned over the years, especially when I was teaching, it is far better to communicate as best you can and allow both participants the respect to try to demonstrate their understanding to the best of their ability. PS - that wasn't flattery, I truly am in awe of people who can converse in more than one language. (Thanks for the Latin at the end)
Thank you, Graham. I admire your knowledge of languages. I at various times studied French, Latin and Spanish. I'm barely fluent in English. Because of my retentive memory I got the highest grades in French and Latin. I can even read them - sometimes. But I have never been able to carry on a coversation in any language but English. My youngest brother, Peter, was fluent in French and English. He told me the reason I couldn't converse in other languages is because I think in English, so, when attempting to converse in French I translate each word from English to French, then translate the response back into English.
I am literally in awe of your command o f so many languages.
Thank you, Fay. I am very flattered. This summer, I went to visit an old friend in Italy. We knew each other from our joint time working together in Germany, so German had always been our lingua franca, but it now gravitates to English. However, she took me to a party organised for an ex-work colleague who was retiring and, there, the lingua franca was most definitely Italian, which is the least accomplished of my languages.
I received generous compliments for my Italian, however, because when one is pushed to it and one has but one means of communication only, then one reformulates every idea one has in order to achieve some kind of communication.
The secret to languages is not learning them, it is needing to use them. Quod erat demonstrandum!
True, and in both Canada, and the US we're so bloody snobbish we expect everyone to speak English. However I have learned over the years, especially when I was teaching, it is far better to communicate as best you can and allow both participants the respect to try to demonstrate their understanding to the best of their ability. PS - that wasn't flattery, I truly am in awe of people who can converse in more than one language. (Thanks for the Latin at the end)