Does Wealth Make Your Country Stupid?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Dis
I have an idea.

use English.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Drake, I know your on some pseudo-francophile kick for some reason, but still:

its grammatical and spelling rules are so full of confusing and unnecessary exceptions that it boggles the mind of foreign speakers used to more logical languages

is an excellent description of French.

Ideally, the world should be speaking an already-widely-spoken language with simple spelling and grammar. Spanish might qualify (I never studied it; my daughter, who's on her fourth language at age 17, claims the grammar's a pain). But there's really only one language that fits that description: Russian.

[Drake Tungsten]

is an excellent description of French.

I had no difficulties learning it...

I never studied it; my daughter, who's on her fourth language at age 17, claims the grammar's a pain

I didn't find Spanish grammar to be that confusing. Then again, it is quite similar to French and Japanese has greatly skewed my perception of whether or not a language is truly difficult...

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Spanish might qualify (I never studied it; my daughter, who's on her fourth language at age 17, claims the grammar's a pain).

The grammar's no worse than English grammar.

Granted, that's not saying all that much.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

is an excellent description of French.

I had no difficulties learning it...

Man, good for you. I've studied French, Russian, Turkish, and Tagalog, and French was by far the hardest of the four for me, precisely because it was so irregular/illogical. I've just started on Mandarin, and even it looks easier than French (speaking, anyway), because it's regular.

[Drake Tungsten]

I've just started on Mandarin, and even it looks easier than French (speaking, anyway), because it's regular.

Speaking might not be so bad; I've been told that Chinese grammar is relatively easy. God help you if you ever have to read or write, though...

BTW, reading things like this makes me sad...

http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html

Why in god's name did I decide to study the hardest language in the world? I could've learned two or maybe even three European languages in the time I've spent chipping away at 日本語...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

I've just started on Mandarin, and even it looks easier than French (speaking, anyway), because it's regular.

Speaking might not be so bad; I've been told that Chinese grammar is relatively easy. God help you if you ever have to read or write, though...

BTW, reading things like this makes me sad...

http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html

Why in god's name did I decide to study the hardest language in the world? I could've learned two or maybe even three European languages in the time I've spent chipping away at 日本語...

Well, it's still somewhat useful, since the Japanese are such terrible English students. Whereas most (Western) European languages are pointless for an English-language speaker, because English is so prevalent in W. European societies.

I'm actually thinking of volunteering to get fully trained in Mandarin fo the State Department -- speaking, reading, writing, the works. Apparently it takes two years of full-time study, one of which takes place in either Beijing or Taipei. Learning the language would be fun, and having it would keep me in East Asia -- and out of certain other, um, priority posts.

[Drake Tungsten]

Well, it's still somewhat useful, since the Japanese are such terrible English students. Whereas most (Western) European languages are pointless for an English-language speaker, because English is so prevalent in W. European societies.

That's why I chose it. I orginally wanted to learn both Japanese and Mandarin, but I've come to understand just how lofty a goal that is. Maybe by the time I'm forty...

I'm actually thinking of volunteering to get fully trained in Mandarin fo the State Department -- speaking, reading, writing, the works. Apparently it takes two years of full-time study, one of which takes place in either Beijing or Taipei.

Best of luck, sir. The Chinese characters are interesting to learn, but their inefficiency and inscrutability does start to get to you after a while. Usually when you've sunk hundreds of hours into studying the language and you realize that you still can't read a goddamn newspaper article without consulting a character dictionary once every few sentences...

I'm not bitter, though.

[Az]

Ideally, the world should be speaking an already-widely-spoken language with simple spelling and grammar. Spanish might qualify (I never studied it; my daughter, who's on her fourth language at age 17, claims the grammar's a pain). But there's really only one language that fits that description: Russian.

Russian isn't all that simple. Far simpler than french, or even english, to be sure, but still not easy. Thank god that written-language-wise, it's WYSIWYG - phonetic. But I think Spanish or Italian are better. Dad told me that Italian was an incredibly easy language to learn. Which is a good thing, of course.

[_BuRjaCi_]

One word: Esperanto

[Az]

I wanted to mention that, but Esperanto can hardly be called "already-widely-spoken".

[Barnabas]

Spanish and italian are very similar , I doubt one is easier than the other

[Eli]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

BTW, reading things like this makes me sad...

http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html

Why on Earth is Hebrew in the second group and Arabic in the third?

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Eli


Why on Earth is Hebrew in the second group and Arabic in the third?

Probably because modern Hebrew has lost most of the pharyngeals and other icky back consonants that Europeans tend to find so difficult.

[Lul Thyme]

Re: Does Wealth Make Your Country Stupid?

nvm