Languages!

[SoggyBottoms]

here's a few illustrations of the complexity of the English language:

the bandage was wound around the wound
the farm was used to produce produce
the dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse
we must polish the Polish furniture
he could lead if he would get the lead out
the soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert
since there is not time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present
a bass was painted on the head of the bas drum
when shot at, the dove dove into the bushes
I did not object to the object
the insurance was invalid for the invalid
there was a row among the oarsmen about how to row
they were too close to the door to close it
the buck does certain things when does are present

any more?

 

[Clare]

I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, lough and through?
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead -
For goodness sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
And here is not a match for there
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's dose and rose and lose -
Just look them up - and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword,
And do and go and thwart and cart -
Come, come, I've hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Man alive!
I'd mastered it when I was five!

 

[GR7G5TER]

when shot at, the dove dove into the bushes

Surely as you are talking about the ENGLISH language that one should be "the dove, dived into the bushes"?? :disappoin

English must be quite a complex language to learn in many respects, but at least alot of people learn it. We are quite lazy as a nation when it comes to learning foreign languages.:rotate:

 

[Iain3]

English must be quite a complex language to learn in many respects, but at least alot of people learn it. We are quite lazy as a nation when it comes to learning foreign languages.:rotate:

After living with a german girlfriend for 8 years, 1 or more holidays per year with her German family in that time, doing two night courses in speaking German and having a teach yourself German book and casette that I have tried 3 times, the fact that I am still unable to string a sentence together is nothing to do with laziness. I'm just not programmed for communication, I can barely speak English.

 

[Iain3]

...double posted.

 

[Michael Thornton]

I failed my Spanish classes in high school. I then lived in Chile for 2 years and now speak fluent Spanish. I even teach dive classes in Spanish. My accent sounds very American but I think my Spanish grammar and spelling is better than my English. The Spanish grammar rules make sense and they follow the rules. English has to many exceptions to the rules.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[humpbackdiving]

I can barely speak English.

I am bit like that. I am Polish and have lived in the UK for nearly 12 years I hardly use Polish these days. My wife is from Manchester and she refused point blank speaking any polish whatsoever... well apart from odd swearing. However whenever my mum comes over I struggle for the first day or so to switch and I catch myself dropping polish words whilst I speak English and vice verse.

I definitely need to polish my Polish.

greg-ski

 

[Mr Walker]

Time for this old gem?

European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.