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#21
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So who's made an effort ...
Frank Hucklenbroich wrote:
Am Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:31:56 +0200 schrieb Tim C.: On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:44:51 +0100, David Horne wrote in post : : I would like to learn Arabic at the moment, as I do like to visit Arabic speaking countries and wonder if the experience wouldn't be enhanced by a little understanding of the language... Understanding what all the local beggars are calling out to you in the street may not enhance your holiday :-) But imagine their surprise when they realize that you understand them... Could be well worth it ;-) It would be a great turn of the tables, certainly. Contemplating a purchase from a young girl in Jordan my partner and I exchanged a few comments in Spanish- to which she said in English (but we believed her!) "Don't think I can't understand what you're saying!" D -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "[Do you think the world learned anything from the first world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009) |
#22
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So who's made an effort ...
Frank Hucklenbroich wrote:
Am Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:21:36 +0000 (UTC) schrieb Bert: I studied French and German in school, and have had little opportunity to use either. I was able to read signs, menus and the like when I traveled in Austria and Germany, but neither language was of much use in The Netherlands or Norway. In the Netherlands you can get around with German, the two languages are not so different from each other and most dutch people understand basic German. You will also be able to read menus or roadsigns. Norway is a different story, but most of the people there speak pretty good english (like in most of Scandinavia). I can figure out a little of the Scandinavian languages between my German and study of their ancestor Old Norse, but it seems most Scandinavians speak really good English. -- Erilar, biblioholic medievalist with iPad |
#23
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So who's made an effort ...
In Frank Hucklenbroich
wrote: Norway is a different story, but most of the people there speak pretty good english (like in most of Scandinavia). I was startled by the fact that the Norwegians I had a chance to talk to spoke what was essentially American idiomatic English, often with very little accent. -- St. Paul, MN |
#24
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So who's made an effort ...
Bert wrote:
In Frank Hucklenbroich wrote: Norway is a different story, but most of the people there speak pretty good english (like in most of Scandinavia). I was startled by the fact that the Norwegians I had a chance to talk to spoke what was essentially American idiomatic English, often with very little accent. Your Norwegian accent might be pretty smooth if you had exposure to Norwegian language media daily (including popular music), with subtitles... and had it backed up with lessons from an early age at school. D -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "[Do you think the world learned anything from the first world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009) |
#25
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So who's made an effort ...
On 12/04/2013 2:46 AM, Frank Hucklenbroich wrote:
Am Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:21:36 +0000 (UTC) schrieb Bert: I studied French and German in school, and have had little opportunity to use either. I was able to read signs, menus and the like when I traveled in Austria and Germany, but neither language was of much use in The Netherlands or Norway. In the Netherlands you can get around with German, the two languages are not so different from each other and most dutch people understand basic German. You will also be able to read menus or roadsigns. Norway is a different story, but most of the people there speak pretty good english (like in most of Scandinavia). I learned French and German in high school and brushed up on them before making a trip to Europe. Both were, and still are very rusty, but I was able to get buy. In most cases when I spoke the local language they responded in English. Before travelling to Sweden a few years ago I got a CD of Swedish lessons and transferred them to an MP3 player. As it turned out, I didn't need. Our host and hostess and all their family and friends all spoke excellent English. I only ran into one Swede who did not speak English. From my experiences, Belgium and Italy were the only places where it was hard to get service in English. |
#26
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So who's made an effort ...
Dave Smith wrote:
[] From my experiences, Belgium and Italy were the only places where it was hard to get service in English. Do you recall which part of Belgium? I would be really shocked with any problems in the Flemish speaking part, based on recent experiences. Brussels too, but I don't think I've travelled in the Francophone areas. D -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "[Do you think the world learned anything from the first world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009) |
#27
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So who's made an effort ...
On 12/04/2013 12:45 PM, David Horne wrote:
Dave Smith wrote: [] From my experiences, Belgium and Italy were the only places where it was hard to get service in English. Do you recall which part of Belgium? I would be really shocked with any problems in the Flemish speaking part, based on recent experiences. Brussels too, but I don't think I've travelled in the Francophone areas. It was in Ypres. That surprised me, considering the large number of Commonwealth tourists. |
#28
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So who's made an effort ...
poldy wrote:
to learn the language of the countries they visit? I married a Hungarian and have made great effort in trying to learn some of the language for when we visit. It is quite difficult but I can get by with the basics, and since I have a keen ear for pronunciation, I'm told that what I can speak is nearly accentless. All the guidebooks say that Hungarians tend to be impressed with tourists who speak it, owing to the fact that few attempt it. But that hasn't been my experience. I find that people I meet tend to get annoyed with me when I don't understand when they speak back to me. I suspect that when I speak Hungarian with no accent I get mistaken for a native simpleton rather than a foreign tourist. Maybe I'll work on worstening my pronunciation and see if that makes a difference. -- K. Lang may your lum reek. |
#29
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So who's made an effort ...
David Horne wrote:
Assuming the waiter is Hungarian, the waiter might understand a Finn speaking Finnish :-) There are similarities between the languages. I believe they're mutually unintelligible (for practical purposes) despite being part of the same group... Hungarian and Finnish are distantly related and the degree of similarity between them is very small; comparable to that between English and Russian or Hindi. -- K. Lang may your lum reek. |
#30
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So who's made an effort ...
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