International Thread (Idea only)

[veK]

exactly because of the endless amount of words, different meanings and idioms english is the best choice in my opinion. the language is very variegated and interesting and if you start reading books in english you learn a lot of stuff. english also just sounds very cool (all the different accents all over the world) and in my opinion the grammar is not that hard. you only got "the" for everything - we have got der, die, das - 3 articles and it's often not very clear why one of them is used and not the other one. so while you say "die sonne scheint (the sun is shining)" and use "die" you say "das licht der sonne (the light of the sun)" and now use "der". but there are far more complicated cases and you also often have to alter some other words in the sentence, e.g. you have "this & these" in english which could mean in german "dies, diese, dieser, dieses, diesen, diesem..." so you have to adapt everything while you only use 2 words in english. so in my opinion english is a very easy to learn language, except for the vocabulary which is huge.

[gunner154]

Let's unify the languages under Newspeak! ;D

[Acriku]

English is actually not very good choice for an international language. It's filled with hordes of idioms and other sayings people must learn and the grammatical rules have weird exceptions. Also, there are many different words that basically mean the same thing, only that there are different shades of meanings.

... not to mention that a single word can mean over five different things.

In fact, NO natural language is good choice for an international language.

Many say that that is precisely why english SHOULD be chosen, because of the diversity of its structure and vocabulary. Some have complained about languages today, like you are now, and created a very efficient and easy to learn language that could eventually become the international language. They quickly found out, though, that it left little to no room for poetic structure, romanticism, or any form of art derived from the language itself. The soul of the language was not there.

If we want to find an international language, mix English and Chinese together (ala Firefly)  ;D

[alchemi2]

English is obviously the best choice for communication.

Many if not most countries speak or teach english in their schools, whilst it is true that spelling and grammer or even tense are hard concepts to truely grasp even for the English.

The beauty of our language is that you can still generally be understood even if you get all that wrong, you only have to check any number of threads on here to see that this is true. ;)

[exatreide]

Der, Die, Das, Dem, Den, Ach shade! das ist zu groBe gramatik fur mich. Ich habe drei jahre Deutsch Klasse im dem Shule, und ich will besucht Frankfurt im Juli. Meini gut fruende Elini auf Bravaria gekommt. Ich will trink zu groBe im Frankfurt.

Der die, das, dem, den. to bad! it's to much grammar for me, i have three years german klasse in the school, and I will be visititng Frankfurt in July. My good friend Elini comes from Bravaria. I will drink alot in Frankfurt.

I know my German sucks pretty bad, but hopefully after spending a month in Germany this summer it will get better. Speaking of which, Since I will probebly be in Europe the only time in my entire life. Would any of you folks like to drop by and say hi? Your only chance to meet the sexy beast known as exatreides :)  :P

[Jack Leaf]

you only got "the" for everything - we have got der, die, das - 3 articles and it's often not very clear why one of them is used and not the other one.

I'm studying German and my own mother tongue is quite complex as well. Finnish has zero articles but we have 13 different noun cases. Even some native speakers are too lazy to use them correctly.  :P

Many say that that is precisely why english SHOULD be chosen, because of the diversity of its structure and vocabulary.

Too many English words are very ambiguous. E.g "set" has over some 25 different meanings, and for non-native speaker it is sometimes quite difficult to know the exact meaning the writer had in mind. A minor problem is also the fact that because many words can basically mean the same thing, and one of those words mean even more things, this leads to unneccessary repetition of a certain word and it becomes ambiguous. For example, a man from India visiting my school used the word "deprive" (and depriveness) for nearly everything.

Many if not most countries speak or teach english in their schools, whilst it is true that spelling and grammer or even tense are hard concepts to truely grasp even for the English.

Yes, true, English is the most widely studied foreign language and thus is the most logical choice for an international language. However, it's quite silly when even native speakers (such as Americans) don't know how to write their own language. Oh, and isn't it "grammar"? All my dictionaries say it's "grammar" but people just keep writing it "grammer."

Because just as well, French could still be the international language.

All your base are belong to us.

[veK]

Because just as well, French could still be the international language.

but french sound soooo gay and also as if you have a cold all the time and can't breathe through your nose - actually I think that's the main reason why it sounds so gay. bah I hate that language, unfortunately I had to learn it in school. I hope they will change that one day so you can learn spanish at german schools instead of french which most of the pupils dislike anyway around here.

[Andrew]

take a nap...

then fire z missiles!

[drahgoon]

i think french is easier to learn then english. having spoke english all my life, i always just pass or fail english, but when i took french, i got a b. and that was with skipping a final exam.

[Egeides]

Acriku, what is this language you are talking about? I find this tid bit of info very interestng! I'd go and find a bit more about the topic :)

The only entirely "built for use" language I know of is Esperanto.

Black Espsilon: It really depends what kind of class you are served. And your English classes are probably taught as your first language, just like advanced French gets into logic and rules even some teachers have trouble with.

[Jack Leaf]

but french sound soooo gay and also as if you have a cold all the time and can't breathe through your nose - actually I think that's the main reason why it sounds so gay. bah I hate that language, unfortunately I had to learn it in school. I hope they will change that one day so you can learn spanish at german schools instead of french which most of the pupils dislike anyway around here.

Well, personally I dislike French, too, but if France still was a ruling power, French could easily be the international language.

On another note though, English is an excellent language in its own way, because it is very suitable for poetry and lyrics. This is easy to understand after listening over two weeks only Rhapsody (they are Italian but sing in English). :P

[gunner154]

Chinese is extremely difficult for me. Any Chinese I've used so far is just basic Mandarin. Oh great..

[Cyborg]

Norsk er et ganske enkelt og greit spr

[veK]

if "hvorfor" means "why" the language really is NOT simple  ;D

how the heck do you even pronounce this?

[Jack Leaf]

if "hvorfor" means "why" the language really is NOT simple  ;D

how the heck do you even pronounce this?

Haha it's easy. I've studied Swedish for about six years now (it's compulsory here) and the funny thing is that I can understand some Norweigan, too.

[Cyborg]

if "hvorfor" means "why" the language really is NOT simple  ;D

how the heck do you even pronounce this?

You're German... You can pronounce our sounds.

Our alphabet is exactly like yours in pronounciation except:

V = W

U =

[Cyborg]

Haha it's easy. I've studied Swedish for about six years now (it's compulsory here) and the funny thing is that I can understand some Norweigan, too.

If you've studied Swedish for six years, it'd be extremely strange if you didn't understand some Norwegian. The two languages are quite similar.

I read both Danish and Swedish without any big problems.

[veK]

yes I was mostly wondering about the "h" followed by a "v"...

a silent h makes more sense. still very confusing for me because almost every questionin word starts with a "w" in german like english "who, why, what, where" so I'm pretty used to a "w" at the beginning, not a "hv"  ;D

[Cyborg]

All our question words start with "hv": hva(what), hvem(who), hvor(where), hvordan(how), hvorfor(why).

[Edric O]

French is great, and easy to learn. ;)

Maybe Latin should be the international language. It's a natural language, it has extensive literature, and it's not spoken by anyone as a first language - which means that it can't serve as a vehicle for cultural domination (like English can serve as a vehicle for promoting Anglo-Saxon culture).

[Acriku]

French is great, and easy to learn. ;)

Maybe Latin should be the international language. It's a natural language, it has extensive literature, and it's not spoken by anyone as a first language - which means that it can't serve as a vehicle for cultural domination (like English can serve as a vehicle for promoting Anglo-Saxon culture).

Not spoken by nearly anyone as any language  :P

[Jack Leaf]

If you've studied Swedish for six years, it'd be extremely strange if you didn't understand some Norwegian. The two languages are quite similar.

I read both Danish and Swedish without any big problems.

I still have annoying problems with vocabulary, though.

[alchemi2]

French is great, and easy to learn. ;)

Maybe Latin should be the international language. It's a natural language, it has extensive literature, and it's not spoken by anyone as a first language - which means that it can't serve as a vehicle for cultural domination (like English can serve as a vehicle for promoting Anglo-Saxon culture).

Ah the reverse language that is French no thanks.

Any how English is made up of several languages so it is truely the international language.

[Eihwaz]

Oh well.

So what languages does everyone here speak?

Jeg kan tale *noget* dansk, je peux parle francais aussi, mais j'ai oublie beaucoup :P Yo estoy estudiando Espanol tambien. And English as well :)

{I can speak some Danish, I can speak French also, but I forget a lot :P I am learning Spanish also.}

[exatreide]

By this time Next year, I plan on having taken 4 years of German, 1 year of French, 1 year of Hebrew. I plan on either joining the IDF, or the French forigne Legion...hopefully.