English is hard! <trivia>

[Greebo]

From an AP article that I stumbled across today:

Simpl Wurdz List

By The Associated Press
[SIZE=-2]ASSOCIATED PRESS[/SIZE]
The 24 different ways in which the spoken "oo"
sound, as heard in moon, is spelled.

English Spelling How it is pronounced

moon (oo) moon

group (ou) groop

fruit (ui) froot

glue (ue) gloo

drew (ew) droo

two (wo) too

flu (u) floo

canoe (oe) canoo

through (ough) throo

rule (u-e) rool

lieu (ieu) loo

loose (oo-e) loos

lose (o-e) looz

pooh (ooh) poo

coup (oup) coo

bruise (ui-e) brooz

jiujitsu (iu) joojitsoo

silhouette (hou) silooet

buoy (uo) booy

deuce (eu-e) doos

maneuver (eu) manoover

sleuth (eu) slooth

rendezvous (ous) rondevoo

mousse (ou-e) moos

Source: American Literacy Council

No point. Just thought it was interesting...

 

[HPNFlyGirl]

Yeah it makes other languages seem easy to learn.

 

[woodstock]

some of those are French...

 

[Greebo]

some of those are French...

Perhaps, but every one is also considered part of the English language.

 

[RotaryWingBob]

English derives from German, which has its share of nonsense including wildly irregular verbs and has some pronounciation glitches of its own. One that comes to mind immediately is:

weg - pronounced veck: away, outta here
Weg - pronounced like vague: path, route

mix 'em up and you'll get some pretty strange looks

 

[woodstock]

how about those loooooooooooong German words? I remember you get these wacky long words, then add "amt" to the end which makes it the Office for this crazy wacky concept.

 

[ScottM]

While it is true that English is a Germanic language it has also borrowed from other language. Such as the French, think fish filet and beef, according to Wiki 30% of the English wors are of French origin.

There are many other words and grammer that have creeped in. Some other examples I located somewhat quickly:
Dutch for skipper, dam, polder, and keel
Latin for many medical and technical terms
Greek: think any word ending in -phobia or -ology
Spansih: plaza
Indian: pyjamas, bungalow, jungle, shampoo, and khaki

 

[Greebo]

One of the sci-fi shows I enjoy (Firefly) is based in a future about 500 years from now in which the US and Chinese cultures have merged and people tend to speak in English most of the time but usually swear in Chinese.

And we think English is hard now...

 

[RotaryWingBob]

While it is true that English is a Germanic language it has also borrowed from other language. Such as the French, think fish filet and beef, according to Wiki 30% of the English wors are of French origin.

I'm no linguist, Scott, but I suspect that many of the "foreign", non-english words in German derive from Latin, because both of what is now Germany and France were occupied by the Romans, and the words were introduced into both languages by the Romans. Just speculation on my part, though

 

[Greebo]

I'm no linguist, Scott, but I suspect that many of the "foreign", non-english words in German derive from Latin, because both of what is now Germany and France were occupied by the Romans, and the words were introduced into both languages by the Romans. Just speculation on my part, though

If I'm not mistaken, German is one of the few european languages NOT classified as a "Romantic" language - ie: Derived from Rome. French, Spanish and English are, but German is very different and is, I think, more closely related to Russian and other northern languages.

 

[fgcason]

If you snoop through an english dictionary for a while, you realize that the english language is derived from a whole bunch of languages one word at a time. If you look through other dictionaries the same thing happens to some extent though it's usually not the mess that english is. I'm actually surprised that anyone can learn english as a second language.

I often find myself looking at things written in different languages and while I don't know the syntax and many of the words are beyond me, I can often get the general drift of the message and piece together more of what is said on relatively uncomplicated stuff like signs, fairly simple instructions, or laundry room washing instructions.

Language is interesting. One of these days I'm going to have to make it to Europe then ditch the tourist crowds. Just as an experiment, I'm really curious how well I can do while traveling through non english areas that I only have an inkling of the local language. It could be fun and definitely educational.

 

[ScottM]

If I'm not mistaken, German is one of the few european languages NOT classified as a "Romantic" language - ie: Derived from Rome. French, Spanish and English are, but German is very different and is, I think, more closely related to Russian and other northern languages.

German and the nordic languages (not Finnish)are germanic, French, Spanish, Italian are romance languages. Romance language is also called vulgar latin and is named such because of the Roman occupation of those terrorities.

 

[RotaryWingBob]

If I'm not mistaken, German is one of the few european languages NOT classified as a "Romantic" language - ie: Derived from Rome. French, Spanish and English are, but German is very different and is, I think, more closely related to Russian and other northern languages.

Not exactly, Chuck. German is not a romantic language, nor is English (Dutch, English, Danish, etc. are all germanic languages, and low German is somewhat understanable to an Engish speaker). The German language picked up all kinds of latin words when the germanic turf was occupied by the Romans.

I know of no connection between German and Russian.

 

[woodstock]

If you snoop through an english dictionary for a while, you realize that the english language is derived from a whole bunch of languages one word at a time. If you look through other dictionaries the same thing happens to some extent though it's usually not the mess that english is. I'm actually surprised that anyone can learn english as a second language.

I often find myself looking at things written in different languages and while I don't know the syntax and many of the words are beyond me, I can often get the general drift of the message and piece together more of what is said on relatively uncomplicated stuff like signs, fairly simple instructions, or laundry room washing instructions.

Language is interesting. One of these days I'm going to have to make it to Europe then ditch the tourist crowds. Just as an experiment, I'm really curious how well I can do while traveling through non english areas that I only have an inkling of the local language. It could be fun and definitely educational.

even more of a mystery is how:

A. much of English is based on other languages
b. many other languages have easier sentence structures
c. many other languages have WYSIWYG pronunciation

and yet Americans are famous for being mono-lingual. for that matter so are the Brits but not nearly as bad - proximity helps in their case.

no one mentioned the Celtic languages - now those buggers are tough. even if they are trying to speak English - I have Scottish friends who have to slow down their speech for me to understand what they are saying - in English!

if you ever decide to pick up and travel like that Frank let me know, I've got a pretty decent travel library!

 

[woodstock]

Not exactly, Chuck. German is not a romantic language, nor is English (Dutch, English, Danish, etc. are all germanic languages, and low German is somewhat understanable to an Engish speaker). The German language picked up all kinds of latin words when the germanic turf was occupied by the Romans.

I know of no connection between German and Russian.

I agree - I don't think there is a connection.

here is a stumper:

Das ist ein Buch!

(now, what did I say?)...

 

[Frank Browne]

I agree - I don't think there is a connection.

here is a stumper:

Das ist ein Buch!

(now, what did I say?)...

That is a book?

 

[trombair]

I agree - I don't think there is a connection.

here is a stumper:

Das ist ein Buch!

(now, what did I say?)...

"this is a book"

next question!

 

[woodstock]

yes. the point is - how tough is it? (until they start stringing the words along). very basic German is easy for English speakers.

 

[Frank Browne]

yes. the point is - how tough is it? (until they start stringing the words along). very basic German is easy for English speakers.

Confession time. I cheated. (Dashboard)

 

[Greebo]

yes. the point is - how tough is it? (until they start stringing the words along). very basic German is easy for English speakers.

Das Fenster ist defekt.

Mein Auto hat einen flachen Gummireifen.

Wo kann ich die Prostituierteen finden?

Ok the last one is easy...

 

[woodstock]

Das Fenster ist defekt.

Mein Auto hat einen flachen Gummireifen.

Wo kann ich die Prostituierteen finden?

Ok the last one is easy...

The window is broken. (fenetre is also French, and has anyone heard of defenestration? no, it doesn't mean the leaves are falling off the trees).

My car has a flat tire. (gummi is rubber - neat huh?)

the last one I'll leave to your imagination.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Das ist ein Buch!

(now, what did I say?)...

That costs one dollar!

 

[Maverick]

Gallagher the comedian did a thing on this subject that was really funny.

Jeannie

 

[Laurie]

I have Scottish friends who have to slow down their speech for me to understand what they are saying - in English!

Try the cajuns. I thought I moved to another country - can't understand a word they say until they repeat it 3 times real real s l o w.

 

[Graueradler]

English derives from German, which has its share of nonsense including wildly irregular verbs and has some pronounciation glitches of its own. One that comes to mind immediately is:

weg - pronounced veck: away, outta here
Weg - pronounced like vague: path, route

mix 'em up and you'll get some pretty strange looks

Also "Weck" pronounced "veck" which is slang for a breakfast roll (Broetchen)

 

[Graueradler]

Not exactly, Chuck. German is not a romantic language, nor is English (Dutch, English, Danish, etc. are all germanic languages, and low German is somewhat understanable to an Engish speaker). The German language picked up all kinds of latin words when the germanic turf was occupied by the Romans.

I know of no connection between German and Russian.

Low German (Platdeutsch) refers to low country or flat land German and is North German dialect closely related to Dutch which is a Germanic dialect that became a language due to political seperation. A person fluent in English and German, using some imagination on the spelling, can almost read Dutch. I can make sense out of a Dutch newspaper article but I couldn't translate it. Conversly, high German (Hochdeutsch) refers to high country German and is better translated as standard German. The high and low refer to regions of the country as opposed to high class vs. low class. High German did become standard German. Maybe because more people spoke it, maybe because it was used for an early German bible translation. You coludl almost say that every German speaks two languages, standard or Hochdeutsch and the local dialect of the village where he grew up. Some of the local dialect words seem almost closer to English than to German.

I used to wonder why we insist on using different names for some German cities than the Germans do. Then I realized that the original names are so old that they have diverged in different directions from the original names. Some of the originals were Roman. (Cologne = Koeln pronounced something like Kurln = Colonia Agrippina) (Koblenz = Roman Confluentes, the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine - no difference between German and English) (Munich - Muenchin had sometning to do with monks)

 

[Skip Miller]

Language is interesting. One of these days I'm going to have to make it to Europe then ditch the tourist crowds. Just as an experiment, I'm really curious how well I can do while traveling through non english areas that I only have an inkling of the local language. It could be fun and definitely educational.

It will be fun.

What will blow your mind is how well all those Eurofolks speak english. It is very easy for an english speaker with no inclination to speak a foreign language to get along in Europe. The biggest barrier comes when you are perceived as the ugly american and then they seem to lose their language skills.

-Skip

 

[Skip Miller]

(fenetre is also French, and has anyone heard of defenestration?

Yup, the last time I was in Prague....

 

[fgcason]

and yet Americans are famous for being mono-lingual. for that matter so are the Brits but not nearly as bad - proximity helps in their case.

That's something I've noticed too which is one of the reasons why I got interested in trying to read stuff in other languages. It's hit and miss at first but after a while it's not so bad if you think it through.

I recall being told in high school that foreign languages were all infinitely difficult and to avoid taking those classes and that was coming from teachers. In my more enlightened days, I say they were all full of cow poop when they said that. It's not always super easy but not impossible either.
A while back I had a friend from Latvia that went backpacking with me for two weeks. I was surprised how easy the grammer was compared to english. The learning curve was pronunciation (fairly easy after a day) and building a working vocabulary and sorting out proper sentence structure. It was interesting because we did it by total immersion and using english only when needed for clarification (and fixing my dohuhwhat comments) and building from there. The amusing bit was that after just two weeks of that, I was having issues talking to people sometimes because I wasn't conciously translating. That was 1992 and though I forgot most of it due to lack of use, to this day I still catch myself using the words occasionally.
I'm no longer afraid to blunder off into non english areas as long as I'm not going to get shot or anything horrid like that. I figure at worst I'd have to find my own way out and maybe order something really nasty for lunch but that's part of the experience.

no one mentioned the Celtic languages - now those buggers are tough.

Uh, yea. I've looked at some of that. It'd take me a while and only then if it's around me regularly...like living in Ireland.
I could get through the Baltics fairly easily. It's when the writing changes that the fun is going to begin. I use to love Greek mythology in school but I can see having some major issues trying to read the local menu's or communicating in non english areas for a while. I'd give it a try though.
Chinese? - Just stick a fork in me, I'm done. ...I'd go anyway.

if you ever decide to pick up and travel like that Frank let me know, I've got a pretty decent travel library!

Thanks! I'll probably take you up on that when I get the chance though it'll be a few years. No matter where I travel I always like to hit the out of the way places that everyone else misses because they're too busy slobbering on the tourist trap stuff. If I go to another country, or even to the other side of the state, I'm there to see the place I'm visiting, not the americanized touristy version.