"Damn immigrants need to learn proper english!"

[pomology]

As a native French speaker I was pleasently surprised at how well Mitt Romney's current French speaking is (saw a vid on youtube, a welcome to French IOC members as part of the SLC 2002 org. com.). I admire native English-speakers that speak French, 1st it's a very hard language to learn and 2nd I love the accent of any native English-speakers talking in French.

I'll always make mistakes either in my written or spoken English-as-a-2nd lang., but that won't stop me from trying to get better at it. My main written probs. are run-on sentences and comma-splices.

I have those problem as well. And I'm a native English speaker who is supposedly (according to bullshit like standardized tests) highly competent in written English.

[Artemis]

I think she already admitted earlier this week that she can only speak English.

Then she needs to STFU until she has at least made an attempt to learn something else. I actually also asked if she had ever gone abroad to a country where English was not the national language, but I guess she hasn't done that either.

[emmiedahl]

I think she already admitted earlier this week that she can only speak English.

I certainly hope it is accent-free American English. Otherwise, she needs to take some classes and improve herself before she buys a cup of coffee or serves it. After all, I have a harder time understanding certain American accents than foreign ones. :roll:

I speak English, of course, and I am very experienced with Spanglish and BEV/AAVE. I used to be fluent in French, but no more. I can passably speak French and Spanish for functional situations, and I know some Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian and Italian. I have limited knowledge of a few other languages.

I think French was the easiest to learn, tied with Spanish. Maybe because I learned French at a young age? I think learning other languages impresses upon you how difficult it really is. Take for instance Yiddish and Hebrew, despite regular exposure I just have a hard time. I have nothing but compassion for a person who is struggling to learn the majority language while working at a service industry job.

[Guest Anonymous]

I would love to host Geniebelle in Wales, on the first leg of a tour to teach the British how to speak English 'properly'. I can send her on her way over the bridge to meet FreeJoyToo in Bristol and she can work her way up to JFC in Scotland. I suggest JFC as a final stop, because she may need some time to recover after the locals reward her efforts with a special thank you and a passionate "Glaswegian kiss". :lol:

[Witsec7]

I would love to host Geniebelle in Wales, on the first leg of a tour to teach the British how to speak English 'properly'. I can send her on her way over the bridge to meet FreeJoyToo in Bristol and she can work her way up to JFC in Scotland. I suggest JFC as a final stop, because she may need some time to recover after the locals reward her efforts with a special thank you and a passionate "Glaswegian kiss". :lol:

[holierthanyou]

Oh no, no, no, no, no Annie... You are being WAY too liberal there! According to her own rules, she needs to learn how to speak British English (and Scottish English) properly BEFORE she is allowed to go there!!! Goodness now, we wouldn't want to allow her over into your country and then harassing all the poor customs officers with her horribly difficult to understand non-British accent now, would we?!?

[Sola]

Bottom line, and this is the last post I'll make. If you come to America learn English and learn to speak it in such a way that people can understand you. If that makes me an ignorant, racist, elitist bitch then so be it. I don't care.

Are you going to tell deaf people to learn how to speak more clearly? Losing an accent is not easy, it can take a lifetime.

How about this; If you are going to continue to butcher the English language with your American colloquialisms then you need to STFU about people having accents.

Petrol, not gasoline.

Purse, a small wallet to hold money, usually carried by a woman.

Jelly, a fruit and gelatine based pudding.

Jam, a fruit preserve often spread on toast.

Aluminium, a metal which is not spelt nor pronounced aluminum.

Porridge, a breakfast dish made from oats.

Colour, spelt with a U.

Pisses me off to see people butcher the English language, but do I get butt hurt over it? No. I pull up my big girl knickers and get on with it.

anniec wrote:

I would love to host Geniebelle in Wales, on the first leg of a tour to teach the British how to speak English 'properly'. I can send her on her way over the bridge to meet FreeJoyToo in Bristol and she can work her way up to JFC in Scotland. I suggest JFC as a final stop, because she may need some time to recover after the locals reward her efforts with a special thank you and a passionate "Glaswegian kiss". :lol:

She can come and see me in Yorkshire too, we have one hell of an accent and dialect here!

[freejoytoo]

I would love to host Geniebelle in Wales, on the first leg of a tour to teach the British how to speak English 'properly'. I can send her on her way over the bridge to meet FreeJoyToo in Bristol and she can work her way up to JFC in Scotland. I suggest JFC as a final stop, because she may need some time to recover after the locals reward her efforts with a special thank you and a passionate "Glaswegian kiss". :lol:

:lol: I love it! I might sound 'posh' but wait until she meets the locals!

[Artemis]

I would love to host Geniebelle in Wales, on the first leg of a tour to teach the British how to speak English 'properly'. I can send her on her way over the bridge to meet FreeJoyToo in Bristol and she can work her way up to JFC in Scotland. I suggest JFC as a final stop, because she may need some time to recover after the locals reward her efforts with a special thank you and a passionate "Glaswegian kiss". :lol:

Any chance I can have a turn? I'm not that far from Freejoytoo, and I could teach her how to speak proper Queen's English before sending her on her way . . .

[emmiedahl]

A jumper and sweater are completely different things in the UK also. Also, boot instead of trunk, lorry instead of truck, etc. Not to mention complicated idioms like "innit". I had to write in British English for a writing job that lasted years and it was hard to police myself in terms of actually sounding British.

[Artemis]

Rubber, not eraser.

Full stop, not period (which is when you menstruate)

Scone, not biscuit

Biscuit, not cookie

Pavement, not sidewalk

[Sola]

A jumper and sweater are completely different things in the UK also. Also, boot instead of trunk, lorry instead of truck, etc. Not to mention complicated idioms like "innit". I had to write in British English for a writing job that lasted years and it was hard to police myself in terms of actually sounding British.

'innit' annoys the fuck out of me. Don't know why, it just does. Whenever I hear a teen (usually a teen) say it, it makes me grind my teeth!

http://www.bg-map.com/us-uk.html Good website for British vs Americanisms

[Guest Anonymous]

Well, I'll go t' foot of our stairs, Sola! Fellow Yorkshire girl here! A long-time immigrant to Wales and so I have picked up a local accent that is pleasing to my neighbours (though probably not to geniebelle), but you know what they say - you can take the girl out of Yorkshire, and all that.... :D

I'm guessing genie's sojourn in Yorkshire will be a brief one, with choruses of "Belt up yer daft apeth!" and "Chuff off, mardy-arse!" ringing in her ears, as she departs....

There's nowt as funny as folk...

[Guest Anonymous]

Rubber, not eraser.

Use 'rubber' with caution though, as it also means 'condom'. I often get fits of laughter if I talk with fondness about the novelty rubber collection that I made as a child.... :mrgreen:

[pomology]

Aluminium, a metal which is not spelt nor pronounced aluminum.

You may have to thank Charles Martin Hall, who discovered the process for aluminium reduction and the founder of Alcoa, who is also an alumnus and important benefactor of my college for that one. According to lore, he misspelled it as "aluminum" on a handbill (despite spelling it as "aluminium" in his patents) and the spelling (and pronunciation stuck). You shouldn't begrudge him that, though, because he was a pretty cool guy who has, in my perception, improved my life in small but important ways.

[Artemis]

Use 'rubber' with caution though, as it also means 'condom'. I often get fits of laughter if I talk with fondness about the novelty rubber collection that I made as a child.... :mrgreen:

I have a very, very serious evangelical friend, also a primary school teacher, who did an exchange to a USA school. She told me her most embarassing moment was when she asked the American class where they kept the rubbers . . .

I mean, she is so polite - she was horrified when she realised!

[Guest Anonymous]

How do you pronounce 'aluminum' then?

(Aluminium is pronounced A-loo-min-yum.)

[Guest Anonymous]

I have a very, very serious evangelical friend, also a primary school teacher, who did an exchange to a USA school. She told me her most embarassing moment was when she asked the American class where they kept the rubbers . . .

I mean, she is so polite - she was horrified when she realised!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[pomology]

How do you pronounce 'aluminum' then?

(Aluminium is pronounced A-loo-min-yum.)

A-LOO-min-um

[Sola]

Well, I'll go t' foot of our stairs, Sola! Fellow Yorkshire girl here! A long-time immigrant to Wales and so I have picked up a local accent that is pleasing to my neighbours (though probably not to geniebelle), but you know what they say - you can take the girl out of Yorkshire, and all that.... :D

I'm guessing genie's sojourn in Yorkshire will be a brief one, with choruses of "Belt up yer daft apeth!" and "Chuff off, mardy-arse!" ringing in her ears, as she departs....

There's nowt as funny as folk...

Eyup lass! By eck, another from God's own county! Nither thi mind abart Genie, shi wunt last a minute rarnt ere. Us Yorkshire folk don tek owt from anyone. Too reet it ad be 'Belt up yer daft apeth', an if shi dunt, well this allus Barnsley Kiss (same as Glaswegian kiss).

(translation: Hello girl! By heavens, another from God's own county. Never you mind about Genie, she wouldn't last a minute around here. Us Yorkshire people don't take anything from anybody. Too right it would be 'Belt up you daft half penny', and if she doesn't, well there is always a headbut to the face.)

Are you in South or North Wales? I LOVE North Wales and would love to move to Snowdonia. We go every year on holiday.

[B5SnowDog]

Not to mention complicated idioms like "innit".

I think I first heard "innit" on an episode of the cooking show, Two Fat Ladies. One said to the other, while preparing a chicken, "There's a lot of good in an old cock, innit?"

[freejoytoo]

Another one who can't stand the phrase 'innit'.

We also call pants trousers (pants are underpants and girls' ones are also called knickers).

I never knew rubbers meant condoms in the US for years. When I was a child I was always very puzzled that they were called 'erasers', it seemed so ridiculously specific.

Fanny means vagina here. It kills me when Americans talk about 'fanny packs' (which we call bum bags).

[Guest Anonymous]

This thread has turned comical, and the funniest part is nobody really took the time to read what I posted.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

How do you pronounce 'aluminum' then?

(Aluminium is pronounced A-loo-min-yum.)

AruminiU-mu in Japanese - it's one of those words where the British version was adopted. As a result though I often put the "extra i" in there in English too, even though I live in the US, and it's gotten me some questions.

Though it seems more logical to have the "i" in there anyway if you compare with "sodIum" "barIum" etc.

One of my neighbors is originally from Wales, and he has a sort of hybrid accent now. But he still says "GARage" (similar to "garbage") rather than "gaRAAAAAAzhhhh" as the usual American way has it. Which again has me wondering why (in the US) it IS in fact "garbage" but yet "gaRAAAAAAzhhhh".

Bottom line is, human language makes no sense a lot of the time! Makes programming it... interesting.

[freejoytoo]

Thought of another one. We call trash cans dustbins and trash rubbish. And we never say, "I'm going to the restroom." We say it like it is and that we're going to the loo!