ghulst

[blacktiger]

I suppose the chief export of the English is English itself.  Oddly this means that there is often little point mastering another language as normally as it is limited to a small group of people.  Learn German, French, Dutch, Spanish etc - useful if you are there, but how often will you otherwise need it?

I think we miss out on a lot of culture as a result.

Did you see that some French idiot has proposed that the EU adopt French as its official language now that the Brits have Brexited? https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1399439/france-news-French-language-eu-English-Brexit-Eric-zemmour-clement-beaune
Completely fails to understand that English is now a major if not THE major World language. And, the fact that the Spanish have a much better claim because Spanish is infinitely more widely spoke around the World than French is. What a cock.

[Nick Calne]

Well what do you expect eh? Rather than use a language nearly everyone in Europe speaks and that would connect Europe to North America, Australia, South Africa, Indian etc they suggest French... I bet the Germans love that too.

[ghulst]

I use my Dutch a lot. My English easily comes second, then my German third and French last.

[blacktiger]

I use my Dutch a lot. My English easily comes second, then my German third and French last.

I remember my first visit to the Dutch TT at Assen back in the early 80s and going to get some Chips (with Mayonnaise). I was amazed by so many Dutch people that spoke English. So I asked "how come?"  The reply was that they realised a long time ago that their language was so difficult to speak for a non native that they decided to adopt English as a second language. Nice one. 

[Nick Calne]

Apparently Dutch is the easiest language to learn is you are a native English speaker. Less than 40 weeks work to mastery.

[Sin_Tiger]

Too many years ago I was operating a well stimulation vessel which was at the time based in Vlaardingen Oost. We had an arrangement with the local Video store to rent tapes even though technically we didn't have an address in the Netherlands.

One winter weekend I went to swap out our tapes. I spotted a recent WWII blockbuster which had a long list of top actors, I thought would be perfect for a long winter evening and stuffed a couple of other VHS cassettes (like I said long ago) in the shopping bag.

After dinner we settled down with a few bottles of Grolsh and started watching. The story was based on a well known event post the D-Day landings with the allied troops advancing through the Netherlands. We were used to having Dutch sub titles but hadn't counted on the audio being dubbed completely in Dutch with no subtitles but bizarrely for us the only time English subtitles appeared was when the story characters were Dutch nationals   

If you haven't already guessed the title of the movie, which I have never forgotten in Dutch, was "Een Brug Te Ver" better known as "A Bridge Too Far" 

[blacktiger]

Apparently Dutch is the easiest language to learn is you are a native English speaker. Less than 40 weeks work to mastery.

You might well be able to learn it mentally but you try getting your tongue to pronounce it.

[Nick Calne]

I'm not going to try! It's 'een brug te ver' for me...

[Sin_Tiger]

I'm not going to try! It's 'een brug te ver' for me...

Perhaps we have a slight advantage in Scotland.

[Sin_Tiger]

I've found I'm watching more Scandinavian crime dramas recently.

Not because I'm getting in touch with my inner Ikea but because there's subtitles, my hearing (or brain) is now at the stage where I know what's being said but don't ask me to tell you the words they used 

But if a spanner falls off the bench and hits the deck at the other end of the garage, I can tell you without looking it's a Britool 1/4" Whitworth, just weird 

[Nick Calne]

My wife watches so many Scandinavian police shows that the dog and cat can probably speak Danish and Swedish.

[blacktiger]

My wife watches so many Scandinavian police shows that the dog and cat can probably speak Danish and Swedish.

I recently watched a Danish crime thing about a woman getting murdered on a submarine. At the end I thought; what was the point of the sub titles? Because it was a VERY obvious "who done it".

[ghulst]

Apparently Dutch is the easiest language to learn is you are a native English speaker. Less than 40 weeks work to mastery.

LOL, reading probably... Speaking, I'd dare you. Oh, and the last time I saw something like that, Dutch was in the top 20 of languages to learn for English speakers.

I recently watched a Danish crime thing about a woman getting murdered on a submarine. At the end I thought; what was the point of the sub titles? Because it was a VERY obvious "who done it".

Honestly, you were watching that crime show and you could not figure out why they needed SUB titles? 

[Sin_Tiger]

Honestly, you were watching that crime show and you could not figure out why they needed SUB titles? 

should be in the daily smile thread.

[blacktiger]

Honestly, you were watching that crime show and you could not figure out why they needed SUB titles?