Attempts at English

My sister's Belgian friend, whose English is usually pretty much perfect said to my sister 'your eyebrows are a lovely shape, do you unplug them?' I had a Spanish friend some years ago who said she hadn't been well and had to go to the doctors to get a 'description'.

The ukulele referenced in the first posts on this thread sounds to me like a hurdy-gurdy, and not a uke at all. Those are played by pressing keys which damp strings, while turning a handle to make a friction wheel revolve and excite the strings.

See and hear one at www.ted.com/talks/caroline_phillips_hurdy_gurdy_for_beginners.html

Am I being incredibly dense (don't answer that) but I don't understand your reference, agnesP

Ana, I studied philosophy for a while and I'm not much the wiser on that one

Portuguese:Very dirty pig on a burnt grill. Barbecued Black pork is a local delicacy.

Tunisia stuffed buffets of wind.

A remember a menu in Corfu somewhere, that proudly offered
'Fried teak and onionisms'

I have 'Brian's Latin Lesson' in script form here:

www.epicure.me.uk/latinlesson.html

Does anyone remember menus, particularly in Spanish hotels from a few decades ago, where somehow dishes would get lost in translation? When I was in my late teens I went away with a group of friends and we were often in hysterics over the hotel menus, it didn't take much to set us off! Particularly remember falling about over a couple of main courses invitingly named "braised bastards" and "meat with spit" whilst feeling very sorry for the gypsy population on the Costa del Sol due to a pudding on the menu strangely named "Gypsy's Arm Cake!"

That's a point. My Austrian friend told me that horse is a delicacy in Vienna and they pay four times as much as for beef, whereas here it would be very cheap. And here we are complaining about getting it in our meals!

The people at the Italian hotel we used to stay in didn't really speak English and I used to find it easier to use the Italian menu than to try and decipher their English translation I did suggest that they should remove references to Horse in the English version and just call it a local speciality. They hadn't realised that the English weren't that keen on Horsemeat.

I haven't attempted Chinese. I learned the basics of French with its two genders, and German with three, at school - aeons ago now - and at University I learned enough ancient Greek and Hebrew to translate texts. I've also tried Russian since, but remembering all those different alphabets gets a bit much. Chinese is a language too far for me . It's all in the intonation, as you say, which I could probably manage actually - my accents were always good - but I don't have the energy now to start learning another language.

When I first met my Austrian friend I assumed that knowing some German would help but no such luck. He speaks Viennese which not only sounds very different when spoken but has a vocabulary all its own. Thankfully he was keen to practise his English. He still tends to use German grammar and pronunciation but I know enough German to understand what he means.

Another issue with German speakers is trying to explain why we use the present continuous tense (I am going) whereas they use only the present (I go). My friend took ages to see the difference, if he ever did. But its all good fun.

The problem area for foreigners in English is that we ask Do you live here?
In Shakespeareare's time we asked Live you here? And that is what Germans say. It would be so easy for them if the whole 'Do and Did' didn't complicate matters. What makes german hard are the grammatical endings. You have to recognise the Accusitive case when speaking..and the Dative and the Genetive..... and then three genders.

As to Chinese, a friend of ours learned a few terms and tried to make polite conversation in China at a business cocktail party. The other guests were perplexed and then someone told him that he was asking about parked cars not How do you do or Pleased to meet you. After that he kept to English.
DD1 is learning Chinese because she wants to go to an Acupuncture seminar in China eventually. When I'm not available to baby sit she takes her little boy with her and he is the right age and hears the different tones and entertains us later with a few words. He sounds perfect.
Actually the Seminar will be in English but she is good at languages and enjoys the challenge.

English is a very difficult language for many foreigners, partly because of accent, but mainly because of the variation in how certain spellings are pronounced, the numbers of words which look or sound the same but have many different meanings, etc. It must be very confusing to people coming to it new. I know how often I have to help my Viennese friend but he still gets confused.

On the other hand - when I was learning German at school I found it to be a very literal language, but their habit of joining words together to make one long one can make a bit of a mouthful. My friend told me what he thinks is the longest word he knows in German, see what you think :

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän

Now there's a word you wouldn't want to use every day. He knows it because he lives close to the Donau or Danube river, though I doubt he uses it much. It means "captain of the Danube steamship cruise company".

Of course if you break it down it's easier to say.  Donau is the Danube, dampf = steam, schiff = ship, fahrt = journey/voyage, gesellschaft(s), company, kapitän, captain.

And on another note I have often wondered what foreigners make of that Estuary English word "orwy'?" (are you all right?) or however one might spell it.

cannyb this happens to me all the time as an English language teacher. My students will easily recognise a word when spoken with one accent and be completely puzzled by the same word spoken in a different accent. The word you mention is one I have been asked about many times. I always say it is one that they should never, ever use, but the proper pronunciation rhymes with hunt.

ANA

I missed out the r

its how they say it, down souf

still not sure, should I tell her? -- perhaps not.

Surely the pronunciation of can't and cant are different, cannybairn - although your wife still would have been none the wiser if you'd explained the meaning of 'cant', of course...

NANAEJ

My wife from Malta often asked me the meaning of English words, one day she asked me what can't meant. I told her it meant cannot, she shook her head, I was annoyed (reading my paper) I assured her that it was right.
she was still not happy, so I asked her where she had heard the word?
she said it was something Jean said, (Jean was big and blousy up from London), what did she say? I asked.
She was talking about Adrian, my wife said. (Adrian was Jeans live in lover) What did she say? (I was getting bothered by this time) she said that Adrian was a bleeding cant.

My wife still does not understand the word can't.

My mum used to type up dissertations for (English) university students. Bearing in mind she left school at 14/15 and took a secretarial course to become a shorthand/typist & book keeper she was very confused when she read the word 'praps'.

Sometimes correct English usage can catch out native English speakers; I once proofread a book written by a mix of English people and people from mainland Europe. The book was about landscapes and ALL of the Europeans used the word 'touristic' to describe certain places, but none of the English speakers ever used the word and thought it was actually incorrect. I had to explain that it is in fact a perfectly appropriate word.

Ariadnie

Oh, I'm sure they were. Most people who want to speak or write in a foreign language are grateful to get it right, I find.

Bet they were extremely grateful , Marg.

whenim64, I believe the "wheels" refers to the geared tuning devices for the strings. But that's just a guess. And I'm thinking the "steel sheets" are the frets. Piano probably has to do with strings?

granjura, I don't claim much knowledge of other languages myself. Snippets mainly. Once when travelling in Germany I thought I understood an item on a menu, with no translation to hand. Big mistake. When I saw kaltfleishchplatter I assumed it to be what you might call cold cuts. Nope. It was what I think is called steak tartare. Revolting. Raw slimy minced meat. It is a very literal language of course. My dearest friend is Austrian, and though he speaks the Viennese version of German, which sounds very different, it's basically German. He uses an online translator and often chooses the wrong word from the list of English words given. It can be the cause of much bewilderment at times. In the end I ask him to tell me the German word so I can choose the correct translation myself.

MargaretX, yes I know something of Chinese, thought not much. I once helped an elderly Chinese gentleman who wanted to translate his poetry into English. He made a reasonable attempt at translation but wanted it to be in correct English, and more English in style - not rhyming though, that would have been going too far and I didn't want it to lose his "voice". It was quite an undertaking, emailing back and forth, but it turned out ok and he was so grateful, bless him.
I'm sure you're right about the translation here. I use translation devices to "speak" to non-English speakers in Second Life and the results are often hilarious.

I just laughed so much reading this description I had to share it.
Anyway, someone bought it!

Ana remember that sketch in the Life of Brian where the Roman Centurion makes the graffiti artist conjugate all the verbs correctly and make all the other bits agree? Superb!