The Official Languages Thread

[Lalaith]

Ich wünsche euch allen frohe Weihnachten!


Merry x-mas!

[Jonathan]

Originally posted by Eärniel
La pluie a fait disparaître tout la neige. Pas un Noël blanc en Belgique cette année.

Nous avons eu de la pluie aussi, mais il reste encore un peu de neige sur la terre. Ce n'etait pas beaucoup, mais La Veille cette année était blanche malgré tout

Joyeux Noël

[Earniel]

Je voix que votre problème avec l'accés sur le Entmoot est corrigé, Jonathan.

Encore une fois pour ne l'oublier pas: Prettige Kerstdagen! Parce'que ceci est la place idéale pour le dire en Flamand.

[Jonathan]

Ouais, le problème est corrigée.
Linaewen a dit que vous avez posté Ã* propos de mon problème dans le forum des Mods. Il semble que SGH ait vu votre poste parce qu'elle s'est mise en contact avec moi sur AIM est nous étions capables de rétablir mon accounts sur Entmoot.
Merci Eärniel

I read somewhere that in Dutch, you say 'Prettige Kerstdagen' but that you say 'Zalig Kerstfeest' in Flamish. Is that right?
How similar are Dutch and Flamish?

[Earniel]

Du rien. Sans votre boule de neige magique je n'aura jamais vu votre cri d'aide en rouge dans votre signature. C'était une mode très inventive pour demander de l'aide. Moi, je doute si je penserais Ã* utiliser cela en cas des problèmes.

Dutch and Flemish are very simular. Flemish is afterall the Belgian 'dialect' of Dutch. I often compare Dutch and Flemish in the way American and British English can be compared to one another. In essence they're both the same language, but they can vary in certain expressions and words.

'Prettige Kerstdagen' means 'Pleasant Christmasdays' and 'Zalig Kerstfeest' means 'Blissful Christmasfeast'. You can say both IMO, or at least I use both.

[Linaewen]

Eärniel, dank je voor de mooie afbeelding! (I hope that made sense).
Just wanted to show my appreciation by attempting to write it in your native tongue.

It seems that it's not only me asking you those questions. They must be good questions.

[Earniel]

You're welcome.

That Dutch sentence was flawless. Well done! I still stand in awe for the apparant ease with which you work yourself into so many different languages so fast.

[Linaewen]

Dank je! Better stop now so as not to stain my almost perfect record.
Thanks for your kind words. Ich möchte viele Sprachen lernen. You are good at languages too!

So, teach us some Dutch. Kan ik met een cheque betalen? Whoa, that's like a mix of Deutsch and Swedish.

[Earniel]

I only know so many languages because they were required subjects at school. Und ich brauche viele, viele Jahre um eine Sprache zu lernen.

So, what do you want to learn from the Deutsch-Swedish mix that the world knows as Dutch?

[Linaewen]

Originally posted by Eärniel
I only know so many languages because they were required subjects at school. Und ich brauche viele, viele Jahre um eine Sprache zu lernen.

Men jag också behöver mycket tid för att läsa ett språk!

So, what do you want to learn from the Deutsch-Swedish mix that the world knows as Dutch?

I only thought of it as a mix of those to because the words in that sentence that I didn't know were related to the German equivalents, I recognised from Swedish. They could very well have been similar to the German equivalents, ik weet niet.

What about writing some sentences about what you did today? Basic phrases I could probably get from websites, and the complex grammar I'm not ready to delve in yet. But it would be good to see the Nederlands syntax thus.

[Earniel]

Originally posted by Linaewen
Men jag också behöver mycket tid för att läsa ett språk!

Yes, but you seem much quicker able to form sentences and express yourself in other languages.

Originally posted by Linaewen
What about writing some sentences about what you did today?

In Dutch? Let's see.... Ik ben opgestaan rond 10 uur. Ik heb thee gedronken en heb de computer aangezet. Dan heb ik mijn mail gelezen en ben ik naar de Entmoot gegaan waar ik nu nog ben.

Not much, but the day is still young here.

EDIT: Did you notice how we sort of took over this thread?

[Linaewen]

Oops, I apologise for writing in Swedish. You had to translate it, niet waar? Sorry.

Originally posted by Eärniel
In Dutch? Let's see.... Ik ben opgestaan rond 10 uur. Ik heb thee gedronken en heb de computer aangezet. Dan heb ik mijn mail gelezen en ben ik naar de Entmoot gegaan waar ik nu nog ben.

Not much, but the day is still young here.

EDIT: Did you notice how we sort of took over this thread?

Ok, most of that I understand. But the 'ge-' (as a prefix?) at the start of verbs just threw me. Nederlands doesn't have prefixes for verbs, does it?
I forgot to mention the many /a/s that Nederlands has, too, Eärniel. So many /a/s!

Ja, I have a tendency to take over this thread. I guess I corrupted you like others have done to me.

[Lalaith]

Mein Tag:
Ich bin um kurz vor 10 aufgestanden, habe gefrühstückt und mich an die Arbeit gemacht. Ich übersetze gerade die Situationsanalyse für unser Projekt. Und ich chatte min Lin. Hahaha.

[Earniel]

Originally posted by Linaewen
Oops, I apologise for writing in Swedish. You had to translate it, niet waar? Sorry.

Don't worry, I understood half of the words and used a handy Swedish-English internet translator for the rest.

Originally posted by Linaewen
Ok, most of that I understand. But the 'ge-' (as a prefix?) at the start of verbs just threw me. Nederlands doesn't have prefixes for verbs, does it?

I thought writing the verbs in past tense could pose some problems. The ge-prefix refers to the (what's the word again? Participle something.. Past participle? yeah, I think so) part participle of the verb. Nederlands heeft toch wel prefixen voor werkwoorden, vrees ik.

Originally posted by Linaewen
Ja, I have a tendency to take over this thread. I guess I corrupted you like others have done to me.

Nehheh, I fear I was already corrupted before you even came to the Entmoot. (Bang! There goes another fluffy image of me)

[Linaewen]

Lai, I've already told you my thanks for everything Deutsch-related that you've given me. Danke schön!

Originally posted by Eärniel
I thought writing the verbs in past tense could pose some problems. The ge-prefix refers to the (what's the word again? Participle something.. Past participle? yeah, I think so) part participle of the verb. Nederlands heeft toch wel prefixen voor werkwoorden, vrees ik.

Yes, I'm still heavily influenced by Indonesian. I thought that the 'ge-' might have a similar function to Indonesian affixes 'ber-' or 'meN-'.
So inflections for tense are attached to the start of words? Fascinating!
Just give up and tell me everything about Dutch grammar already!

Geen bent je niet "fluffy".

[Jonathan]

Ich habe geliebt die 'ge-'Präfixe in der deutschen Sprache. I have always thought it sounds quite nice to hang that word in front of verbs.

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Jonathan
Ich habe geliebt die 'ge-'Präfixe in der deutschen Sprache. I have always thought it sounds quite nice to hang that word in front of verbs.

Jaja, what a lovely language.
Jetzt beginnst du auch noch Deutsch zu sprechen. Hurra.
Heiß geliebt!

[Earniel]

Originally posted by Jonathan
Ich habe geliebt die 'ge-'Präfixe in der deutschen Sprache. I have always thought it sounds quite nice to hang that word in front of verbs.

Richtig, Die Deutsche Sprache habt auch ge-Präfixe(n?). Es wär also mehr einfach vor mich um Deutsche Verben zu lernen und enthalten.

Wow, I think I have never written so many German voluntarily, or any German at all since my German courses stopped two years ago.

Originally posted by Linaewen
Geen bent je niet fluffy".

Hihi, I'm a little puzzled what to make of this. "None are you not fluffy". It sounds a little like Yoda.

[Valandil]

Some questions for my European Mooter friends:

How many languages do you speak? For those on the continent - do most people you know speak multiple languages? Especially more than two - like 3-4 or more?

Do you feel that too much of your time is spent learning a variety of languages - when if there was only one to learn, the additional time would be freed up for better use?

Is there - or do you expect there to be - a move in the European Union to push a single language? If so, which language do you expect it to be? Do you feel something would be lost if all Europe (say, 100 years from now) largely spoke a single language? Or would that be a net good?

It's a whole different situation here in the USA. We generally all speak English (though Spanish use is growing quickly - and is being largely accommodated publicly). Most of us learn another language in school, but get little opportunity to practice it. I mean, you might cross a border and be in Germany or France or Denmark... I cross a border and I'm in Indiana, Iowa or Wisconsin! While on my one overseas trip, I told an Englishman I met that I spoke German. He said, quite dismissively, that when an American says he can speak a certain language, he really can't (something to the effect that we DON'T get opportunity to practice). He then continued his efforts to pick up a girl in our group, who humored him for awhile. I've reflected on it often though... our efforts to learn a foreign language ARE so different here. There generally isn't a practical return on it. Some of us may make a RARE visit to Europe, but maybe only once in our lifetimes... maybe that's why we seem a bit slack in our ability to speak other languages.

Just some thoughts / thought-starters. What do you folks think?

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Valandil
Some questions for my European Mooter friends:

How many languages do you speak? For those on the continent - do most people you know speak multiple languages? Especially more than two - like 3-4 or more?

I am able to speak 2 languages fluently, German and English. I have been learning Spanish for 4 1/2 years but I am not fluent in it (lack of practice). I'll concentrate on learning that in future, though (as well as other languages).
And most of the persons I know speak at least two languages. And I also know some who speak 4 languages. Not uncommon here.

Originally posted by Valandil
Do you feel that too much of your time is spent learning a variety of languages - when if there was only one to learn, the additional time would be freed up for better use?

No, of course not. I would rather say that too less time is spent on learning other languages. Especially when it comes to talking a language. We learn grammar in school but most of the times we don't have the time anymore to practice it. That's not good. So no, I don't think that too much time is spent on learning languages.

Originally posted by Valandil
Is there - or do you expect there to be - a move in the European Union to push a single language? If so, which language do you expect it to be? Do you feel something would be lost if all Europe (say, 100 years from now) largely spoke a single language? Or would that be a net good?

I have not seen that move, no. There is too much pride and tradition in all the different languages. Nah.
But if there would be a common language it would be English. I guess. As we are not giving up our own languages we are still focusing on learning English. Most of the pupils nowadays learn English and I consider it to be rather important as we all should - additional to our mother tongue - be able to communicate with each other in other languages and that is mainly English.
So, IMO, everybody in the EU should be able to speak English (as it is the most common language) but also his/her mother tongue.