When English-speaking people speak Spanish

Juan   Friday, June 18, 2004, 12:19 GMT
I don't mind if Jordi is an internet addict. His contribution is usually of a positive and enlightning nature. Sadly, the same cannot be same of others that frequents these boards.
Damian   Friday, June 18, 2004, 14:35 GMT
Xatufan: yes, I hear loud and clear...Gaelic is not quite a forgotten language. I will try and make an effort to learn at least something of the language, even it it's just basic.

I am delighted that Jordi is an internet addict....his postings are so interesting. I have only just sent another post saying that I am becoming addicted to this forum myself! At least I feel I learn a great deal coming in here..I could be going into some weird chat room instead! LOL I know loads more about Spain and it's culture and language(s) than I did even a week ago. I wish I could contribute in the same way and at the same level as Jordi! I have more time to visit here now that uni has finished and I work part time hours in a store. Like Jordi I come in here when the opportunity presents itself...it's compulsive but I drop in, then buzz off again and do something else, then a while later if I have 10 minutes or so I pop in again before I go out altogether. I think I understand what I've just written! Cheers
Jordi   Friday, June 18, 2004, 15:18 GMT
Juan and Damian. Thank you. If you can defend people without really knowing them, just by their words and contribution, I'm sure you must have really unique qualities that makes me envy your real life friends.
Juan   Saturday, June 19, 2004, 01:43 GMT
Jordi,

You are welcome :-) I think I'm an addict too. LOL!
Xatufan   Saturday, June 19, 2004, 01:58 GMT
I'm addict to this forum. I can't wait to get out of school, to finish my homeworks. Aye, we're all a little bit addict.

Jordi: Es cierto lo que dices sobre los adultos monolingües. No puedes enseñarle a un perro viejo nuevos trucos.

Jordi says Catalan is his beloved language. Well, I know nothing about Quichua (perhaps because I don't need it). But I'll make an effort to learn more than a "Ima shu ti tanki?" (What is your name?)
Damian   Saturday, June 19, 2004, 08:54 GMT
I've decided not to go to Antimoon Addicts Annonymous (AAA) ...I am too far gone...just imagine the withdrawal symptoms! Yuk! I'm staying.....sorry guys/girls.

I suddenly feel really inadequate not knowing any language (other than English) in any great depth. Just knowing the basics is not enough....I'm suffering from a sense of inadequacy this morning...all you guys from outside English speaking areas have such impressive knowledge of the language....like all the "foreign" students I have met here. This forum has intensified this feeling of inadequacy in me.
Xatufan   Saturday, June 19, 2004, 21:22 GMT
Well, in my whole existence, I've learnt 5 languages: Spanish (I finished when I was 3 or 4), English (3 years old - now), Italian (8 years old - 10 yers old), Interlingua (12 -13 years old, I finished 6 months ago), and French (12 years old - now). Today I had my French class, I learnt about imperfect past and past participle and about "y", like in:

Iras-tu a l'école?
Non, je n'y irai pas.

By the way, Interlingua is a laboratory language created in 1951.
Ehd   Sunday, June 20, 2004, 00:26 GMT
People from Liverpool England are good at Spanish accents apparently, because they have the natural accent for it. Many Spaniards who learn English sound pronounce words similiar to the scouse accent of England.
Damian   Sunday, June 20, 2004, 08:23 GMT
Ehd: that is truly amazing...I would never have thought there was a link between the two. I will never look at Brookside in quite the same way again...not that I ever watch it in the first place. :-)
about v   Monday, June 21, 2004, 04:51 GMT
In Spanish I was taught to pronounce 'v' as 'b' by my teacher (from Madrid) but the other day a person from Bolivia told me to keep it as 'v'. Now I'm confused.
Jordi   Monday, June 21, 2004, 06:29 GMT
Spanish lost its "v" quite a few centuries ago and it isn't thought proper to pronounce "v" in contemporary standard Spanish. In some bilingual regions "v " is kept because it exists in the local native language. Such is the case, in Spain, in the Balearic Islands and a great part of Valencia and a small pocket in Catalonia where "v" is still pronounced. In those areas it is common to hear speak Spanish spoken by native Catalan speakers with a "v/b" difference.
Some Spanish speaking people in the US and Puerto Rico have re-introduced the "v/b" difference because of contact with English. Since "v" is written in Spanish for etymological reasons they think it should be pronounced. That has got nothing to do with genuine Spanish pronunciation.
I can assure you that "Bolivia" is pronounced as "Bolibia" by the great majority of Spanish speakers.
Damian   Monday, June 21, 2004, 12:24 GMT
It's great that languages are living instruments of communication...they have life, like people do. People change over time, so languages do as well. That's what makes the study of languages and their history so interesting. English is changing quite a lot....Estuary speak is now almost universal. When I see old films on tv (like 1940s/1950s/1960s films) the accents are quite funny...so old fashioned and unnaturally cultured somehow. Did people really speak so stilted then?

I find all the posts on Spanish so interesting and what you experts have had to say. It is a fascinating language..I would like to find time now to do some study on it. So many British people go to Spain (mostly on holiday but it seems now for permanent residence also). From what I now know very, very few Brits make any efort to learn even basic Spanish. Do other nationals visiting/moving to Spain do better? I would love to know. That is my poser right now:

Do other nationalities make a better effort in learning Spanish than do the monoglot British when they go there on holiday or to love?
Damian   Monday, June 21, 2004, 12:25 GMT
ooops.....that last word should be live! Anyway that's what I meant to put...but I guess love fits as well...depends.
Xatufan   Tuesday, June 22, 2004, 02:56 GMT
For me, I pronounce adverbio like adberbio, for me there isn't a difference.
Jason   Wednesday, June 23, 2004, 20:12 GMT
Hey one guy said car is carro in spanish. Personally I thought it was coche. Or do they say carro for car in Spanish in the South of America?

Adémas estoy esperando que la verdad es la palabra es coche porque no conozco nada de español si es falsa =(