Home: Forum: English: is it difficult to speak English?

is it difficult to speak English?

Sander   Fri Nov 04, 2005 9:49 pm GMT

=>??? <= Not a existing word? Wrong word choice?

Travis   Fri Nov 04, 2005 9:54 pm GMT

Sander, the way you spelled the word makes it look like it's meant to be "solemnly", yet the context that you used it in makes it look like it's meant to be "solely".

Sander   Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:25 pm GMT

/me blinks

Rick Johnson   Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:39 pm GMT

<<Why is it being provocative telling a Brit that their country was responsible for millions of deaths in WWII?>> Yeah, well there was no way we were going to let those krauts take our bicycles!

Adam   Mon Nov 07, 2005 6:03 pm GMT

Britain and the Netherlands have overtaken Belgium to become the European nations with the greatest wealth relative to gross domestic product. Britain is slightly richer than Holland - making it THE richest country in the whole of Europe. Belgium no longer Europe`s richest land Nov 4, 2005, 2:30 GMT BRUSSELS, Belgium (UPI) -- Britain and the Netherlands have outpaced Belgium as the countries with the greatest wealth relative to gross domestic product. The newspaper De Tijd suggested that very little has changed in Belgium, with the country`s residents sticking to a conservative investment strategy. But the newspaper said that means that Belgians did well while the European economy and stock prices were heading into the cellar, while the more aggressive British and Dutch are doing better with an uptick. In 2002, Belgium`s collective wealth was 255 percent of the GDP. That inched up to 257 percent in 2004 -- but Britain`s wealth was at 270 percent of GDP and that in the Netherlands was 268 percent. Copyright 2005 by United Press International

rim   Sat Nov 19, 2005 4:27 am GMT

hi

Adam   Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:27 pm GMT

I think Britain should invade Holland and make it an English county. Personnel Britain: 111,780 + 40,000 TA Netherlands: 52,000 Dutch Army __________________ 180 Leopard 2(I think their all A5/A6) 194 CV-90-35(on order) 500+ Boxer(expected) 920 YPR-765 63 XA-188 404 Fennek(on order) 21 Fuchs 57 PzH 2000(on order still?) 120 M-109A3 100 M-114 22 MLRS Dutch Air Force __________________ 80 F-35(expected) 136 F-16A/B 13 PC-7 Turbo 2 Fokker-50 4 Fokker-60 1 Gulfstream IV 2 KDC-10 2 C-130H 30 AH-64D 3 AB-412 4 Alouette III 13 CH-47D 17 AS-532 48 HAWKS 100 Patriot ? Stinger Dutch Naval Force __________________ 4 De Zeven Provincien Destroyer's (6000 tons, Harpoon, 64 SM2/ESSM) 2 Kortenaer Frigate'S (3,786 tons, Harpoon, Sea Sparrow) 18 Karel Doorman (3,320 tons, Harpoon, sea sparrow VLS) 4 Walrus SSK (2800 tons, 20 MK48 torps/Harpoon) 12 Alkmaar Minehunters (20mm Machine Gun) 1 Rotterdam LPD (12,000 tons, 600 troops, 30 tanks or 160 APC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- British Army __________________ 386 Challenger 2 60 FV102 CVR (T) STRIKER (Anti Armour) 325 FV107 SCIMITAR (Recon) 136 Sabre (Recon) 575 Warrior (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) 1,100 AFV432 (APC) 640 AT105 SAXON (APC) 585 AFV103 SPARTAN (APC) 11 FUCHS (NBC) 179 AS90 Artillary 165 105mm Light Artillary 64 MLRS Royal Air Force __________________ 16 Eurofighter Typhoon (Air Defence) 100 Tornado F3 (Air Defence) 49 Sea Harrier (Air Defence) 142 Tornado GR4 (Long Range Strike) 66 Jaguar GR3 (Medium Strike) 97 Harrier GR9 (Medium Strike) 176 Bae Hawk (Sidewinders/bombs/rockets) 18 Nimrod MR2 (Anti Surface / Submarine) 5 C-17 (Strategic Airlift) 56 C-130 (Transport) 25 Strategic Air Refuelers (Tristar/VC-10) 67 WAH-64 (Attack Helicopter) 108 Lynx AH9 (Anti Tank / Support) 22 EH-101 Merlin (transport) 45 Chinook (Heavy Transport) 41 Puma HC1 (transport) 44 EH-101 Merling (ASW) 44 Lynx (ASW/ASuW) 22 Sea King SAR (Search and Rescue) 133 Gazelle (Recon) 7 E-3D AWACS 12 Sea King ASaC (Royal Navy AEW Helicopters) 1 ASTOR (RAF JSTARS) 7 BN-2 Islander (CASTOR Battlefield Radar) No medium or high altitude air defences 98 Rapier Low Level Air Defence (8 missiles on launcher) 135 Stormer Vehicles (8 cell Starstreak HVM launcher) 140 Shoulder Launched Starstreak HVM 330 Shoulder Launched Javelin Royal Navy __________________ 3 Invincible Aircraft carriers (20,600 tons 12 Sea Harrier) 1 Ocean Assault Ship (21,768 tons, 12 Helo/Harrier, 830 troops, 40 APC) 1 RFA Argus (28,081 tons, 5 Sea Harrier) Aviation Support + Hospital Ship 4 Type 42 Batch 3 Destroyers (4,775 tons, 40 Sea Dart Anti Air) 4 Type 42 Batch 2 Destroyers (4,850 tons, 22 Sea Dart Anti Air) 16 Type 23 Frigates (4,200 tons, Harpoon, 32 Sea Wolf VLS) 4 Type 22 Frigates (4,850 tons, Harpoon, 72 Sea Wolf Launchers) 1 Type 22 Frigates (4,850 tons 72 Sea Wolf Launchers) + ELINT system 4 Vanguard SSBN (16,865 tons, 16 Tident ICBM, 20 Spearfish Torps) 7 Trafalgar SSN (5,208 tons, 30 Spearfish Torpedo/Harpoon/Tomahawk) 5 Swiftsure SSN (4,500 tons, 27 Spearfish Torpedo/Harpoon/TOmahawk) 3 River Patrol Ships (1,667 tons, 20mm MG) 4 Castle Patrol Ships (1,550 tons, 20mm MG) - provision for uparming 4 Hunt Patrol ships (30mm MG) 7 Hunt Mine countermeasures ships (30mm MG) 11 Sandown Minehunters (30mm MG) 2 Albion class LPD (19,560 tons, 710 troops, 3 Helicopters, 160 APC) 4 Bay class LPD (16,160 tons, 600 troops, 36 tanks/150 APC) 1 Sir Bedivere LSL (6,700 tons, 534 troops, 70 APC) 8 Sea Centurion RORO Who do you think will win?

Tanja   Mon Nov 21, 2005 8:22 pm GMT

Hello, I am form Austria and I think it is very difficult to write and to speak I have already 8 years englisch and its very difficult to learn, because in english there are a lot of phrases to learn what you couldn´t say in german. do anybody speak german in this lounge??

stella   Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:59 am GMT

depends on whether you like it or not, I guess. You can find every language easy or extremely difficult to learn - it's just a question of what you think about it. Example: at my school we learn French and Latin. Many people in my class think French is cool, so they're all pretty good at it. I can't relate to French - and because I don't have a "personal relationship" to that language, I'm,well, not exactly good at it. Latin, on the other hand, is what many of my fellow students hate (cuz they say it's a "dead" language). I myself like it very much because each text is kind of a new riddle, so I'm good at it and it's easy for me to learn it. If you're really willing to learn a language, it'll at least be much easiER than if you are "forced" to (by school...).

Adam   Thu Nov 24, 2005 6:45 pm GMT

Sometimes can can be so difficult and complicated to understand that you may as well not bother even trying to read it..... "How to write a few wrongs", some tips for budding writers (Peterborough), was most informative. Here is a tip for budding orators: In promulgating your esoteric cogitations and in articulating your superficial sentimentalities and amicable philosophical or psychological observations, beware of platudinous ponderosity. Let your conversational communication possess a clarified conciseness, a compact conprehensibleness, coalescent consistency and a concatenated cogency. Eschew all conglomerations of flatulent garrulity, jejune babblement, asinine affections. Let your extemporaneous descantings and unpremeditated expatiations have intelligibilty and veracious vivacity without rhodomontade or thrasonical bombast. Sedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pompous prolixity, psittaceous vacuity, ventriloquial verbosity, and vaniloquent vapidity. Shun double entendres, prurient jocosity, pestiferous profanity, obscurant or apparent. In other words, talk plainly, briefly, naturally, sensibly, purely and truthfully. Keep from slang, dut not put on airs, say what you mean, mean what you say, and don't use big words! Sent in the the Daily Mail by Graham Lench, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Guest   Thu Nov 24, 2005 7:45 pm GMT

I guess it's coincidence you left out the 96 Joint Strike Fighters and our orderd Tomahawks adam? We have 620000 men in the army and 236 of the Newest Leopard tanks.

greg   Thu Nov 24, 2005 8:22 pm GMT

Adam : la population du Royaume-Uni est certainement la plus pauvre d'Europe occidentale puisqu'on y compte 13 millions de démunis. Tu as bien lu : ***TREIZE*** MILLIONS DE PAUVRES !

Guest   Thu Nov 24, 2005 8:31 pm GMT

Not even mentioning all the teen mothers !

Adam   Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:34 pm GMT

***TREIZE*** MILLIONS DE PAUVRES ! In France, it's quatorze millions. The problem is no one can really tell that it's a lot more because of all its clandestine illegals - "sans-papiers". Most of the lower middle-class in France are living close to the poverty line, anyway.

greg   Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:26 am GMT

Un chiffre facile à retenir pour le Royaume-Uni : 13. — 13 millions de pauvres : 2 fois plus qu'en France — 13 % de chômage (contre 9,5 % en France). Bonne nuit Adam !