The French interested/disinterested in the English language

bernard   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 01:54 GMT
my god, your mother is not an encyclopedia !!

" I beg to differ, but Italian is very more similar to Spanish. "
You speak about Spanish, Italian... as if you were the world's biggest specialist... You don't even speak those languages !!!!

You have right now asked your mother ! I'm sure you even didn't. In Germany it is 3.43 AM ! I think that your mother is right now sleeping !


" I think you mix up Andalusien (arabic, gypsy) with middle und North Spain (castallans, basques). Anyway, the Spaniards are 60% Romans. "

I'm sorry but you have some history class to follow... The muslisms were implanted in almost all spain, not only in andalucia !... The same for gypsies, they moved to north Spain and even South France ! (or maybe you know my country more than myself !)
Spaniards are 60% Roman... this number has absolutly no signification and no scientific meaning? as long as Spanish are mixed since centuries, it is absolutly impossible to give a value to such a number.

I stop now the discussion with you, you seem too young to have a serious discussion.
Tiffany   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 06:37 GMT
What is this, World War 3? Bernard, I am not Italian, but my husband is. He is from Italy amd came to university here where he met me to make a long story short.

I agree fully with Bernard that Italian is closer to French. The statistic he quoted is one I have read in many places. My only contention was that because of pronunciation, Spanish is easier to understand for Italians than French in many cases.
Tiffany   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 06:42 GMT
And Bernard, I also use the same argument about the placement of the countries when someone tells me that Spanish has to be closer to Italian than French. Italy and Spain dont even share a border!

The funniest has to be when both the Portuguese and Spanish claim they are closer to Italian than to each other. Neither Spain nor Portugal border Italy and let's face it, on both continents, you border EACH OTHER.
greg   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 06:52 GMT
Tiffany : I don't speak Italian at all. Yet I've gone over Italian newspapers to 'read' headtitles or a few sentences related to international news. I was astonished that some words (like 'AIDS', 'computer') were so used in Italian while French equivalents are different ('SIDA', 'ordinateur'). These are the only words I can recall now. This why I get the feeling Italian is more Anglicised than French : just a question of words.
Tiffany   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 06:58 GMT
Hans, most Romance languages have so much in common with one another, that they can all communicate more comfortably than say... an English and an Italian person. The difference really is negligible if you look from that perspective. What does make it hard are the differences in pronunciation between them. Take the word "black" - "nero" (It), "noir" (Fr) and "negro" (Sp). Because both Spanish and Italian pronounce there "r" rolling, the similarity can be clearly heard. French on the other hand pronounces with an uvular "r" - which sounds almost indistinct to the untrained ear. But you can see the clear root.
Tiffany   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 07:03 GMT
Greg, I don't mean to offend, but with technical words like that, that so recently stemmed from English, I just think they're are not as zealous as the French (the academy of language) to stamp out any traces of the anything un-French in their language.
Sander   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 07:14 GMT
He Bernard! Cool down a bit! This is the first German in months and you ARE NOT going to chase him away!
Louis   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 08:34 GMT
Hans,

Guten Tag. Sorry, can't resist not poking my bloody nosey nose in. But I've been to Morocco before and I can assure you that French is sometimes the only European language spoken in many situations. English is a distant second in many circumstances although of course, it's almost as useful as French in the more 'touristy' areas.

Only in Casablanca is Spanish quite widely understood. But knowledge of Spanish doesn't come at the expense of French.

To recap, French is understood by most urban Moroccons while Spanish only in Cetua (technically not part of Morocco anyway) and Casablanca. King Hassan V has proclaimed his wish that English shall be the third (or fourth) language of his kingdom so I'd expect many young schoolgoing Moroccons to speak at least a smattering of the language. I don't know. I had too much fun practising my French there.
Riko   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 08:41 GMT
I read an article many years ago saying that Castilian was a lingua franca in northern Morocco up to the algerian border amongst the berbers and arabic speakers and the inhabitants of the former Western Sahara, which is not an independant state, but recognized by the African Union. But now is it french or arabic or english?
Sander   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 10:03 GMT
It belongs to the UN ,its a mandate state...
Sander   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 10:09 GMT
Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed.
Hans   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 15:19 GMT
Bernarnd,

Gypsies in North Spain? The most gypsies in Spain are in Andalusien. Anyway, you should learn something about the basque influence in North and Middle Spain (Navarra Kingdom and Castilla) and about the Basque Country, a part of which is still today invaded by your land. :-P

"You have right now asked your mother ! I'm sure you even didn't. In Germany it is 3.43 AM ! I think that your mother is right now sleeping !"

First, we live no more in Germany. Second: do you know about working in a Hospital?

"you seem too young to have a serious discussion"

Of course, Mr. Arrogance, you are the only one who is qualify to have a serious discussion, I forgot. By the way, I'm 27. Is that "too young" for you?

"I stop now the discussion with you, you seem too young to have a serious discussion."

I stop too now the discussion with you, it doesn't make sense to discuss with so arrogant gays like you, I could discuss with Tiffany, Louis or Sander, but not with you...

Sorry but I have no patience with your arrogance, this is my last post here, I scram.


Tiffany,

"My only contention was that because of pronunciation, Spanish is easier to understand for Italians than French in many cases."

I think you are right, the Spanish and Italian pronouncing are very close, maybe that's why an Italian can understand a Spaniard and vice versa, but not French. Thanks for your respect and take care.
andre in south africa   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 15:25 GMT
There's another thread about anger management....
Adam   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 16:17 GMT
" but the language that most Europeans speak in term of people is German. "

No. Most Europeans DON'T speak German.
Adam   Saturday, May 28, 2005, 16:19 GMT
And there are more speakers of Russian in Europe than speakers of German.