I personally don't care about the US, but I most say that that sentance is true.
Which Asiatic language can be really important?
How would Persian become more important if America bombs the hell out of it? Perhaps, if you're working in the intelligence community.
You guys are all forgetting about Indonesian. Over 200 million speakers, fast growing economy,etc...
<< The difficultness or easiness of the subjunctive is based on statistics not in the fact that you may find it easy or difficult. Most of people who study Spanish find it difficult. >>
My point is that if the subjunctive is difficult, something would have to make it difficult. Nobody's yet told me what exactly that is. I'm not going to pretend that I get it right 100% of the time, since I rarely get anything right 100% of the time in Spanish due to my inexperience, but I don't see anything hard about the subjunctive once the basic principles are understood. And I don't find the basic principles hard to understand either.
The subjunctive usually follows simple patterns. Take the following sentences:
* Creo que tiene razón.
* No creo que tenga razón.
* Le dije que lo hiciera.
* Es cierto que soy feliz.
* Es bueno que seas feliz.
* Hay duda de que sea así.
* No hay duda de que es así.
I think if you understand why the subjunctive is or isn't used in each of those sentences, you already know something like 90% of all there is to know about using the subjunctive.
- Kef
My point is that if the subjunctive is difficult, something would have to make it difficult. Nobody's yet told me what exactly that is. I'm not going to pretend that I get it right 100% of the time, since I rarely get anything right 100% of the time in Spanish due to my inexperience, but I don't see anything hard about the subjunctive once the basic principles are understood. And I don't find the basic principles hard to understand either.
The subjunctive usually follows simple patterns. Take the following sentences:
* Creo que tiene razón.
* No creo que tenga razón.
* Le dije que lo hiciera.
* Es cierto que soy feliz.
* Es bueno que seas feliz.
* Hay duda de que sea así.
* No hay duda de que es así.
I think if you understand why the subjunctive is or isn't used in each of those sentences, you already know something like 90% of all there is to know about using the subjunctive.
- Kef
Indonesian seems to be an interesting language. I'm tired of the Indoeuropean languages and feel I need new experiences.
I don't know about indonisian... In order to really learn a language people have to like it, and with all due respect I think that most Asian languages sound really bad.
>> I don't know about indonisian... In order to really learn a language people have to like it, and with all due respect I think that most Asian languages sound really bad. <<
Then you haven't heard Indonesian yet.
The language sounds quite nice, and very different from the other Asian languages.
Then you haven't heard Indonesian yet.
The language sounds quite nice, and very different from the other Asian languages.
Hey, I forgot about "cuando" in my example sentences. So, two more:
* Dímelo cuando llegues.
* Me lo dijo cuando llegó.
* Dímelo cuando llegues.
* Me lo dijo cuando llegó.
<<* Creo que tiene razón.
* No creo que tenga razón.
* Le dije que lo hiciera.
* Es cierto que soy feliz.
* Es bueno que seas feliz.
* Hay duda de que sea así.
* No hay duda de que es así. >>
Those are simple cases though, try reading prose and it becomes MUCH more arbitrary, stylistic, imparting particular feeling and mood.
On the other hand, what is difficult in the reflexive pronoune 'se'? I think it is extremely logical its use.
* No creo que tenga razón.
* Le dije que lo hiciera.
* Es cierto que soy feliz.
* Es bueno que seas feliz.
* Hay duda de que sea así.
* No hay duda de que es así. >>
Those are simple cases though, try reading prose and it becomes MUCH more arbitrary, stylistic, imparting particular feeling and mood.
On the other hand, what is difficult in the reflexive pronoune 'se'? I think it is extremely logical its use.
Of course, I don't mean the subjunctive is EXTREMELY HARD, but it's not EASY. Surely you have simply learnt it well, but then what part of any language is EXTREMELY HARD if you are willing to learn it well (except for characters, of course :) ]
Another difficulty of Spanish is regional varieties, there are a huge number of words with different meanings in different countries.
Antimoon is not a site for chatting and ranting. This has been a problem with people posting in Spanish on here.
If you wish to discuss something in Spanish please have a specific topic about the language and don't wander from it.
Also keep in mind Antimoon rule # 4 which does not allow topics that are too general.
Anything posted on this site deemed to be chat or rant by the moderators may be, and most likely will be, removed from the screen.
Thank you.
--- Brenno
If you wish to discuss something in Spanish please have a specific topic about the language and don't wander from it.
Also keep in mind Antimoon rule # 4 which does not allow topics that are too general.
Anything posted on this site deemed to be chat or rant by the moderators may be, and most likely will be, removed from the screen.
Thank you.
--- Brenno
>>Only European languages can be important, and within European languages, only the ones that sound nice could be important (French, Spanish, English, Italian), and from those "nice-sounding" languages only the easy ones could be important (just English and Spanish).
Partially agree.
The problem is, thanks to colonialism, there will never be much room left for non-European languages to extend their influence elsewhere. Even if Chinese were reduced to Chinese Esperanto, people still wouldn't bother to learn it, if they don't see the commercial benefits/heritage links/cultural appeal/positive image of China, because it's simply not international. By international I mean things like English, French and Spanish (not Italian). But even so, the latter two are more like regional ones (Chinese is national).
The world linguistic map would have been totally different if the Chinese during the Song/Ming/Qing dynasties had ventured elsewhere in a way like the Spaniards, but then, imo, there might have been similar turmoils as the real ones in the Americas some centuries ago. So, for me, being international, while this does add appeal of a language, is very often a product of coercion and colonialism, which I'm not really into.
But why do "I" prefer languages like such to Japanese/Korean that are genetically linked to my language, which would give me lots of benefits...and I could make great friendships with people who look like me? The problem is, exactly, that I can expect they won't be anywhere important, and I'm more into languages with more diverse native speakers and cultures and so on...
That might be why, in the remote "Far" East, some of my young people are more into Spanish than French, even though Spanish is, in real terms, insignificant in my country. All they can see is merely the *number* of native speakers, which I don't care for.
Partially agree.
The problem is, thanks to colonialism, there will never be much room left for non-European languages to extend their influence elsewhere. Even if Chinese were reduced to Chinese Esperanto, people still wouldn't bother to learn it, if they don't see the commercial benefits/heritage links/cultural appeal/positive image of China, because it's simply not international. By international I mean things like English, French and Spanish (not Italian). But even so, the latter two are more like regional ones (Chinese is national).
The world linguistic map would have been totally different if the Chinese during the Song/Ming/Qing dynasties had ventured elsewhere in a way like the Spaniards, but then, imo, there might have been similar turmoils as the real ones in the Americas some centuries ago. So, for me, being international, while this does add appeal of a language, is very often a product of coercion and colonialism, which I'm not really into.
But why do "I" prefer languages like such to Japanese/Korean that are genetically linked to my language, which would give me lots of benefits...and I could make great friendships with people who look like me? The problem is, exactly, that I can expect they won't be anywhere important, and I'm more into languages with more diverse native speakers and cultures and so on...
That might be why, in the remote "Far" East, some of my young people are more into Spanish than French, even though Spanish is, in real terms, insignificant in my country. All they can see is merely the *number* of native speakers, which I don't care for.
To Xie
I see some similar factors between Spanish and Chinese.
Both are the most spoken languages in a whole area: Spanish is the most spoken language in the Americas and Chinese in Asia.
Both languages are the most spoken World languages as mother tongue. The first Chinese, the second Spanish
Both are the most important World languages (and English, of course) according to some experts.
It is more or less the same with Japanese and German. They have several similarities: economic power, same speakers, etc.
In my opinion the languages of XXI century are English, Spanish and Chinese.
I see some similar factors between Spanish and Chinese.
Both are the most spoken languages in a whole area: Spanish is the most spoken language in the Americas and Chinese in Asia.
Both languages are the most spoken World languages as mother tongue. The first Chinese, the second Spanish
Both are the most important World languages (and English, of course) according to some experts.
It is more or less the same with Japanese and German. They have several similarities: economic power, same speakers, etc.
In my opinion the languages of XXI century are English, Spanish and Chinese.
<<In my opinion the languages of XXI century are English, Spanish and Chinese. >>
And the language iof the XXII century will be Chinese. After that, my crystal ball gets cloudy.
And the language iof the XXII century will be Chinese. After that, my crystal ball gets cloudy.