• @andresil@lemm.ee
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    12 years ago

    Americans have trouble with any accent that isn’t the blandest, nails on chalkboard accent.

    Once had one ask me if I was speaking English when I spoke to him (for context I am Irish, the north bit)

    • pjhenry1216
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      12 years ago

      Bland and nails on chalkboard? That’s like the opposite of bland. Not great, but definitely not bland. Bland is blunt and flat. Nails on chalkboard is shrill, sharp, and grating. I just don’t understand how you can believe both at the same time.

  • @Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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    12 years ago

    Include anglo Canadians in there too!

    Complaining about bilingual (english + french) positions in the public service is a favorite hobby of anglo public servants, as if the french ones didn’t need to learn a second language to get the job… Heck, it’s not rare to see/hear one argue that french Canadians should just start speaking english and stop bothering them about their “unique culture”…

    But hey, it’s not racism… Or so they say 🤷

  • @HurlingDurling@lemm.ee
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    12 years ago

    Excuse me, but as an American I take offense to this meme. I speak 4 languages, English, Southern, Bostonian, and Spanish /s

  • ElPussyKangaroo
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    02 years ago

    Well, as an Indian with a love for anime, I speak 3 languages and am learning a 4th (Japanese).

    मुळात माझी मातृभाषा मराठी आहे. आणि मी बरीच वर्ष महाराष्ट्रातच राहिलीय…

    लेकिन school और दोस्तों के वजह से हिंदी भी बोल लेता है. और तो और, इन दोनो की लिपी एक जैसी ही होने के कारण पढणे मे भी दिक्कत नही आति.

    わたしはあにめがすきですから、にほんごをべんきょうおします。今は、にほんごのうりょうくしけんのN5できました。今年の12月にN4できますよ。

    And I plan on learning more soon 🙃.

  • @BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    The only good thing that the Americanization brought is, that, except the French, the world can communicate with each other in English.

    • ForbiddenRoot
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      2 years ago

      I know you are joking but based on my purely anecdotal personal experience, the French (at least in Paris) can now speak and are willing to speak in English much more than a few decades back.

      The first time I went to France, almost 25 years back, I had a rough time communicating at restaurants or even buying tickets at the Paris metro stations. Not sure if the latter was an ability or willingness issue because even holding up two fingers and saying “two tickets” was apparently indecipherable. Had to muster my school days French and say “deux billets” to produce instant results.

      Edit: And no, the two fingers I was holding up were not the middle finger of each hand :P

          • @kameecoding@lemmy.world
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            02 years ago

            well because it’s kind of a forced adoption in an ideal world we would have developed a common tongue by slowly merging the languages, or at least would have taken one that’s pretty good and then improve on it. For example Hungarian is much better in the sense that what you write is what you pronounce, not the mess that is English, so in an ideal common tongue I feel like that aspect would be adopted.

            Of course Hungarian also has stupid parts, ly (<- that’s supposed to be indeed one letter) and j is the same thing. x is just ks, y is pronounced the same as i and w is just v so there is some extra fat on it, but other than that the 44 letters cover all the sounds you make while pronouncing words.