DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Kind of surprised nobody has brought up ghoti.

BrianFlaherty Loc: Wilseyville, CA

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I suggest you read this (from 1729 AD, by Jonathon Swift):
https://culturacolectiva.com/en/books/jonathan-swift-satire-master-modest-proposal/

Dannj

Which Ricky pronounced: “cow”!

BurghByrd Loc: Pittsburgh

Thank you, I enjoyed that.

Scottty Loc: Portland,Oregon

Aid, Paid, Laid...Plaid. Huh?

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

The grammar has a rule absurd
Which I would call an outworn myth:
"A preposition is a word
You mustn't end a sentence with!"

-- online anonymous

coullone Loc: Paynesville, Victoria, Australia

Brought up in England on the top of the North Downs in Kent. The pronunciation of words as different in Maidstone 6 Miles away at the bottom of the Downs. Learnt that at Ashford 19 miles away it was different again.
What hope have we got!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Language changes over time, English language particularly. In High School we were shown some examples of old English in the form of a poem that dates from around 850. The words are not recognizable and the grammar is also different from current day grammar.

The poem is actually moderately well known although it isn't something common. The poem is titled 'Lament of Deor', a title apparently applied within the last couple centuries as the only copy of the original is untitled (and anonymous). It describes the troubles encountered by various legendary figures in several stanzas, separated by a refrain. The refrain is:



roughly translated phonetically says 'Thes ofereode thisses swa maeg' which roughly translated into modern English says 'That passed, may this also'.

Noticed a post online (different forum) showing that the poem is moderately well known. The poster had a friend from overseas who had a tattoo on his arm of that refrain and in the poster's town there was a bartender who had the same tattoo.



Wikipedia has a page on the poem and that page has a link to a translation of the poem, and also a link to the poem being sung with a lyre accompaniment so you can hear the pronunciation of the words in the poem.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I'm not sure of it's timing, but if Swift's article was published at the same time that the English parliament refused to provide assistance to the Irish at the time of the potato famine, it would be especially poignant. The English could be rather cruel. It puts a different light on the monarchy when you look back into English history.

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

Or that a tax is a fine for doing well, while fine is a tax for doing wrong.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

My dear departed mother and half-sister used to sometimes recite a variation of a portion of that when I was young. I often wondered how the entire poem read.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Ummm FOOD?

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

He was quite correct. I speak a few languages and when you can begin to make jokes in another language, you are well on your way to fully understanding that language. Well done, you should get a Spanish language course from your local library and continue with it. Learning another language is very good for your brain.

dustie Loc: Nose to the grindstone

Thanks.
That's a suggestion I'll need to keep in mind to follow-up when job duties return to a much less hectic, time-consuming situation. It may need to be a pretty basic course for starters.
Mainly, my learning in Spanish was verbal, because I was engaged in questioning, "how do you call this?", "how do you say this?", "what is the correct grammar?", etc., as we kept our hands and feet busy at our work.
Actually, in a way, as regards Spanish, I think of myself as an illiterate, with some spoken language ability, because so little of my exposure to it involved reading and writing.

Speaking it, within my fairly limited vocabulary, is still generally easier than hearing and comprehending it rapidly as someone is speaking to me, because I can formulate what I want to say more essily than keep up with the speaking pace of someone speaking to me. (Some of them can be very rapid in their speech, and the "easiest way to say it" terminologies and word contractions can make the rapid comprehension more challenging (at least for me.)

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

That is all perfectly normal. When learning a language it is best to be exposed to full immersion, to learn it the fastest and for it to stay with you. At first you learn to understand several words and then slowly you begin to string a few together. Then as your vocabulary increases, even slowly, you sort of branch out from the first few words you learn.

Only after you begin to understand more words, do you begin to pick out individual words when others speak to you, in what is first just gibberish to you. You begin to suddenly comprehend what is being said to you and you recognise more and more words.

Eventually you are speaking and understanding enough that it become a comfortable feeling and suddenly, one day, you realize that you are now able to speak and understand the language, even though it may be at a basic level. Only when you start to feel comfortable doe you then go on to learn to read and write in that language.

Though with that said, it is a good idea to start reading newspapers or magazines early on. It will help you pick out words and understand how they should sound, from what is written. It will be easier to read words than it will be to write the words. However, it will eventually come. Think how long it takes a baby to learn to speak. It is just the same for you.

You are surrounded with the sounds but understand nothing. People begin to show you things and say the words to help you get it. It is also best to have friends speak slowly and annunciate clearly, to help you understand the individual words that are all linked together in a sentence. By reading, you are helping yourself to learn how to spell the words and it all starts to come together. Don't give up. If you master Spanish, it helps you to learn French, though not German. And knowing French first helps you to learn Spanish, but again, not German.

Certain languages have similarities and one helps you learn another, if it is in that grouping. Good luck, just put on a lesson and go about your daily work. It will slowly begin to sink in, if you listen day after day.