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Author Topic: [EN] I feel outside  (Read 18889 times)

Offline agaida

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[EN] I feel outside
« Reply #45 on: 2012/05/21, 03:17:18 »
@jacmoe: perfecting my english would be a time consuming job. So i have to decide what to do first: improve my debia packaging and writing skills (bash, perl, python ...) or improve my english conversation skills. Imho atm improving my skills as a programmer is the right thing for me.

Ich hab es halt lieber, wenn meine Programme fehlerfrei sind. Für den Rest gibt es im Zweifel den Google Translator.
There's this special biologist word we use for "stable". It's "dead". ~ Jack Cohen

jacmoe

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I feel outside
« Reply #46 on: 2012/05/22, 08:15:07 »
Sorry about being rude. Wasn't intended.

I want to be able to write Danish whenever I feel like it too.
And what about Polish, Finnish, Dutch, Farsi and Pushtu?

I understand that you started out being a German community, but I think it's weird.
And in many ways arrogant.
But let that discussion rest, as I don't want to be rude again.

Du kan jo prøve at bruge Google Translate på dette her, da jeg altså ikke gad at skrive den sidste sætning på Engelsk. ;)

Offline vilde

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I feel outside
« Reply #47 on: 2012/05/22, 11:00:54 »
As an anecdote I can say that I have experienced this language dilemma before, but live, and that's what the subject-title of this thread is about.

Little more than twenty-five years ago I was backpacking around the world, I was traveling around in norther Thailand. I mainly traveled alone, but a lot of times there where others getting along for a few days or so.

I remember coming to a lodge where most of the guests where from Israel, they where sitting together speaking their only their language, I felt outside. Some other day and in another lodge there where nearly only Germans, and what did they speak? Yes, they where sitting in a big group speaking German, I felt outside.

It was not that they where not speaking to me on this places, everybody was friendly, but the main talking and having fun was on a language that I couldn't understand enough to enjoy it.

Some weeks later I was up north again, this time with Laura from Philadelphia, she was nice 8). Laura and I where of cause talking English with each other and we came to a Guest House with a lot of Swedish people, and of cause they where talking Swedish. This time I didn't feel outside because Swedish is my language, instead it was a little fun, me and Laura talking English made nobody realize that I understood what they where saying, so there I was sneaking on them ;)

Anyway, after that I realized that everybody is more comfortable in their own language, it's less energy consuming and you can express yourself with more finesse and with a more humor. Traveling around the world for months speaking only English as a foreign language make you feel quite easy with some hours speaking your native language together with people from your own country.

So it's really understandable, this groups of people getting together and talk their native language, but if they do that, if you do that, you are also keeping a distance to all other around you, even if you are not intending to, you are sending a message around you, we are together here, don't disturb.

There are also other issues with different languages, even if it's nearly 60 years since the second world war ended there are still people in Europe who have difficulties with the German language. I have experienced that myself being together with a German women, JZ, for seven years. (No, I didn't learn German, we only spoke English with each other) Anyway, she and I where biking on the countryside where I was living, we passed a little red house with some people outside and stopped to talk with them, I know they where Danish summer guests, JZ started to talk in English to them and that was fine for a time but on some point they realized that she was German and then they stopped to talk to here and went away in a rude way. This Danish people where old enough to have experienced the war, JZ was not born then, but anyway this feelings are there.

In central Europe, we have traditionally had three major countries with their own language, German, French and English. All of them wanted to be dominant in this part of the world. It's not really a secret that there are old competitions between these countries and with that some old stubbornness to not speak or at least not to pretend to understand some of the other languages. I hope and believe that this is a disappearing thing with young people and new generations.

For the moment English is the international language in the world, like it or not. But that's probably not for ever, we will maybe all, speaking Chinese, Mandarin or maybe Spanish in the future, who knows?

Everybody who manage to read this far without falling asleep will get a star in their book.  :wink:

And finaly, @ jacmoe Ha, jag förstod vad du skrev utan att använda Google Translate :)

Offline devil

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I feel outside
« Reply #48 on: 2012/05/22, 11:49:02 »
nice post. say 'hello' to Laura from Philadelphia from me ;)

greetz
devil

Offline vilde

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I feel outside
« Reply #49 on: 2012/05/22, 15:20:11 »
devil, you get the first star :) but if you want to get in touch with Laura you have to start looking in Philadelphia, I lost contact with here more than twenty years ago.