I am currently learning French and what gets me is how much are the French language is contextual for its meaning
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Default_Defect@midwest.social 8 months agoYes, but much worse.
franklin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Rodeo@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Like English?
franklin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yes languages borrow from other languages. I was more pointing out that from the point of view from of a perspective student it’s a barrier I hadn’t considered.
samus12345@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s both. The Romans and later Christianity brought Latin influences, then the Normans brought French influences.
BuryMyHorse@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Worsechester?
Default_Defect@midwest.social 7 months ago
wustah
Bonifratz@feddit.de 8 months ago
There’s nothing worse in terms of pronunciation than English. French is silly for writing twice as much as what’s pronounced, but at least it mostly follows some rules.
Default_Defect@midwest.social 8 months ago
Doesn’t english just get that from being three languages in a trench coat?
deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 8 months ago
One of which is French, yes.
Promethiel@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The one at the bottom who is supposed to just fucking walk but keeps threatening the stability of the whole thing by randomly blurting out nonsense.
Statements dreamed by the utterly deranged.
grue@lemmy.world 8 months ago
“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” –James D. Nicoll
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This reads like Pratchett. Love it
NightAuthor@lemmy.world 8 months ago
What’s so wild is that, as a native speaker, there are SO many rules and edge cases and exceptions…. And I know them by heart without ever being told them explicitly. First example that comes to mind is the whole order of adjectives…. We say big fluffy purple cat, never purple fluffy big cat.
Default_Defect@midwest.social 8 months ago
I can’t imagine trying to teach that or explain it in a way that would be satisfactory to someone learning English.
“I don’t KNOW, its just how we do it!”
owen@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Lol! “what’s a big-cat?”
corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Also, people love to break what little rules it adheres to and claim “eh, it’s already broken, so let me do this dumb thing a little further because Alicia said it was hella fetch.” And that’s why people can’t pluralize “email” properly and why everyone under 40 knows no adverb but “literally”.
TheBat@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I learnt English as my second (technically third) language. Other two languages I know are written and spoken exactly the same.
So take it from me, French pronunciation can be baffling or straight up ridiculous at times. English has got nothing on it. I don’t care if French aren’t heureux at this comment.
herrvogel@lemmy.world 8 months ago
They are baffling and ridiculous but they are consistent in that. Once you learn one baffling and ridiculous rule, you can successfully apply that rule to correctly pronounce almost any new word you’ve never encountered before. Eaux is a stupid fucking way of writing “o” to be sure, but at least you will always immediately know how to pronounce it without ever having to guess, or hear it from someone else. Meanwhile in English you write “read” but you pronounce it “read”.
There are of course exceptions, but show me one language in the world that has none.
davidgro@lemmy.world 7 months ago
An example I like is that alchemy didn’t turn lead to gold, but it did lead to chemistry.
Bonifratz@feddit.de 8 months ago
Well, I learned English as my second and French as my third language, and I see it the other way around. Agree to disagree I guess.
GBU_28@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I am now very competent in Spanish and making no progress in France. Real speakers sound nothing like the classroom. It’s so frustrating. I feel like the French are all mumbling with Nutella in their mouths, but my tutor is clear as a bell.
someguy3@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Spanish is that much easier than French? Interesting.
Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
As a multilingual fluent Spanish speaker. Yes, yes it is.
samus12345@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Easier to pronounce once you know the rules, at least.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
French literally has rules with more exceptions than things that apply to the rule.
DABDA@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I think that’s also the case in English with “I before E, except after C.”
samus12345@lemmy.world 8 months ago
“Or when sounded as A, as in neighbor and weigh.”
“Weird.”
“Dammit!”