On Qui 09 Jan 2003 15:40, Anne Wilson wrote:(down there!) Just another view. From a Brazilian English Teacher. English is a very easy language when compared to other Indo-European Language! Of course, we have the multiple meaning set to a single word but, that happens on other languages as well.... maybe not THAT much.
Portuguese, German and Languages from the former Soviet Union have a quite complex grammar when compared to English. But from my professional experience, as Human Resouces Officer, British people DO learn Portuguese much faster than Brazilian people take to LEARN English. Unfortunately, I haven't see a single american learning Portuguese faster than British people. Talking about cultures.... Do you know any other country with such a multi-racial mix as Brazil? In the USA, they live together but, apart....they don't mix like here! This pluri-cultural background makes it easy for us to relate and learn any other culture. As mentioned on an USA magazine:"Brazil is a multi-racial melting pot" Maybe that's true but just come to our beaches (in the summer) and you will see what I mean. Don't forget sunscreen.... you will need it! > On Thursday 09 Jan 2003 3:01 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > on the contrary, english does have grammer, syntax and a > > recognized structure; it`s simply that wiht the vast mixture we > > ahve from so many cultures, many don`t learn the "proper" way to > > use english or they consciously revamp it, making some form of it > > thier own. i may be wrong having never loooked into it, but i > > believe the U.S. is one of the most diverse nations culturally, > > making a consistency in anything harder than many cultures must > > deal with. that said, it would still be nice if those who grow > > up with english would/could learn its proper usage before > > savaging it beyond recognition. my final .02 worth. The strongest influence I see is from "ebonics" and from rock'n'roll singers!!! > I read somewhere that although we (British) complain loudly about American > spelling etc., the truth is that their language is more pure than ours. In > fact theirs has changed relatively little since Pilgrim Fathers, whereas > ours has changed a lot. > Anne British people accept "foreign" words easily! Americans don't! Their are far more conservative. That might explain how "pure" they keep their language! Can you imagine us Non Native English Speakers having to select a "language" in a word processor? For a spell checker? US? UK? Canadian? South African? Australian? Caribean? And so on... Ricardo -- ========================================================== Linux user # 102240 => Machine # 96125 => Seti@home user ========================================================== http://counter.li.org/ & Get Counted!
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