Language differences :D

Hope you find it funny/interesting too^^

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@irmar
@adrianmorales
@helenama73_911
@piranna
@angelight313_168
@tweet998
@bozoli

:grin:

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Wow, that was very informative (and rather timely)! I was thinking about getting a BA in Linguistics, but I settled on Creative Writing instead :smiley:

Yesterday, I was Youtube videos to try and distinguish my ā€œaccent.ā€ According to my Michigan friends, I have a California Valley Girl accent, but of course I didnā€™t agree with that. Even within California, there are different accents (NoCal vs SoCal vs SFV vs LA style). While listening to the ā€œCalifornianā€ accents, I didnā€™t hear an accent. Maybe I do have one :smile:

Hereā€™s an example of asymmetric intelligibility: My mom speaks Eastern Armenian, with a Yerevan accent (the capital city). My dad and his family speak Western Armenian (Armenian from Lebanon). These two Armenians sound different, and arenā€™t completely mutually intelligible. My mom can understand Western Armenian pretty well, but her in-laws have a hard time understanding her Armenian. I asked my mom why this is, and she said that Eastern Armenians use Russian words (due to Armenia being part of the Soviet Union once upon a time). And then there is Iranian Armenian and Romanian Armenian and Karabakh Armenianā€¦

As for me, I grew up hearing both dialects, so I understand both and even mix them up when constructing a sentence. I didnā€™t realize until I met other Armenians and even Lebanese Armenians, but I also use Russian words and phrases that they donā€™t know.

This is a comedic video that briefly compares some Armenian accents (and yes, it is pretty accurate)

Hereā€™s another example: I can generally understand Portuguese but I cannot speak it. I speak Spanish as a third language which helps me with Portuguese. If I canā€™t find English or Spanish subtitles for a drama, Iā€™ll put on Portuguese subs and I can get the gist of the story. There was even this Brazilian drama that I loved so much that when I couldnā€™t find the Spanish dub, I just watched it in Portuguese and I still understood. However, I cannot understand Italian at all. Maybe as the video said, I havenā€™t had the opportunity to try to understand.

I would love to hear othersā€™ stories about their languages :slight_smile:

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Thatā€™s really fascinating. Thank you for sharing.
In my humble opinion, the language that anyone can understand is Kindness. :heart:

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Moin Tosomen,
Bi uns to Huus im Norden Deutschlands is dat geschnackte Plattdeutsch

Wollt ich mal kurz mit einbringen, und bin auch schon wieder weg :grin::joy:
Lieben GruƟ

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Ich habe das sogar verstehen kƶnnen XD

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Thanks for sharing your experiences @helenama73_911

Long time ago my uncle and my cousin visited usā€¦ and it was impossible to understand her because she was unable to speak normal German (instead she spoke some really weird Southern dialect that neither my uncle nor his wife or his other kid used). So in the end we couldnā€™t communicate with each other; she could understand us. We donā€™t use any dialect at all so our German is quite close to clear ā€œHochdeutschā€.
There are few dialects I can understand but in general I prefer the dialect-free version in every language. The only German dialect I like is yours @gaby_heitmann_975 :cherry_blossom:

What a nice idea, thank you @adrianmorales

Itā€™s said music is universal but youā€™re right, kindness as well :sparkles:

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@adrianmorales

Like always, speaking from the heart is what I call the wisdom that GOD gave us all but that so many take for granted. No matter what language we speak/understand, accent no accent/perfect or imperfect/ all we need is to speak/understand kindness like you said, and especially the language of our heart.

I have encountered people crying/sobbing, and I donā€™t understand one word they are saying in their language but all I knew that what they needed was a hug, and as I said ā€˜ā€˜okay, okayā€™ā€™ the pain to them became more bearable. That smile they gave me as they looked into my eyes, spoke words to me, the thank you that they might not know how to say but I heard it from their heart.

I feel so blessed to be able to translate somehow for the many immigrants I encounter in my life who couldnā€™t communicate at all or too well in English, and in their mess of words/signs with their hands, I have found ways to help them or find someone that can help them.
Thatā€™s the biggest satisfaction to me helping human kind through the barriers of language. What good is any language we know or how perfect our pronunciation is, if we donā€™t help those in need at one point of our life?

I remember when I was young the whole classroom would laugh at me bc of my terrible pronunciation (back and forth from PR to US year after year) the kids in school were very cruel bc I couldnā€™t say beach and instead said bitch, it was a painful experience. I promised myself that I would Never/Ever laugh at a mispronounce word, no matter how funny it sounded bc I knew the pain that it would cause them.

@helenama73_911 you are so blessed to know so many language no matter how complicated they may be bc you can help so many ppl in this world that may not have the chance or gift to know 2 or more language.

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LOL I was like, letā€™s give up on learning a new language, laughs :slight_smile:

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In my case, it was the terrible English teacher who was constantly mocking me and saying in front of the whole classroom that I talk as if sitting on the toilet seat, all because I trill/roll the letter r. A disgusting person, let me tell you, but did that prevent me from learning English? No, of course not. I even wrote a book, several actually. So maybe Iā€™m not as stupid as everyone called me. I have my wonderful mother to thank. She taught me more than any teacher. :slight_smile:
Ultimately, a personā€™s destiny isnā€™t dictated by others. I think itā€™s really amazing that youā€™ve overcome your past challenges to help others as well, myself included. Even though weā€™ve never met, please know that youā€™re really close to my heart. :heartpulse:

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Sehr gut Rose_shn, :sweat_smile: hab da auch so meine Schwierigkeiten drin :laughing: naja es ist ja auch schon so, daƟ der Nordfriese anders redet als der Ostfriese und der Dithmarscher anders als ein Kieler und dann die grammatik erst :flushed::joy: ist echt kompliziert aber unglaublich lustig :smiley::blush:

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@adrianmorales

Thank you, Adrian. Iā€™m so sorry you went through that experience bc coming from a teacher must have been much more painful than what I went through bc adults should never behave that way, itā€™s unforgivable what she did to you. I am so glad you didnā€™t let that experience define you and you move on to better things in life which is: your great poems and your short stories that I love so much, and I know many here love them, too. You also hold a very special place in my heart and Iā€™m thankful that at least I got to meet you through viki site and thatā€™s what makes this site to me so special . :hugs:

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@helenama73_911

I cannot understand Italian at all.

I suggest you check again to see if is Italian they are speaking in the video and not Sicilian which sounds similar in a way but mentions very very few spanish words in their sentence. The problem with most Italians that they are fast talker so maybe if you keep watching the video you might get the ā€˜ā€˜hangā€™ā€™ of the Italian language since is very similar to Spanish.

Itā€™s weird too bc I canā€™t understand Brazilian Portuguese at all but I understand Portuguese, and it seems the reason is the difference on how they pronounce their vowels and consonants and the way they both ā€˜ā€˜openā€™ā€™ their mouth when they speak. :smile:

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Written form worked :rofl:

So I know how Chinese must feel with their thousands of dialects but at least the same written form (if she used also written dialect it would have been impossible to communicate at all).

Could you give me the titles? :star_struck:

I finished Spinning Out really hoping thereā€™ll be a second season.

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Did you write it in English? And about which topic/s?

If teacher would behave better kids at school wouldnā€™t lose their interest in foreign languages.

I heard that from so many people that they gave up on foreign languages because their teachers at school were to mean.

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WƤre witzig, wenn es Dialektunterricht an den Schulen gƤbe - aber laut Forschungen sterben durch die Globalisierung und Zentrierung in GroƟstƤdten immer mehr Sprachen/Dialekte aus.


It would be funny if they teach dialects at school. Recent studies say that more and more dialects/languages disappear because of globalising and rising of big cities/metropol regions.

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No, I donā€™t think so. A personā€™s path in life may be altered by others, but it canā€™t be changed completely. Itā€™s ours and ours alone to follow, from learning a new language to achieving whatever we set our mind to do.

Oh, thank you for taking an interest in my book. Well, itā€™s a collection of rhyming verses covering a range of different themes and topics, from the beauty of Nature to the healing power of Love. I wrote it in the hopes of putting my readers in a good mood after a hard day at work or school. :blush:

Hereā€™s a short video presentation:

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@adrianmorales

Thank you, it looks nice.

I think people can make expierences, e.g. traumata, that destroy the way they could have gone otherwise.

A scientist who was doing research for 25 years with shamans of different cultures/tribes said that every trauma causes the soul to split into more pieces up to the point that a person loses the access to own inner strenght and true self because only the damaged, broken pieces are left.

He said that at this point a person is no longer the master of own destiny but a tool of fate with limited control.

In our Westerrn culture there are little to no methods to solve certain things because things are usually not seen as a whole.

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