English

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Originally Posted by wiruwiru

So in fact, you do speak it effluently? :p :

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Don't push it!

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Originally Posted by ioan

Don't push it!

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Just a little joke there, ioan. ;)

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Originally Posted by wiruwiru

Just a little joke there, ioan. ;)

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I know, no worries! :)

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Originally Posted by donKey jote

I know the languages have common roots, but if how quickly Romanians learn Spanish is anything to go by, you're definitely a land of linguistic geniuses :up:

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That's true and I'm the exception to confirm the rule. All I know in spanish is "estoy embarazada" ( not sure about the spelling ), a reminiscense of hundreds of mexican telenovelas watched during taking lunch with my mother.

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Originally Posted by Ioan

Don't worry, given the literacy level of the Romanian politicians (including ministers and other well paid bureaucrats) they wouldn't know when you make grammar mistakes. Sadly enough.

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Now don't imagine that a dignitary would ever be bothered to read my elucubrations. They're destinated to other "pitifelnici" like me but need to take an official form. :laugh:



I have another curiosity. How come that most of romanians – even gypsies - who live in Italy manage to speak italian quite well while italians living here for years assasinate our sweet speak. At the end of the day the rules of pronounciation are the same.

Curiosity no.2: why is so hard for americans and englishmen to pronounce correctly the names of foreigners? My first name ( the „stage name”, not the official ) consists of only four letters and everybody ties their tongue pronouncing it.....

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Curiosity no.2: why is so hard for americans and englishmen to pronounce correctly the names of foreigners? My first name ( the „stage name”, not the official ) consists of only four letters and everybody ties their tongue pronouncing it.....

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Because, generally, they can't be bothered. What I find especially annoying are people who hear someone's name being said correctly — even by the person themselves, and even if the person is of the same nationality — and then go on mispronouncing it. It's ignorant, lazy and rude.

Shilpa Shetty ? :p

There are a lot of towns in the midwest US that were founded in the early and mid 19th century named for all sorts of exotic locations and revolutionary heroes. Since most communication was written and there was so much isolation from other languages the local dialect was applied to towns like Bolivar, Pennsylvania, Chili, Indiana, Cairo, Illinois and Buena Vista Colorado and can still be found today.

That said it's always been pretty grating to hear English announcers for the IRC pronounce Jan Kopecky's name, but that's only because all I learned in half a semester of Czech was a modicum of pronunciation. Still someone should have set them straight right away.

And then of course our use of the word 'Czech' was part of what AJP Taylor called an irritating habit of the English spelling any Slavic word according to Polish rules. No one else is so generous with the Z.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

I have another curiosity. How come that most of romanians – even gypsies - who live in Italy manage to speak italian quite well while italians living here for years assasinate our sweet speak. At the end of the day the rules of pronounciation are the same.

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Let's not forget that Romanian language has been, during it's development, seriously influenced by a number of other languages.

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Originally Posted by gadjo_dilo

Curiosity no.2: why is so hard for americans and englishmen to pronounce correctly the names of foreigners? My first name ( the „stage name”, not the official ) consists of only four letters and everybody ties their tongue pronouncing it.....

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Don't get me started on this one. The funniest when some reply to my email calling me Loan (one reason why I use a 'i' when I join a forum), shows a lack or respect and a lack of intelligence on top of it. Although this doesn't happen only to English speakers.

loan Ioan, not dissimilar specially with a different font.

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Originally Posted by Mark

loan Ioan, not dissimilar specially with a different font.

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Then again who writes their name in lower case in a company email?! No one.