What grinds your gears?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Cavesa, Apr 22, 2014.

  1. Peregrinus

    Peregrinus Active Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2014
    Messages:
    613
    Native Language:
    English
    Intermediate Languages:
    German
    Basic Languages:
    Spanish
    The thing about Italian or French or Spanish, is that Italy, France and Spain have a far lower percentage of the population knowing English than other European countries (outside largest cities and business/university), which means there is more usefulness in learning them, even with Italian which does not have much reach past its near neighbors unlike the other two.

    Hindi though, like Tagalog, is not seen as the prestige language by educated natives, because English is. Which means that unless one is in country out in the sticks, one may be hard pressed to get opportunities to speak them without natives switching to English. The vast majority of Hindi/Tagalog speakers I have encountered in the US are university educated and speak excellent English.
  2. Cainntear

    Cainntear Active Member VIP member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2014
    Messages:
    343
    Native Language:
    English
    Advanced Languages:
    Catalan, French, Italian, Scottish_Gaelic, Spanish
    Intermediate Languages:
    Corsican
    Basic Languages:
    Dutch, German, Irish, Polish, Russian, Welsh, Sicilian
    ... and of course a lot of Hindi "speakers" aren't 100% native, and don't have a particular attachment to the language. Some are even antagonistic towards it.

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