Comments on: How Big of an Influence is the Language you Use? http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/ Turning Dreams into Reality One Step at a Time Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:16:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Mirjam http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-1351 Mirjam Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:19:26 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-1351 if I ever have kids I will certainly teach them Dutch, even though there father is not be able to speak it ROFL but I will definitely try to teach them English early in their lives, since it is just so easy to be able to speak different languages. My parents do speak a little Spanish (they think it is a lot, and gotta say, the more wine they drink, the better they speak LOL ) but hardly understand me if I speak it so it is pretty hard when they are over and we go out for dinner with spanish people, it feels like I am constantly working as a translator ... if I ever have kids I will certainly teach them Dutch, even though there father is not be able to speak it ROFL but I will definitely try to teach them English early in their lives, since it is just so easy to be able to speak different languages.

My parents do speak a little Spanish (they think it is a lot, and gotta say, the more wine they drink, the better they speak LOL ) but hardly understand me if I speak it so it is pretty hard when they are over and we go out for dinner with spanish people, it feels like I am constantly working as a translator …

]]> By: Joyce http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-1349 Joyce Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:36:57 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-1349 Hi Mirjam, Yes, I always thought the structure of the English language was backwards compared to Dutch. But having been in Canada now since 1961 I'm starting to think the Dutch have it backwards. Never taught my kids any Dutch since their Dad was Canadian. They were very angry about that. But I figured they would never need to speak Dutch. Now I have two daughters living in Greece.One of them speaks....to me...Greek fluently. Her kids are fluent in both Greek and English. Btw Your English is excellent. Joyce <abbr><em>Joyce’s last blog post..<a href="http://www.productcommentaries.com/having-a-website-is-only-a-stepping-stone/" rel="nofollow">Having a Website is only a Stepping Stone</a></abbr></em> Hi Mirjam,

Yes, I always thought the structure of the English language was backwards compared to Dutch. But having been in Canada now since 1961 I’m starting to think the Dutch have it backwards.

Never taught my kids any Dutch since their Dad was Canadian.
They were very angry about that. But I figured they would never need to speak Dutch.

Now I have two daughters living in Greece.One of them speaks….to me…Greek fluently. Her kids are fluent in both Greek and English.

Btw Your English is excellent.

Joyce

Joyce’s last blog post..Having a Website is only a Stepping Stone

]]> By: Mirjam http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-37 Mirjam Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:59:33 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-37 @DT And here I was thinking that the English grammar was the backward one :lol: Thank you very much for sharing your point of view. It got me thinking about yet another related point. Do you feel that you are more willing to wade through crappy grammar to understand someone´s point, because you live in Vienna and you (probably) are dealing with this language issue on a daily bases? Having first hand experience of living in a surrounding where your native tongue is not the first spoken language, I think helps widen our horizons and become more accepting and appreciative of the efforts of others when trying to communicate. Also, it actually makes you focus on the content rather than the "wrapping", or atleast that is how I feel about it :wink: @DT

And here I was thinking that the English grammar was the backward one :lol:

Thank you very much for sharing your point of view. It got me thinking about yet another related point. Do you feel that you are more willing to wade through crappy grammar to understand someone´s point, because you live in Vienna and you (probably) are dealing with this language issue on a daily bases?

Having first hand experience of living in a surrounding where your native tongue is not the first spoken language, I think helps widen our horizons and become more accepting and appreciative of the efforts of others when trying to communicate.

Also, it actually makes you focus on the content rather than the “wrapping”, or atleast that is how I feel about it :wink:

]]> By: Mirjam http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-36 Mirjam Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:37:51 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-36 Hi Nick, thank you for your feedback on my question, I was not aware of the fact that you actually had to translate yourself instead of it being an automatically generated translation. When thinking about this option, I am not sure if I would be willing to to that, because I normally think in the language that I am posting in. If I would then translate it, I believe it loses the gest of the whole post. Not sure yet.... What made you decide to just stick with English and not writing in more languages? Hi Nick,
thank you for your feedback on my question, I was not aware of the fact that you actually had to translate yourself instead of it being an automatically generated translation.

When thinking about this option, I am not sure if I would be willing to to that, because I normally think in the language that I am posting in. If I would then translate it, I believe it loses the gest of the whole post. Not sure yet….

What made you decide to just stick with English and not writing in more languages?

]]> By: DT http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-35 DT Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:53:45 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-35 Hi Mirjam - As an American living in Vienna, I can certainly understand your predicament. For me, since English is my mother tongue, writing in English just seemed natural. I did worry a bit that I would be alienating my home audience by not writing in German, but I think most people who are out there actively seeking to read others blogs have accepted English as the status quo. With that said, a daily check of Google analytics reveals that readers are coming from all over the world, but the predominant OS/browser platform is English. So maybe my view is slightly biased. Is it because I write in English that I have English speaking viewers, or are mainly English speaking viewers viewing the blog because I write in English? An interesting proposal, no? With regard to what extent I'm willing to go to understand others' points even if it means wading through crappy grammar....well...as a Dutch speaker, you have a full understanding of the complexities and (from an English speaker's point of view) backward-ness of German/Dutch grammar....so really, I'm willing to bend over backwards to understand someone's point. :mrgreen: Hi Mirjam –

As an American living in Vienna, I can certainly understand your predicament. For me, since English is my mother tongue, writing in English just seemed natural. I did worry a bit that I would be alienating my home audience by not writing in German, but I think most people who are out there actively seeking to read others blogs have accepted English as the status quo.

With that said, a daily check of Google analytics reveals that readers are coming from all over the world, but the predominant OS/browser platform is English. So maybe my view is slightly biased. Is it because I write in English that I have English speaking viewers, or are mainly English speaking viewers viewing the blog because I write in English? An interesting proposal, no?

With regard to what extent I’m willing to go to understand others’ points even if it means wading through crappy grammar….well…as a Dutch speaker, you have a full understanding of the complexities and (from an English speaker’s point of view) backward-ness of German/Dutch grammar….so really, I’m willing to bend over backwards to understand someone’s point. :mrgreen:

]]> By: nicusor http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-34 nicusor Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:48:14 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-34 There are some plugins for this, but you'll have to write the translation yourself! :) I started to write in Romanian and English at first, but soon I come to realized that I should stick only to English! Cheers, Nick <em>nicusor's last blog post..<a href='http://nicusor.com/funny/the-truth-about-working-in-the-it-industry/' rel="nofollow">The Truth About Working In The IT Industry</a></em> There are some plugins for this, but you’ll have to write the translation yourself! :)

I started to write in Romanian and English at first, but soon I come to realized that I should stick only to English!

Cheers,
Nick

nicusor’s last blog post..The Truth About Working In The IT Industry

]]> By: Mirjam http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Mirjam Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:52:45 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-33 Hi Frankj, first of all, thank you for taking the time to comment, I think you bring up an interesting point. Some time ago, I did look into the possibilities of adding a translator service to another site of mine which is written in spanish, in order to cater for the English readers, but so far I find that free online translation services still have a long way to go as far as optimizing the translation. Mostly they completely mess up what the writer is trying to get across. Anybody knows of a good way to add multi-language to blogs? Hi Frankj,
first of all, thank you for taking the time to comment, I think you bring up an interesting point. Some time ago, I did look into the possibilities of adding a translator service to another site of mine which is written in spanish, in order to cater for the English readers, but so far I find that free online translation services still have a long way to go as far as optimizing the translation.

Mostly they completely mess up what the writer is trying to get across. Anybody knows of a good way to add multi-language to blogs?

]]> By: Frankj http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Frankj Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:29:26 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-32 I agree with English being the widely used language, but it's important that we try to utilize the google translator link to accommodate other languages. I agree with English being the widely used language, but it’s important that we try to utilize the google translator link to accommodate other languages.

]]> By: Mirjam http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Mirjam Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:28:45 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-31 @ Jenny thank you so much for your comment, it is highly appreciated. Loved your post about this same matter, wish I had read it before! It really saddens me at time to see that people seem to focus on what seems to be petpeeves, thereby completely missing the wonderful point somebody wants to get across... Thanks againg for popping in :) @ Jenny
thank you so much for your comment, it is highly appreciated. Loved your post about this same matter, wish I had read it before!

It really saddens me at time to see that people seem to focus on what seems to be petpeeves, thereby completely missing the wonderful point somebody wants to get across…

Thanks againg for popping in :)

]]> By: Jennyjinx http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Jennyjinx Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:54:58 +0000 http://www.memyselfandiblog.com/2008/02/06/how-big-of-an-influence-is-the-language-you-use/#comment-30 I am highly impressed with anyone that can write comprehensively in a language not their own. It actually irks me when I see people complain about non-English speakers English grammatical mistakes. I like to point out to native English speakers that they're unlikely to be able to communicate in any other language than their own and that they certainly aren't perfect. I think you are to be commended for being about to communicate in not one but <em>three</em> languages. That shows a high level of intelligence and commitment on your part. I can understand how that kind of criticism can bother you, but try to over look it. Or just remind these people that you're trilingual and ask them how many languages they're fluent in. (I've written a blog post about it <a href="http://www.fabulouslyjinxed.com/2008/02/03/english-as-a-second-language/" rel="nofollow">here</a>, if you're interested.) I am highly impressed with anyone that can write comprehensively in a language not their own. It actually irks me when I see people complain about non-English speakers English grammatical mistakes. I like to point out to native English speakers that they’re unlikely to be able to communicate in any other language than their own and that they certainly aren’t perfect.

I think you are to be commended for being about to communicate in not one but three languages. That shows a high level of intelligence and commitment on your part. I can understand how that kind of criticism can bother you, but try to over look it. Or just remind these people that you’re trilingual and ask them how many languages they’re fluent in.

(I’ve written a blog post about it here, if you’re interested.)

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