VERBeration!

[maxsims]

Last week, i was conversing with my Filipina ward on the internet when she stated (about her son), "He want his dinner".

I pointed out that the pronoun was singular and therefore the verb should be likewise, giving "He wants his dinner".

A couple of minutes later, she stated, "Now he don't wants his dinner".   

I was temporarily thrown.

Is there any other language where the form of the verb changes as much as it does in English?

[Joe Carillo]

I know two: Spanish and French--and possibly also Portuguese. I earned 12 units for Spanish in college but never got to properly conjugate its verbs, which to my recollection inflect as many times as a chameleon changes its colors; in short, I never got to speak it. As to French, I never even got started to learn it although it was such a fervent desire on my part at least to speak French for, well, romancing purposes--even if I couldn't figure out how to spell its words properly. One time in high school, in fact, I thought my English teacher was kidding the class when she wrote the the words "Francois de La Rochefoucauld" on the blackboard, telling us that he was such a brainy Frenchman, but she kept on talking about somebody named "Pransschwa Laroshfuko" instead! In my simple mind, I concluded then that the French didn't know how to spell.

[hill roberts]

Well, Joe, it isn't yet late to learn to conjugate Spanish verbs.
I can always assist---for free---no fee. Mabuhay, Filipinas!

[maxsims]

Please...Hill.     Just "free".

 

[hill roberts]

Haaaaay, Joe....of course, "just free"....I thought it "rhymed" well, ha ha.
What's up over there? It's still very very hot over here. I just got back
from the "mercadillo" or flea market. Cheers! 

[Joe Carillo]

That's most gracious of you, Hill, but no, thanks! I think it's rather late in the day for me to learn Spanish with enough facility. But you'd be glad to know that a daughter of mine--she's 27--is studying the Spanish language very seriously. Someone had implanted in her head that she should make herself proficient enough in the language so she can read and enjoy Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote de la Mancha in the original Spanish. That's supposed to be a most rewarding reading experience that any well-educated person shouldn't miss. As for me, though, I have the English translation and I have been goading myself for the past two years to go beyond the first 12 chapters or so, but to no avail. It's good reading, no doubt, but I must admit I no longer have the energy to read for very long stretches.

[madgirl09]

Talking about languages, I'd like to compare some of the wonderful languages I heard or been hearing these years....

I had a pleasant day yesterday just watching at Youtube "My Fair Lady". The scenes, divided into various segments had some dubbed in Italian, which I think sounded more like Spanish than French. I felt happy recognizing a lot of the words due to my background in Spanish . (Aha!, now I can see the advantage  ) . I realized, if there's pressure to learn a language, you'd be pushed to learn it in no time at all. I speak English at work and at home, so I never learn Japanese even at the conversation level  . As for my French....When did I try to learn French? Oh, I think, when I was tutoring French nuns with basic English conversation skills back in the 80's. They wanted to use a bilingual French-English book, so I had no choice but to use the same book and got myself exposed to the language of the "aristocrats".

These past 5 years, my Brazilian friend, who would often chat with another friend over the phone while I set the brewed coffee on the table, has been giving me somewhat an indirect lesson in Portuguese. My kids as well get mesmerized by her loud pronunciation of Portuguese, with occasional giggles and guffaws  . When she leaves, I'd check Youtube for additional lessons in POrtuguese. this language sounds like French and Spanish, but the endings make it more Spanish sounding.

I also wanted to learn more languages through friends, but too bad, my Russian friend for 3 years has already left for home for good. I could always hear her talk to her son with the -ish, -ish endings. Quite sweet, but this language loses its appeal because the speaker always spoke in angry, agitated tones (or was it just my friend?). Like my German friend's intonation, her accent could make any language sound not-so-romantic.

A few years back, a Mexican friend gave us a Spanish course for 3 months in exchange for my English lesson for her girlfriend. The Mexican spoke Spanish, but his Spanish was somewhat different from the Spanish I knew;lots of vocabs are different as well the pronunciation of some words. He pronounced "Castillo" as "kas-tid-yo". Hill, do you know about the other differences between Mexican Spanish and Spanish Spanish?

I have lots of other experiences meeting people who speak other languages. So far, I find Spanish as the most romantic of all (perhaps, the intonation helps?) I could find just one romantic word in Japanase....anata. you....

[renzphotography]

You were teaching French nuns in the 80's?  Madgirl09 if I may ask how old are you 

In my case, I was forced to learn Arabic when I worked in the Middle East. Luckily it didn't have strict grammar rules so you can just do your worse and anyway is ok. In four months I could negotiate and argue with Arabs.

[madgirl09]

pragmatics...don't ask women their true age! well, not yet a senior citizen, and still have a long long way to go up the ladder of learning, I am below 50  , dear renz....thank god, students in the philippines graduate early. i earned my BS degree at the age of 19. i'm sure you are 50 + now having joined that saudi boom in the 80's/ 90's...NO? i'm a late bloomer  ... you know...

but japan keeps reminding us of our age; the other day, i received a letter from the government pension office asking me to confirm their calculation of my pension benefits...OUCH! in 20 years time, more than half of japan's population will be over 65  . OMG! time to go back home then. end of age conversation  .

one variety of english that is so easy to learn is papua new guinea pidgin english. but because pidgin english really sounds funny (to me), every time i heard locals speak pidgin, i always thought they're making jokes.

[renzphotography]

Dear Madgirl09,

Kindly explain why "age" is still a big feminine issue even in this day and age 

[madgirl09]

the same reason why the only business not affected by economic downturn is cosmetics! the drive to search for eternal youth potion goes on. did you know that it's this anti-aging cream that consumes much of women's regular personal budget? facebook and twitter secret topics reveal word-of-mouth ads on the most effective cream ever invented---- an extract from rice! and this secret spreads across continents; my cousins in canada doesn't stop asking me to find more of this in japan as it is so precious in canada. so why do many business people get stuck at automotive business when the sure dollar-earner is this youth cream? okay, to answer your question with a question---why do men like younger women? 

[renzphotography]

Madgirl09, you know more younger women wear less or no make up at all and are not so conscious about their looks unlike women from ... ehhh...earlier eras    In fact, I see some who are seemingly haggard looking and aren't too bothered by it.

Signs of the times perhaps? What could this tell us about the way generations have evolved? Is this a manifestation of a shift in values and attitudes, but how exactly?

[madgirl09]

i also didn't wear any make-up in my teenage years and before 30. simply because there was nothing to hide  . it's not true that the past generations were not as conscious of their looks as the current is now. (i collect vintage items, and many of these are compact cases for face powders  ). it's just that, women's life span is getting longer and older; women before just didn't have to worry about aging (they died young). cosmetics is as old as civilization (just what did they use to preserve the mummies?).

while there's no end rationalizing, i see some points here....current trends in women's lifestyle reflect their attempt to control the harshness of modern life, financial pressures and emerging multiple roles in the society. even in japan, women's lives are gradually changing. not only filipino women now work as office worker, mother, wife, student, community organizer, neighbor, etc...but also japanese women who used to think that marrying was an end to their multiple roles in the society. recently, when the economic downturn forced many of the heads of the family stay at home or scour the business streets for new jobs, it's when there's sudden increase in "lipsticks" sales. women laid off from their jobs grabbed this opportunity to secure a position in this reviving sector- AVON ladies!.

[maxsims]

Ahh..girls.

What has all this to do with English use and misuse?

 

[madgirl09]

max, please correct "your ward" of any repeated errors in english usage. sometimes, when women meet each other, we check whether our englishes have improved or not...and we say: "hey, after being married to a foreigner for years, your english has not improved a bit (ahhh)

same as my hubby's case; although my japanese husband has achieved an A score at TOEIC, he has stopped improving since then. we speak to each other just a few minutes every day.

the other day, at the ALT seminar, one Filipino lady was desperate to improve her english, and so asked me how she could possibly acquire an american or british accent. luckily, she's single, so i said, finding a native speaker of english as a boyfriend would suffice for now... agree or disagree?