Unpopular Opinions You Hold

[ozleicester]

24 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

That's bloody ripper, mate.

bonza!

 

not popular at the local school  though 

[Stadt]

We've not seen enough of Choudhury to know if he'll make it at this level, he was excellent doing a specific job against two sides better than us in games where we had less of the ball but it's too early in his first team career to go overboard with him

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Stadt said:

We've not seen enough of Choudhury to know if he'll make it at this level, he was excellent doing a specific job against two sides better than us in games where we had less of the ball but it's too early in his first team career to go overboard with him

If you've watched all his appearances and his U23 games you should've seen enough to know he'll be a king at this level.

[Carl the Llama]

4 hours ago, FIF said:

This is a really intriguing question for me. When (if ) the UK leaves the EU then not 1 country will have English as their mother tongue. It would seem crazy to continue with it as the "principal" language , but really any alternative is fraught with danger. French used to be the diplomatic language for the West, but their time has passed and other than a few African nations, French holds no sway in the larger world. Germany have the biggest population in Europe, but 2 World Wars have ended any real hope/desire for Europe to speak German - can you imagine it. Spanish does have a large influnence in the world (because of those catholics popping out kids) but for the most part it is seen as a language for the world's poor and don't forget even in Spain it is not a truly accepted first language. Russian - no way, jose. Chinese would be a good choice but it isn't European so it would be unacceptable and of course the Americans would simply boycott Europe . Personally I think that Arabic WOULD be a good alternative. Due to colonialism and empires, France, Germany and Spain have an amazing number of Arabic speaking people who could be/are European nationals and it would be a language which most of the European countries have links to without any claiming - but it isn't going to happen. Racism is already too high throughout Europe.

 

So really it has to remain English - but how can that be justified by the EU?

 

Written like that it looks like Dutch!

Well they still have Ireland where English is the dominant language (99% speak it vs 36% who speak Irish) so that'll probably be one reason to stick with English, but knowing how precious the French in particular are about their language you can guarantee there'll at least be attempts to change it.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

Well they still have Ireland where English is the dominant language (99% speak it vs 36% who speak Irish) so that'll probably be one reason to stick with English, but knowing how precious the French in particular are about their language you can guarantee there'll at least be attempts to change it.

I don't think The Irish have nominated English as their official language have they?

[Carl the Llama]

29 minutes ago, FIF said:

I don't think The Irish have nominated English as their official language have they?

I'm sure it's one

[Buce]

1 hour ago, FIF said:

I don't think The Irish have nominated English as their official language have they?

 

42 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

I'm sure it's one

 

Irish Gaelic is the official language:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/ireland.shtml

[ScouseFox]

crikey this thread got real boring real quick 

[Carl the Llama]

2 hours ago, Buce said:

 

 

Irish Gaelic is the official language:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/ireland.shtml

Bucey I know you like to correct me but your own link clearly states "the other official language, which is English". Must try harder

[Buce]

48 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

Bucey I know you like to correct me but your own link clearly states "the other official language, which is English". Must try harder

 

 

I can see how it looks but I plead not guilty on this occasion. 

 

I didn’t know the answer either and was sufficiently curious to check. But I was on my phone and the webpage was barely legible, so I didn’t read past the first sentence. 

 

It does say Gaelic is the first official language, though, which implies a hierarchy... 

[Carl the Llama]

29 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

 

I can see how it looks but I plead not guilty on this occasion. 

 

I didn’t know the answer either and was sufficiently curious to check. But I was on my phone and the webpage was barely legible, so I didn’t read past the first sentence. 

 

It does say Gaelic is the first official language, though, which implies a hierarchy... 

I think that only matters to IRA types though.  In practice English is by far the more important language for their day to day lives.

[Buce]

54 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

I think that only matters to IRA types though.  In practice English is by far the more important language for their day to day lives.

 

English is more commonly used, no doubt.

 

According to this though, Irish is recognised in the constitution as the first and national language, whilst English is seen as an official language.

[brucey]

21 hours ago, the fox said:

Chinese is too extream for the tongue and some words are almost impossible to pronounce and don't get me started on the letters.

 

Arabic is very tricky IMHO and academic Arabic is rarely used outside of formal stuff. In the streets, academic Arabic is used the same way an American person uses middle English. It just sound weird because of the different dialects (no arab country use the academic Arabic outside of formal work or when the dialects are too different and it's the only way for communication). The pure, old Arabic is another beast altogether.

 

Learning enough Arabic for simple interactions is not all that hard.

The way you’re describing Arabic is pretty much the same way I’d describe Chinese. Big differences between formal/old language and the new language, slight variations in tone causing different meanings in words, very different dialects, easy to learn basic phrases etc. are also all applicable to Chinese.

 

I guess it’s a matter of what you’re familiar with. I’m not sure whether Arabic or Chinese as a second language would be more useful to the average British person?

[Carl the Llama]

31 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

English is more commonly used, no doubt.

 

According to this though, Irish is recognised in the constitution as the first and national language, whilst English is seen as an official language.

 

6 hours ago, FIF said:

I don't think The Irish have nominated English as their official language have they?

 

6 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

I'm sure it's one

So you're saying I was right. Thanks. 

[Buce]

11 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

 

 

So you're saying I was right. Thanks. 

 

You seem uncommonly pleased by that, Carl.

 

I guess it's something you don't get to experience very often...

Edited 23 March 2019 by Buce

[Ozwin]

On 20/03/2019 at 10:41, Finnegan said:

 

Bit harsh on @Ozwin that is. 

Horrible sod! I barely post on here!

[the fox]

1 hour ago, brucey said:

The way you’re describing Arabic is pretty much the same way I’d describe Chinese. Big differences between formal/old language and the new language, slight variations in tone causing different meanings in words, very different dialects, easy to learn basic phrases etc. are also all applicable to Chinese.

 

I guess it’s a matter of what you’re familiar with. I’m not sure whether Arabic or Chinese as a second language would be more useful to the average British person?

You know Chinese, mate? If so, that is pretty impressive.

 

 

For me, I think Chinese and Arabic are a true challenge for the tongue but there is a use for them for anyone really. if it is business or travel, I think Arabic is much more helpful because of the 19 countries that speak it (but China is very big and has a billion+ person living there). It is honesty a personal preference if you ask me.

 

[brucey]

43 minutes ago, the fox said:

You know Chinese, mate? If so, that is pretty impressive.

 

For me, I think Chinese and Arabic are a true challenge for the tongue but there is a use for them for anyone really. if it is business or travel, I think Arabic is much more helpful because of the 19 countries that speak it (but China is very big and has a billion+ person living there). It is honesty a personal preference if you ask me.

 

Sort of, my level of Chinese is probably similar to your level of French. English is my first language, although I’m not British.

I can count on one hand the number of times Chinese has come in helpful over the many years I’ve been living in the UK. I imagine Arabic would be similar. 

I think in the UK there isn’t as much incentive to pick up more languages because everyone speaks English and almost everything is in English. There’s Google translate for anything that isn’t. I don’t travel though.

 

Edited 23 March 2019 by brucey

[the fox]

27 minutes ago, brucey said:

Sort of, my level of Chinese is probably similar to your level of French. English is my first language, although I’m not British.

I can count on one hand the number of times Chinese has come in helpful over the many years I’ve been living in the UK. I imagine Arabic would be similar.

But it helped and that is the key. It is always helpful to have a second (or even a third language) on your side. Thing is the environment isn't exactly helping people improve. Arabs would casually turn on the TV and find many Amazing movies, TV series and shows with quality subtitles and all you have to do is sit there, enjoy and let your brain pickup the patterns of words (like in my case). It's like a never-stopping fun practice. 

 

Like I said before, people who have English as their first language are at a great disadvantage when it comes to choosing a second language. A bit of French and English came in handy for me many times in my life. English is what's helping me interact here, most of the things I read, watch and listen to (be it Music or podcasts) are in English. French is helpful when reading documents or something technology related (a lot of people here have their PCs and phones set in French). 

 

Think our education system provided a great chance for people to pickup a language. At 8 years old you start learning French and at 12 years old you pickup English. 

 

Edit: in highschool people who study language can choose to learn German (and maybe Spanish but I could be wrong on the Spanish part).

Edited 23 March 2019 by the fox

[Stadt]

5 hours ago, the fox said:

But it helped and that is the key. It is always helpful to have a second (or even a third language) on your side. Thing is the environment isn't exactly helping people improve. Arabs would casually turn on the TV and find many Amazing movies, TV series and shows with quality subtitles and all you have to do is sit there, enjoy and let your brain pickup the patterns of words (like in my case). It's like a never-stopping fun practice. 

 

Like I said before, people who have English as their first language are at a great disadvantage when it comes to choosing a second language. A bit of French and English came in handy for me many times in my life. English is what's helping me interact here, most of the things I read, watch and listen to (be it Music or podcasts) are in English. French is helpful when reading documents or something technology related (a lot of people here have their PCs and phones set in French). 

 

Think our education system provided a great chance for people to pickup a language. At 8 years old you start learning French and at 12 years old you pickup English. 

 

Edit: in highschool people who study language can choose to learn German (and maybe Spanish but I could be wrong on the Spanish part).

Not sure if you’ll be able to confirm or not (obviously Algeria and Morocco have distinct differences) but I once read Raja Casablanca fans sing in 5 languages which is mental to me 

[the fox]

6 hours ago, Stadt said:

Not sure if you’ll be able to confirm or not (obviously Algeria and Morocco have distinct differences) but I once read Raja Casablanca fans sing in 5 languages which is mental to me 

That's not really that far fetched if you ask me and I think it is probably true.

 

Arabic, French, English and Spanish are the obvious ones and I think the 5 language is Amazigh. 

 

Moroccans tend to know many languages because of tourism, the many Amazigh people living there, France invading them and the proximity of Spain and the number of Moroccans there. Plus, everyone seem to prioritize English.

 

You can find a lot of people who speak at least 3 languages in North Africa. (Arabic, French and English). And in many parts of North Africa, Amazigh language is still going strong so that is 4, and for Moroccans, Spanish is favored so it is 5.

Edited 24 March 2019 by the fox

[Guest seanfox778]

Cannot stand international football. Probably because I support Ireland and they're crap to watch. Most of the games are a drubbing or just seem so non competitive. 

[Wymsey]

The Michael Jackson thread should've remained to be quite honest really..

Edited 24 March 2019 by Wymeswold fox

[Guest seanfox778]

1 hour ago, seanfox778 said:

Cannot stand international football. Probably because I support Ireland and they're crap to watch. Most of the games are a drubbing or just seem so non competitive. 

Spoke too soon watching the Holland Germany game.

[stix]

11 minutes ago, Wymeswold fox said:

The Michael Jackson thread should've remained to be quite honest really..

 

Why was it deleted??