Re: Let's talk about langages (Advice/Help)

From: Charles Hawtrey (chawtrey_at_hotpop.com)
Date: 08/14/04 

Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 21:26:31 GMT

"©N„ikuli, Willićm©" <hmmm@thisisbetterthan.MSOexpress> climbed onto
an orange crate and shouted:

>Mxsmanic wrote:
>
>Well,apparently I picked it up very fast after a 10 year layoff ("you
>speak and read very well, are you Francophone?" many instrutors have
>asked me). As an example, others seem to have problems with that 'r' in
>*r*egarde*r*ai. Or problems with the 'g' in Paris St. *G*ermain.

So, you can reproduce phonemes. That says nothing about your ability
to understand the language or use it in a practical way. If you can't
read a newspaper or understand announcements on the train platform,
the authenticity of your pronunciation is irrelevant.

I have a musician's ear and can mimic phonemes in quite a few
languages, but that doesn't mean I "know" Russian, Dutch, Portuguese,
and so on.

(see elsewhere "shibboleth") 

--
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.
They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country 
and our people, and neither do we."  - GW Bush, 5 August 2004