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C. Ives wrote:

resedit wrote:

akb825 wrote:

An appended a means feminine. An appended o would mean masculine. Essentially, she was calling him a female friend. Regardless of how wrong it is, he should have understood that she doesn't know Spanish.

He may have understood that - but still been offended that she was trying to patronize him.

Then he was an smurf. I spent a few weeks in Europe this summer, and in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy I was extremely happy when the locals made an attempt to speak English to me, no matter how botched it was.  They may have screwed it up, but they made an effort, which they certainly didn't have to do.

There's a difference between being forthcoming in trying to communicate with someone, and simply dropping a foreign word in conversation, as in the example cited above. Especially when your command of the foreign language is so poor as to mess up your attempt at appearing well-versed in said language.

,xtG
.tsooJ

A bit off-topic, but this thred has reminded me of Fried Chicken.
He doesn't seem to post as often these days. I'll bet that German boarding school keeps him hitting the books a lot more than his US high school did.

Alien wrote:

C. Ives wrote:

resedit wrote:

He may have understood that - but still been offended that she was trying to patronize him.

Then he was an smurf. I spent a few weeks in Europe this summer, and in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy I was extremely happy when the locals made an attempt to speak English to me, no matter how botched it was.  They may have screwed it up, but they made an effort, which they certainly didn't have to do.

There's a difference between being forthcoming in trying to communicate with someone, and simply dropping a foreign word in conversation, as in the example cited above. Especially when your command of the foreign language is so poor as to mess up your attempt at appearing well-versed in said language.

,xtG
.tsooJ

Of course there is, but getting annoyed at someone who obviously has no ability in your language seems . . . annoying.

C. Ives wrote:

Of course there is, but getting annoyed at someone who obviously has no ability in your language seems . . . annoying.

It should be pointed out of course that I have no idea what his motivation for being ticked off was.
However, it also is annoying when people attempt to use your lingo for whatever reason, and use it blatantly incorrectly. Kind of like when kids from the suburbs try to talk all ghetto.

resedit wrote:

DukeofNuke wrote:

A bit off-topic, but this thred has reminded me of Fried Chicken.
He doesn't seem to post as often these days. I'll bet that German boarding school keeps him hitting the books a lot more than his US high school did.

It's also possible he has lost some of his net privileges for attempting to circumvent their firewall and filters.

DID HE REALLY?!?!?! 

C. Ives wrote:

Alien wrote:

C. Ives wrote:

Then he was an smurf. I spent a few weeks in Europe this summer, and in France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Italy I was extremely happy when the locals made an attempt to speak English to me, no matter how botched it was.  They may have screwed it up, but they made an effort, which they certainly didn't have to do.

There's a difference between being forthcoming in trying to communicate with someone, and simply dropping a foreign word in conversation, as in the example cited above. Especially when your command of the foreign language is so poor as to mess up your attempt at appearing well-versed in said language.

Of course there is, but getting annoyed at someone who obviously has no ability in your language seems . . . annoying.

Depends on the "motive", I guess. I'm not saying the guy's reaction was appropriate, though, just pointing out that your example pertains to an entirely different situation.

,xtG
.tsooJ

bloomsday wrote:

Congress should pass a law forcing everyone in America to learn spanish.

They have a law in Quebec that forces everyone to learn French. And forbids non-anglophones from learning english.

Heck we don't don't even get a vote on a national language... Anyway...

We have a couple of guys who come to "the counter" most days, together.  One guy only speaks Spanish.  His English is so poor, I wouldn't even call it broken.  The other one is "the translator" and basically knows all the english necessary for his profession.

I approach the counter to lend a hand an i say "Uno momento por favor"

And I must've nailed it with little or no accent.  The one guy gets all excited: big smile, a little "hop".  The translator gets a pretty nice smile.  Then it dawns on me what I said and who I said it to.  So my next comment:  That's all I know.

The first guy is deflated.  But he makes an "oh well" motion with his hand and says "It's a start."  The "translator" just wants to know "Can you take our order?"

With a smile I respond "Si"

Zander wrote:

justine wrote:

Zander wrote:

How's this one - My family was in Mexico 10 years or so on vacation.

A 10 year vacation?

woops, 10 years AGO.

You should have responded -

"Yeah, it's goot to be rich"

justine wrote:

keprydak wrote:

[ I guess they couldn't believe some little white girl from the suburbs could speak it. I dunno.

More than once i've gotten the comment that they can't believe i live in California and don't speak spanish.

Tell them you just moved from <insert whatever state here> and you are still struggling with English.

keprydak wrote:

Some1 wrote:

bloomsday wrote:

Congress should pass a law forcing everyone in America to learn spanish.

They have a law in Quebec that forces everyone to learn French. And forbids non-anglophones from learning english.

Seriously?

Not exactly.  French is the official language of Quebec, so anyone born in Quebec usually learns it, because that's what is taught in schools, etc.  There is no law preventing anyone in Quebec from learning ANY language, English or otherwise.

They're not that backwards over there!

resedit wrote:

My calculus teacher likes to go to France.
She told us that language was a problem - the places where she went, communication was difficult.
So she took two years of French - and went back.

She said at many places, when English wasn't working, she would try to use French - but her french was so bad that the people couldn't stand it, and suddenly, their English got better.

Yes, I too can attest that the French are total bastards. (j/k) They all speak perfectly good English, but blatantly refuse to use it until you've had a stab in their lingo. Despite this being mildly irritating, I think that if the boot were on the other foot, I'd probably do the same. I could be French, no problem.

What narks me is when you're trying your hardest to cobble together a sentence in their mother tongue, and they just shrug their shoulders at you and exhale sharply through pouted lips. Those pesky garlic-crushing, cheese-eating, wine-guzzling surrender monkeys!!


tF

macnuke wrote:

No Habla  <-- all the spanish I use ( I do speak it fluently tho )

Just so you know that doesn't mean "I don't speak" it means either you (formal) or he/she do not speak.