Topic: Everyone Loves English

I was talking to my teacher today, and he intrigued me with something...


Apparently, everyone, across the world, every single person's brain, thinks in English, their subconsious that is. He says that this is why english is very easy to be learnt and why people like to speak it, because it is everyones natural thinking ways. he backed this up with the thinking that, in world war 1+2, the germans looked stronger than the english, because say if the german guy punched the english, the english person would go, ouch you little F****r straight away, as that is what their brain thinks, so that is what comes out. however on the germans hand, if the english guy punched them, their brain would think Ouch you little F****r, but then a small organ/sector of the brain translates that so that they can udnerstand it, and then translate it into words. this means that by the time the words are ready to come out, the pain as surpassed, and the german says little.

it is an intriguing theory, some think it is crazy, some think it is possible, dont flame ME for the idea, because it isnt my idea, i just want everyones thoughts on this smile

2004-11-04     Registered!

Re: Everyone Loves English

surely is a wrong idea. Inductive reasoning.

"'******? Worthless things like that,
I never had them for as long as I can remember!"

Evil Dark Ninja Hargora

Re: Everyone Loves English

Funeral! Funeral! You dropped your brain!

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Re: Everyone Loves English

How about... no.

"When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope." - Joseph Stalin
Lemming of Disappearance and

Re: Everyone Loves English

Did I just waste my life raeding that bullshit? If English was a "natural language" then why isn't English spoken by everyone, and why are some languages, for example Chinese so massively divorced from English? And how can English possibly be a "natural language" when English itself is derived from so many languages before it?

Who says English is easy to learn? I would say English was pretty hard to learn given our stupid spellings, number of irregular verbs and words which sound the same but mean different things.

tweehonderd graden, dat is waarom ze me mr. fahrenheit noemen, ik reis aan de snelheid van het licht, ik ga een supersonische man van u maken

Re: Everyone Loves English

English is still a pretty easy language. Unlike French or Dutch. Or German.

"When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope." - Joseph Stalin
Lemming of Disappearance and

Re: Everyone Loves English

well french is not too bad. there is an excessive amount of grammar, but when you get to a certain point this makes it easier becos it follows more rules. english on the other hand is very wild as a language, ignoring trends and breaking rules of grammar all the time tongue

but yes wot funeral said is total bullocks tongue if there were such a thing as a globally natural language then it would be the only language spoken and it would always have been the only language spoken.

I was using a metaphor that means God is watching us. You've heard this, there's a toilet on the roof.

Re: Everyone Loves English

It is easy for us, and the main reason that we have trouble learning others languages is the simple problem of syntax, we always try to translate an english sentence directly into the desired language, which in most languages makes it utter drivel. I have studied German and French, both very different languages, German being very gutteral, and french being god damned stupid. Though they were fairly simple to get to grips with, as i have not continued my studies, i find it very hard now to remember much from these languages.

As for English being the "natural language", it all falls down to interpretation. As a persons first language, is always going to be the one that their mind relates to, unless they make the descision to disregard it, and focus on a new one. English is a mongrel language, however, every language now has parts derived from other cultures. I dont think English is the natural language, it is an interesting theory however. Perhaps your teacher is a xenophobe?

tongue

"We have waited centuries for this moment. The rivers will flow with the blood of those who oppose us."

Re: Everyone Loves English

Im sorry but thats terrible.

Ive punched people in the face and see them curse in their native language as a first instinct... So there.

j/k... Although I dont suggest punching non-native English speakers in the face to see their reactions, try dropping freezing cold water on someone who is FAST asleep. See what language they start swearing in tongue. People think/and react in the language closest to their heart, and most entrenched in their heads (generally their mothertongue).

Can you take the Chocolate Rain

Re: Everyone Loves English

Um... no.
And now for a useless fact!
A person will revert to their native language in times of extreme mental stress, often unaware that this has just happened. Sometimes, in extreme cases, they can forget the learnt language completely.
I don't know why, I didn't ask.

"So, it's defeat for you, is it? Someday I must meet a similar fate..."

Re: Everyone Loves English

yeah, i thought it was quite farfetched but, it is still an interestin topic, but, like i said, dont take it out on me, its not my theory

2004-11-04     Registered!

Re: Everyone Loves English

i think perhaps the best end to this thread is simply....... farty pants

"We have waited centuries for this moment. The rivers will flow with the blood of those who oppose us."

Re: Everyone Loves English

indeed...i'm fairly sure this thread was intended as spam. So yes.. farty pants

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Re: Everyone Loves English

zomfg that guy is so wrong... Dutch is the language we all think in!!!

We all think in Dutch first but our brains translate it to your own language!!! That is so true. I have seen it on Discovery!!!

You have claimed all this time that you would die for me. Why then are you so surprised to hear your own eulogy?

Re: Everyone Loves English

I think languages like German are stupid. French is okay, because it doesn't arrange the verbs and nouns so awkwardly.

Re: Everyone Loves English

What the hell???  I don't think this argument is even trying to be logical!

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The Great Eye is watching you... when there's nothing good on TV...

Re: Everyone Loves English

It's not even an interesting 'theory', it's entirely bullshit and anyone that believes any tiny bit of it should be castrated and left to die, the mindless worthless waste of oxygen he or she is.

Furthermore, 'Everyone Loves English' is untrue and has little relevance to the claim 'everyone thinks naturally in English' (just because all people may think in English, which they do not, does not mean they love English). Given that, it is safe to assume that the title of the thread is wrong and misleading, which is a form of spam. So, if not for the blatant stupidity displayed in the first post, then the original poster should at least be banned for the type of spam that is a misleading thread title.

X(

A lifetime of screams

18 (edited by =( sKoE )= 03-Jun-2008 08:15:06)

Re: Everyone Loves English

[paddlepop lion], it was just a title.. dont take it so literally...

and like i already said twice, dont flame me for it, i didnt make it up!

2004-11-04     Registered!

Re: Everyone Loves English

The thing is, it's so retarded that perceiving it as an 'interesting theory' makes a lot of us doubt about your mental capabilities.

☑ Saddam Hussein ☑ Osama Bin Laden ☐ Justin Bieber

Re: Everyone Loves English

it's an interesting theory which should be tested by punching a lot of Englishmen and Germans under laboratory conditions

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

21 (edited by Wild Flower Soul 03-Jun-2008 09:43:18)

Re: Everyone Loves English

That's bollocks. Many language groups, like african languages or asian ones have totally different constructions of phrases etc, nothing related to English.

In the earliest months of your life, you learn the language accent. The noises babies make aren't language-specific yet, but after that (I think it's around 18 months) babies make language-bound  proto-words. That's for every single language, and the clearest evidense that English isn't the only one that can be nested in the subconcious.

You can argue that every germanic native speaker have the same groundstructures for making sentences in their subconcious though. But even that is disputable. tongue

God: Behold ye angels, I have created the ass.. Throughout the ages to come men and women shall grab hold of these and shout my name...

Re: Everyone Loves English

give the lad a break tongue
so the theory doesn't make much sense, no need to tear him a new one over it.

NEE NAW NEE NAW

Primo

Re: Everyone Loves English

Indeed, i think the real villian here is his teacher, who gave this person a job with such crazy thoughts!

"We have waited centuries for this moment. The rivers will flow with the blood of those who oppose us."

Re: Everyone Loves English

fokker is 100% correct with wot he said though. my first language was french (having been born in france and then raised in french despite living in england from the age of 1), but when i started going to school i kind of ignored and forgot alot of my french. but if i do sumthing like stubbing my toe, the sound that comes out is the french 'ai' instead of the english 'ow' or 'f*ck'

I was using a metaphor that means God is watching us. You've heard this, there's a toilet on the roof.

Re: Everyone Loves English

"it's an interesting theory which should be tested by punching a lot of Englishmen and Germans under laboratory conditions" i agree

yeah it is a bit of a crazy theory, got a bit of a debate going though:P

The world v Fune.. hmm XD

2004-11-04     Registered!