Poll: Where are you guys from?

[dasdoing]

which is one of the reasons we suck at speaking foreign languages.

kkk, no it's not.

 

[Brown Sound]

Terre Haute, Indiana. Mid-west USA

 

[Vacceo]

Terre Haute, Indiana. Mid-west USA

Just south from my home away from home.

For se en years I lived in Bloomington.

 

[Brown Sound]

Just south from my home away from home.

For se en years I lived in Bloomington.

Yep, Bloomington is about 60 miles Southwest of here. Terre Haute is on the Western edge of Indiana, right on the Wabash river. I don't get down to Bloomington too much, but it's a really nice area.

 

[Waxx]

Not being a native-born speaker of either English or French, I find a few observations that may be pertinent (no, not about location of homestead country):
*It has been said that American-English is a dynamic language, where current usage dictates (the ever-changing) meaning(s) of words.
*Whereas, it has also been reported that French take their language seriously enough as to be etched in stone/parchment (aka 'language police').
*I find that the dialects [?] spoken in both CA and NY (around 3,000miles apart) are quite similar although, much more accented in the EastCoast and varies quite a bit from Florida all the way up to Massachusetts (little above 1,000miles apart).
*I've also experienced that native French speakers look down upon those who learned it as an additional language; it may not be born of snobbery but even the pronunciation of the simple 2-letter word "No" can make a Parisian go 'tone-deaf' (when convenient) because of the accent of the speaker.
*I've read a few reports that since Brexit; France has suggested that the EU lingua franca (vernacular) should be changed to langue française.
YMMV but I have been exposed to such smack-downs too many times; although I've spent my first 8years in an all French boarding school.
Please don't get me wrong, I truly believe that French is a beautifully romantic language but I refuse to speak it anymore...
Q: Why did Latin die?

The thing is, you have the official french, but most people in france or french speaking countries (like mine, Belgium or at least the southern part of it) don't speak that, they speak their own local variation of french. And the official french is actually the upperclass dialect of the Paris region. Parts of France also don't speak french like in Bretangie, where gaelic (a celtic language) is still very alive and active spoken. The the southern dialects (aquitan and occitan) are often closer to catalan or italian then to french. Arround Strassbourgh they actually mostly speak "frankish" aka rheinlandish german (close related to letzenburgs, the language of Luxembourgh). And in the western Pyrinees they speak Basque, an isolate language that has no connection to french at all.

Where i live the speak a variation called picard, that itself also got variations (chti"mi, picard Hainaut (also know as north picardian) and picard (sud). chti'mi is actually a mix of the low germanic regional language "westvlaams" (west flemish, close related to dutch and spoken in western Belgium and sealand in NL) and picard, but closer to picard. It spoken in the original flemish (speaking) cities of Tournai (Doornik), Moucron (Moeskroen), Lille (Rijsel), Roubaix (Robaais), Tourcoing (Toerkonje), Cambrai (Kamerijk) and Dunkerque (Duinkerke). This move from west flemish to french dialects came because the french did lontime occupy those regions and forced the population to change their language.

I live in the old county of Hainaut, that is now partly Belgium, Partly French. In the region of Hainaut they speak picard locally. This part has always spoken a "Langue D'oil, the mixture of old germanic frankish and gallo-roman latin that is where french is originated out. Picardia (where Hainaut is a part of) is also where the Frankish empire, that led to the country of France began after the fall of the Roman Empire.

And like that each region has it's own local language, and only the higher educated speak standard french every day because it's classy in their eyes. In the french speaking south of Belgium you got next to picard and chti'mi also wallon (from Charleroi to Liege to Bouillon and Arlon), lorraine (the south arround Virton) and bruxellois (the Brussels dialect of french, that is heavy influenced by the dutch brabant dialect that was the original language of the region). And that is only in the french speaking part of Belgium, France has a lot more regional languages, and in other french speaking regions (Switzerland) they also got their local dialects.

And then i'm not even speaking about the creol languages based on french (like in Haiti, Martinique, or big parts of Africa), or the french spoken in former colonies like Louisiana (US) or Quebec (Canada)...

So yes, there is officially only one French, but in reality there are dozens...

Btw: my mothertongue is west-flemish, but i also speak fluent dutch, french and english, and understand most dialects in those languages and german and italian. So speaking many languages is naturual for me, and it's strange to see so many people who only speak one...

 

[pseudoid]

colonies

That word is now categorized as an anxiety inhibitor; please refrain from use!

 

[Katji]

This move from west flemish to french dialects came because the french did lontime occupy those regions and forced the population to change their language.

That is interesting because the French Huguenot people that took refuge in Holland, with some being settled in South Africa 1670s--early 1700s by the [Dutch East India Company], were forced to quickly change language to Dutch. Approximately 20% of Afrikaner Dutch origin, it can be seen in the names.

 

[Katji]

I was just kidding. Chinese made the bridge for us, in Croatia. And it's looking pretty. It made me remember the Douglas Adams title "Goodbye and thanks for all the fish".
View attachment 166659

hah, I just now got this and I remembered.

https://www.euractiv.com/section/tr...ens-bridge-around-bosnia-to-get-to-dubrovnik/
Seems like happy people there today, I think there'll be parties.

 

[ryanosaur]

Wine and Weed Country, greater Bay Area, Northern California... or NorCal in common parlance.

 

[Katji]

damn, that reminds me, I'm missing NARCOS:Mexico, 10 minutes late.

 

[Timcognito]

Moss Beach, California on Pillar Point, home of Mavericks surf

 

[killdozzer]

hah, I just now got this and I remembered.

View attachment 220641
https://www.euractiv.com/section/tr...ens-bridge-around-bosnia-to-get-to-dubrovnik/
Seems like happy people there today, I think there'll be parties.

Thank you. Yes, your people build it. It's very beautiful. And yes, party galore!!

 

[bloodshoteyed]

i just hope you guys will be better at driving there as were the montenegros on their new motorway (that was btw built by the same chinese firm)

 

[killdozzer]

i just hope you guys will be better at driving there as were the montenegros on their new motorway (that was btw built by the same chinese firm)

Yes, indeed, that's true. I guess average Montenegran car is a bit too old for such climb+speed+heat. My heart goes out to them. Meanwhile a Bosnian guy said to me; it looks lovely, we promise we won't blow it up like you did ours!!
Humor DOES heal, indeed!

 

[Sal1950]

damn, that reminds me, I'm missing NARCOS:Mexico, 10 minutes late.

It's 2022 and you don't have a DVR? LOL

 

[Katji]

I need a new tv. Only been watching tb for the last 4 years. Before that, i didn't have one. I just watch randomly, whatever movies show up, when I sit there and zone out. Killing Eve and now NARCOS again...which gets repeated sometime during the week. This one was not the repeat, but I got the gist of it - DEA agents get tricked and shot to hell, only the main one survives, then he gets shat on in DC (by the A-G or something) and is finally relegated to a deskjob.

 

[VintageFlanker]

https://www.similarweb.com/website/audiosciencereview.com/#ranking

 

[Vacceo]

I feel like Asterix, Iberian version: the last Celtiberian.

 

[Shorty]

https://www.similarweb.com/website/audiosciencereview.com/#ranking

View attachment 225352View attachment 225353

What surprises me most in these stats: 20 percent of visitors are females, and people from 25 - 34 are better represented than visitors from any other age group.

 

[VintageFlanker]

The thing is, you have the official french, but most people in france or french speaking countries (like mine, Belgium or at least the southern part of it) don't speak that, they speak their own local variation of french. And the official french is actually the upperclass dialect of the Paris region.

I'm sorry, but this statement is misleading at best. And I would even say, wrong, when talking about France (I don't know about others, so cannot tell).

"Regular" French is spoken absolutely everywhere from North to South. There sure are massive variations in accents or local slang. This is one thing, that doesn't prevent people to understand each others. Patois, dialects, and languages are mostly spoken by older people (who also speak "official French" anyway). You will be hard pressed to find younger people speaking, or even understanding Breton or Occitan for example (I'm not saying there is none, but it's very marginal). There is certainly no place where "people don't speak official French" to quote your words.

Parts of France also don't speak french like in Bretangie, where gaelic (a celtic language) is still very alive and active spoken

Absolutely wrong. Unless "very" has a different meaning to you. According to studies, the Breton is spoken by about 230 000 people, and those are also speaking French. Yet, Bretagne counts... 3 300 000 inhabitants, or even 4 800 000 if you include Nantes region. Do the maths.

And then i'm not even speaking about the creol languages based on french (like in Haiti, Martinique, or big parts of Africa)

Nope. French based Créole is not spoken in big parts of Africa. Unless you consider La Réunion or L'île Maurice to be big parts of Africa.