questions for non-native english speaking users

[umkemesik]

1. about 11 when i started learning english proper so i knew what everyone on World of Warcraft was saying, but i wouldn't call myself fluent until i was about 16.

2. the netherlands is rather well known for how good they speak english, most people will naturally switch to english if they hear you speak it. not everyone's fluent but a lot of people can at least make themselves understandable

Do you guys use the Shwa in your part of the Netherlands? I heard it's common in Limburg and in Afrikaans, but less in other parts.

 

[Viril.Feline.Wyyzrd]

Afrikaans,

 

[ASSBLONKER]

1. how old were you when you started to learn and became fluent in english
2. do most people your age in your country know english

1. 6 YRS OLD
2. NO

 

[mitzi]

Do you guys use the Shwa in your part of the Netherlands? I heard it's common in Limburg and in Afrikaans, but less in other parts.

... the shwa?

 

[Chimplord1997]

Was raised by gibbons in the forests of borneo l

1. 28 years old
2. No gibbons just go HOOOOOOOHOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO

 

[chuj]

itt umk asking about one of the most basic vowels in the indo-european family

@umkemesik OMG DO YOU GET /ɜ/ IN YOUR ACCENT????

 

[umkemesik]

... the shwa?

Schwa, it's like "uhh", like the a in about. The most common sound in American English. In fact the word "America" has a schwa at the beginning and end. Supposedly Flemish Dutch don't use it, Afrikaans use it all the time.

Not sure if you make the sound, it's like a lazy a or u. (IPA: ə or ʌ)

• ⟨a⟩, as in about [əˈbaʊ̯t]
• ⟨e⟩, as in taken [ˈtʰeɪ̯kən]
• ⟨i⟩, as in pencil [ˈpʰɛnsəl]
• ⟨o⟩, as in memory [ˈmɛməɹi]
• ⟨u⟩, as in supply [səˈpʰlaɪ̯]
• ⟨y⟩, as in sibyl [ˈsɪbəl]
• unwritten, as in rhythm [ˈɹɪðəm]

The ʌ is used in words like in English "cup", "luck", and "putt".

In UK English the schwa is also the final -er like in teacher. But in American English the -er is more pronounced.

 

[chuj]

Schwa is actually not very common in other Indo-European languages. Besides English it's in Albanian, Bulgarian, Slovene, and Afrikaans. In Dutch, German, and I think some Italian it's very spotty.

oh, so just all alive branches of centum languages

 

[Moonrunes]

Do your homework lil fag

 

[Moonrunes]

have you even read his posts? he's genuinely retarded. stop comparing me to a literal tard school kid

Fuck you, faggot

 

[mitzi]

Schwa, it's like "uhh", like the a in about. The most common sound in American English. In fact the word "America" has a schwa at the beginning and end. Supposedly Flemish Dutch don't use it, Afrikaans use it all the time.

Not sure if you make the sound, it's like a lazy a or u. (IPA: ə or ʌ)

• ⟨a⟩, as in about [əˈbaʊ̯t]
• ⟨e⟩, as in taken [ˈtʰeɪ̯kən]
• ⟨i⟩, as in pencil [ˈpʰɛnsəl]
• ⟨o⟩, as in memory [ˈmɛməɹi]
• ⟨u⟩, as in supply [səˈpʰlaɪ̯]
• ⟨y⟩, as in sibyl [ˈsɪbəl]
• unwritten, as in rhythm [ˈɹɪðəm]

The ʌ is used in words like in English "cup", "luck", and "putt".

In UK English the schwa is also the final -er like in teacher. But in American English the -er is more pronounced.



Schwa is actually not very common in other Indo-European languages. Besides English it's in Albanian, Bulgarian, Slovene, and Afrikaans. In Dutch, German, and I think some Italian it's very spotty.

Googling this further I got this;

In Dutch, the digraph ⟨ij⟩ in the suffix -lijk [lək], as in waarschijnlijk [ʋaːrˈsxɛinlək] ('probably'), is pronounced as a schwa. If an ⟨e⟩ falls at the ultimate (or penultimate) place before a consonant in Dutch words and is unstressed, it becomes a schwa, as in the verb ending -en (lopen) and the diminutive suffix -tje(s) (tafeltje(s)). The article "een" ('a[n]') is pronounced using the schwa, [ən], while the number "een" ('one') or "één" is pronounced [e:n].

In German, schwa is represented by the letter ⟨e⟩ and occurs only in unstressed syllables, as in gegessene. The vowel alternates freely with syllabic consonants /l, m, n/, as in Segel [ˈzeːgəl – ˈzeːglˌ] 'sail'. It also alternates with its absence, as in Segel 'sail' – Segl-er 'sailor'.[9] Thirdly, it may be dropped for rhythmical and other stylistic reasons as in Aug' um Auge, Zahn um Zahn 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'.

tldr

 

[umkemesik]

tldr

A Schwa is the American lazy A or U (like an "uh") in words like "About" and "Hut".

Afrikaans use it, and from what I am reading some Dutch;

in the suffix -lijk [lək], as in waarschijnlijk [ʋaːrˈsxɛinlək] . But it appears this is not universal.

 

[Viril.Feline.Wyyzrd]

A Schwa is the American lazy A or U (like an "uh") in words like "About" and "Hut".

Afrikaans use it, and from what I am reading some Dutch;

in the suffix -lijk [lək], as in waarschijnlijk [ʋaːrˈsxɛinlək] . But it appears this is not universal.

Nerd

 

[Chimplord1997]

tldr

 

[ZZZandeRRR]

Does anyone speak korean or japanese, just curious, i dont.

should have fucking known you'd show up and ask, you weeaboo

 

[ZZZandeRRR]

Is it though

ben is only aggressive sexually. moonrunes is aggressive at anything that doesn't revolve around orientals and oriental shit

 

[Moonrunes]

should have fucking known you'd show up and ask, you weeaboo

It was a question, you retard

 

[VideoGamePhenom]

If you want to know how to translate into other languages, use Google Translate.

 

[SK2.0]

School english started at 5th grade back then, so 10. Fluent with 15 when I was in the US.

It depends on the individual. I´d say about 50% of my age bracket speak somewhat proper english.

 

[chuj]

School english started at 5th grade back then, so 10. Fluent with 15 when I was in the US.

It depends on the individual. I´d say about 50% of my age bracket speak somewhat proper english.

yeah but they pretend they don't lol
on gas station guy doesn't respond to "can i have one hot dog please" but suddenly becomes fluent after hearing "oh screw you, you kraut cunt"

 

[Illuminati 2.0]

@Lovecraft how many people know english in norway

 

[Lovecraft]

@Lovecraft how many people know english in norway

The majority I'd say.
The fluidity varies by generation and exposure, proficiency in written English is more common than spoken English.

 

[haeByung]

1. how old were you when you started to learn and became fluent in english
2. do most people your age in your country know english

1. I moved to Texas when I was 12 and it took me at least 3 years to become fluent in English. English is a very hard language for Koreans to learn.
2. No. Other than people who have experience living or studying abroad, most Koreans don't speak English. The well-educated ones might be able to read and listen to it, but they will stutter and struggle a lot if they have to speak it

 

[lurk]

elon musk is afrikaaner. search up the town of orania.

 

[Viril.Feline.Wyyzrd]

elon musk is afrikaaner. search up the town of orania.

It's white niggers.

 

[Sleepy]

Does anyone speak korean or japanese, just curious, i dont.

I speak Japanese fluently

Watashi-wa Sleepy desu-ne

 

[Sleepy]

1. I moved to Texas when I was 12 and it took me at least 3 years to become fluent in English. English is a very hard language for Koreans to learn.
2. No. Other than people who have experience living or studying abroad, most Koreans don't speak English. The well-educated ones might be able to read and listen to it, but they will stutter and struggle a lot if they have to speak it

I'm retarded and can't speak from experience but I've always felt like the "English is hard" meme comes from the fact that most people who are learning English are kind of forced to out of circumstance and not due to genuine interest

If anything English is one of the most streamlined and accessible languages spoken widely in the world today

For example: @Lovecraft is ESL but he speaks English more fluently than a lot of people in my hometown

 

[dropdatwat]

I'm retarded and can't speak from experience but I've always felt like the "English is hard" meme comes from the fact that most people who are learning English are kind of forced to out of circumstance and not due to genuine interest

If anything English is one of the most streamlined and accessible languages spoken widely in the world today

it's great when europeans act all smug about knowing 2 languages and call americans retarded for only knowing one when the only reason they know two is because their native tongue is niche and practically useless and they basically have to learn english while in america it's the other way around. what's the rush to learn other languages when you already know the unofficial language of the planet

 

[Lovecraft]

I'm retarded and can't speak from experience but I've always felt like the "English is hard" meme comes from the fact that most people who are learning English are kind of forced to out of circumstance and not due to genuine interest

If anything English is one of the most streamlined and accessible languages spoken widely in the world today

For example: @Lovecraft is ESL but he speaks English more fluently than a lot of people in my hometown

The thing is that English isn't One language, it is half a dozen languages in a trenchcoat masquerading as a single language.
Britain got fucked over and invaded so many times over the years by Romans, Danes, Norwegians, Normanns, Saxons, Krauts (royalty) and more, and had several distinct separate languages even before that.
There are so many special cases and exceptions from grammatical "rules" in English that the exceptions pretty much are the rules.
So yeah, I can totally see how it is a nuisance to learn from somebody raised learning moonspeak.

 

[chuj]

it's great when europeans act all smug about knowing 2 languages and call americans retarded for only knowing one when the only reason they know two is because their native tongue is niche and practically useless and they basically have to learn english while in america it's the other way around. what's the rush to learn other languages when you already know the unofficial language of the planet

lol amerimutt cope
it boils down to cultural reasons, i.e russian is very popular language yet very little od global culture is created in it and russians don't choose to learn english because their culture is all "fuck america"
it's more complicated then hurr durr you learn english because you wanna watch netflix