Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
How many natural languages do you know? | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 81 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Sunday May 14 2017, @06:55PM (5 children)

    by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Sunday May 14 2017, @06:55PM (#509577) Journal

    AHA, therein lies the key. They don't teach Spanish here in the US, but they do teach Mexican. Just as a Catalonian will bristle at being referred to as a Spaniard, a Guatemalan will react to being called Nicaraguan, and they all hate being called Mexican, and god forbid you call a Cuban a Puerto Rican. Asians all have equally differing national identities we generic 'white' folks just can tell them apart. Calling a black man an African American, somehow implies that all Africans have some continental identity vs being from dozens of countries with unique and distinct national identities. Just as being a white person differs from being Canadian, or Irish, or Italian.

    --
    For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by requerdanos on Sunday May 14 2017, @07:08PM

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Sunday May 14 2017, @07:08PM (#509580) Journal

    They don't teach Spanish here in the US, but they do teach Mexican.

    I have heard this, and, truly, it makes sense as the US and Mexico share a lot of border space.

    But somehow I ended up learning a Spanish more informed by Hondureños, Columbianos, and Guatemalans than by any Mexican influence. Except that most of us say "¿Mande?" in place of "¿Qúe?"/"¿Cómo?" (for "huh?" or "what?") owing to that Mexican influence.

    I actually have some trouble understanding many Mexican people because of the highly refined nature of their dialects of Spanish that fall just outside what my ears are trained to hear. *Especially* if they give me credit for more decoding ability than I actually have, and they stop deliberately slowing down and stop deliberately enunciating their words... Often I just get lost.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @10:12PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 14 2017, @10:12PM (#509622)

    Please don't assume I'm from this planet.

    • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Monday May 15 2017, @05:52AM

      by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Monday May 15 2017, @05:52AM (#509791) Journal

      You got me there. I will refrain from assuming that you are human, and terrestrial in origin in any future communications. If only you weren't posting as AC buddy.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuQK6t2Esng [youtube.com]

      --
      For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @02:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @02:54AM (#516265)

      cheap authentic jordans [boysclubofsiouxcity.com] Our online factory store provides free shipping cheap real Mens Air Jordan 13 from China.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:01PM

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Sunday May 21 2017, @08:01PM (#513136) Journal

    Calling a black man an African American, somehow implies that all Africans have some continental identity vs being from dozens of countries with unique and distinct national identities./quote>

    I can see where you're coming from, but it's worth remembering that "African Americans" (at least, those who are descended from slaves, which I imagine makes up the majority even now) have had their heritage effectively stolen from them. For hundreds of years children were separated from parents, education was disallowed and any attempt to retain and pass on ancestral culture would have been implicitly or explicitly oppressed, as the slave owners wanted to turn their slaves into obedient, English-speaking, Jesus worshipping cattle rather than people with their own identities and ideas. African national identity was not then what it is now anyway, being more tribal than national in most places - the reason Africa was the source of all those slaves is that it was in a chaotic state, politically. (Ironically, this was due at least in part to the collapse of the African gold industry following the discovery of so much gold in the Americas.)

    What I'm getting round to is, the vast majority of modern African Americans probably have no idea, and probably no way of ever find out, which bit of Africa their ancestors came from. "African American" may be ridiculously broad, but is as close as many people are ever likely to get.