DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: kimba1 on June 14, 2007, 09:03:06 PM
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/06/14/national/a162328D73.DTL
he`s not saying ,don`t speak spanish
just speak more english,like he did
it`s not gonna help people in a interview to not be fluent in the primary language here.
even in england cockneye is disapearing and that is english.
note in the article the oppostiton doesn`t address this issue.
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I'd want to hear from an expert that there's a difference between three hours a day of English and every waking hour. Who knows if there isn't a saturation point for students of a new language or a Law of Diminishing Returns, where after the first x hours, every hour spent thereafter in the study of the language is producing benefits at a rapidly decreasing rate.
I won't say he's right or wrong - - just that I don't think he's any expert just because he learned to speak English. There's such a thing as burnout and there's also such a thing as keeping informed. If you're learning English slowly, not understanding the news of the world for example, if you don't listen to any Spanish-language radio or TV, you'll really fall behind on important news.
Personally, having tried to learn a few languages in addition to the ones I studied in school, I found one of the most efficient means of study was to read the news in the language I was trying to learn. Since I'd already read and thoroughly understood the same story in English probably the same day, I wasn't slowed down by the need to look up so many words in the bilingual dictionary, as I was able to instinctively able to understand many more, also (and probably more importantly) the meanings of idioms and figures of speech were much more readily apparent and it was easy to translate from idiom to idiom, rather than making painfully precise (linguistically) translations of the foreign idioms, which sounded stilted and unnatural in English. My advice would be, listen to and read the news in both languages daily.
Similarly, comic books are good - - because they're usually simple and the graphic images accompanying the relatively few words make them much more intuitively understandable, again without slowing down progress by excessive dictionary consultations.
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http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa122500a.htm
That seems like a good suggestion.
(http://z.about.com/d/german/1/0/8/5/DDuckDagobert.gif)
Disney Glossary
Note: The names and characters listed in this glossary are copyrights or trademarks of the Disney and Buena Vista corporations. This glossary is for educational purposes only and has no official connection with Disney or Buena Vista.
April, May, and June Dicky, Dacky und Ducky
Beagle Boys, the die Panzerknacker
(“the safe crackersâ€)
Black Pete/Peg-Leg Pete Kater Karlo
Brigitta Macbridge Gitta Gans
The cover of "Adventure in
Uncle Scrooge's Treasure Chest."
Chip 'n' Dale Ahörnchen und Behörnchen
der Ahorn = maple (tree)
das Ahörnchen = squirrel
Clarabelle Cow Klarabella Kuh
Daisy Duck Daisy Duck
Dalmatian (dog) der Dalmatiner
101/102 Dalmatians 101/102 Dalmatiner
Donald Duck Donald Duck
Duckburg Entenhausen
(town where Donald Duck lives,
die Ente = duck)
Eega Beeva Gamma
Flintheart Glomgold Mac Moneysac
Gladstone Gander Gustav Gans
Goofy Goofy
Grandma Duck Oma/Dorette Duck
Gus Goose Franz Gans
Gyro Gearloose Daniel Düsentrieb
Huey, Dewey and Louie Tick, Trick und Track
Lady and the Tramp Susi und Strolchi
Ludwig von Drake Primus von Quack
Magica De Spell Gundel Gaukeley
Mickey Mouse Micky Maus
Minnie Mouse Minni Maus
Morty and Ferdie Mack und Muck
Pluto Pluto
Rockerduck Klaas Klever
Uncle Scrooge (McDuck) Onkel Dagobert
Scrooge McDuck Dagobert Duck
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Disney wasn't what I had in mind, but it could work.
The German site you linked to was humour, which I don't really recommend, simply because humour is sometimes hard to get and because the fact situations are often fanciful and imaginative, not realistic, the captions or dialogue won't relate instinctively to what you would recognize from life. But of course, if you're interested in humour anyway, then there's a bonus in each one that you do "get."
I was thinking more of the French "bandes dessinees," which are adult-content hard-cover story books, some X-rated, some not, but all of them on about a B-movie level of action and fairly easy to follow. The popular ones are fantasy/science-fiction and action-adventure. Even the idioms and slang can be followed and the bonus of course is that you'd probably be interested in the story line whether you were learning a language or not.
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My brother used to send me Paris Match magazines. Those were fun to read, as best I could. I recall them being pretty similar to Life, Look, something like that.
A well-loved story that is simple is another good choice. We read The Little Prince in English and then in French.
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I`ve been watching spanish tv for 2 decades and haven`t learned a single word
kinda distracted for some reason to really pay attention to what they say.
goodlord the women are good looking
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I love their soaps.
For you, I prescribe children's programming. With no ads featuring good-looking women. ;)
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When we were in Brazil, the most popular children's show in the country was hosted by some voluptuous blonde babe named Zsuzsu in a silver-flake, skin-tight evening dress with a plunging neckline, surrounded by kindergarten and elementary-school kids of every race and colour imaginable, all chattering, singing and dancing with the hostess. I don't think kimba would have any problem at all with children's programming. Most of the guys in Brazil just turned off the sound while they watched.
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When we were in Brazil, the most popular children's show in the country was hosted by some voluptuous blonde babe named Zsuzsu in a silver-flake, skin-tight evening dress with a plunging neckline, surrounded by kindergarten and elementary-school kids of every race and colour imaginable, all chattering, singing and dancing with the hostess. I don't think kimba would have any problem at all with children's programming. Most of the guys in Brazil just turned off the sound while they watched.
Voluptuous? She's skinny as a stick!
(My daughter used to watch her show all the time...)
(http://www.toursgonewild.com/images/carnival/xuxa1.jpg)
Wikipedia - Xuxa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuxa)
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Not the Xuxa I remember. I'll stick with the memories. Didn't know they broadcast her show in North America.
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Not the Xuxa I remember. I'll stick with the memories. Didn't know they broadcast her show in North America.
Our satellite tv has programming from around the world, as you'll remember from our discussion of the availabilty of al Jazeera in the US.
If it's not the one you remember, your description of her show was right on. Except the "voluptuous" part.
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I remember her
she even had a show in the U.S. but for some reason it didn`t work
she used to be pele`s girlfriend
and yes she is a stick girl,but a pretty one
and I do watch the soaps and never with the volume.
america really got no reason to say they got too much sex on tv.
the U.S. is sooo tame .
I even watch british shows and they are more risque than out stuff
they say fuck on tv
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<<If it's not the one you remember, your description of her show was right on. Except the "voluptuous" part.>>
No, she's the one I remember alright. The name particularly, I just spelled it wrong. Forgot that initial X in Portuguese was a "sh" sound. Didn't need an "s." She could have been wearing a push-up back then. Or maybe there's a law similar to the fisherman's "the one that got away" - - with the passage of time, they get bigger and bigger.
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I remember her wearing x`s all the time it was kinda confusing since it was the time malcolm x was in fashion so we can`t help thinking of him instead it meaning her name.
I remember people complaining about her ,because of her aryan looks portray the wrong image of brazil.
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because of her aryan looks portray the wrong image of brazil.
Errr, excuse me?
There are plenty of fair skinned Hispanic / Lusitanic people.
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<<There are plenty of fair skinned Hispanic / Lusitanic people.>>
There are, but I believe this one is Jewish.
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There are, but I believe this one is Jewish.
Xuxa is Roman Catholic.
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You're probably right. My apologies. She checks out in Wikipedia as German, Austrian, Italian and Polish background and her father was a military officer. I'd been told she was Jewish a long time ago by somebody that I figured would know. That's why I said "I believe" this one's Jewish.
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I didn`t say this
the article I read says this
it also stated the overwelming majority is fairly dark,but the media will show mainly light skin folks.
I think xuxa is polish partly
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I'm talking here about the Mexican telenovellas (sp?)
Look at them next time and see the skin color of the rich dudes, and their wives. Then look at the maids, servants, etc.
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I'm talking here about the Mexican telenovellas (sp?)
Look at them next time and see the skin color of the rich dudes, and their wives. Then look at the maids, servants, etc.
Are you talking about the 60s & 70s or now?
Because they've changed much over the years, just like TV in the US.
You could say the same thing about TV in the US in the 50s and 60s.
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I never saw them back then, so I'm talking about now. At least 2 months ago when i last watched one, the hacienda owner was very European in features, dark hair and light skinned. So was his wife. The maid was of darker skin, and had more Indian-looking features.
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Getting back to Schwarzenegger's comment, I think he is correct. There is a difference between catching up on the news from Mexico in Spanish (which is reasonable) and spending every minute between dinner and bedtime watching TV in Spanish, if one's goal is to learn English. Arnold is better than average, I think, at learning English, but here in Miami there are hundreds of thousands of people who have been here for decades who cannot pronounce anything in a manner recognizable to an English speaker, even one who has lived in Mexico and is fluent in Spanish like myself.
If you are going to get anything but crappy jobs here, you need English or a major connection with someone Hispanic who owns the business.
I think everyone can learn a foreign language, and should, but it takes either talent and a lot of time and effort, or less talent and even more time and effort.
Missing 1000 telenovelas so far as culture goes, is like missing 1000 sitcoms like Martin or 1000 episodes of Days of our Lives.
Commercial TV is best described as "chewing gum for the mind"
The best thing about telenovelas is the fact that they always end. Within two years if they are popular, less if they aren't.
They are so utterly predictable that pretty much everything about the plot can be determined just by looking at the characters, their dress and body language. Mistaken identity, confusing sets of twins, people getting total amnesia when whacked on the head, and total recall when clobbered a second time, parents who lie about who their children are or aren't... all these are used over and over again. Like the Disney movie, where we always know that the geeky kid will hit the homerun that will win the championship in the last moments of the game, everything is predictable.
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Xavier,
I was really trying to hear more spoken Spanish so I could maybe brush up on it a little.
It didn't work out like that, because I couldn't get interested enough to really care what they were saying, I guess. I should have stuck with news.
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I learned spanish from reading several books on it and found people thinking I speak uppity.
a friend called it high school spanish
from what I knew isn`t near enough to understand tv.
my friends tell me tv is the worst way to learn spanish,because several show are from different countries so the dialect goes back and forth.