Rex writes: junkI'se born down'air in ol' Geo'ja...an yall ain't gonna
sit ov'air an tell me we'uns talk
difernt! No siree bob. Ya Hear now! I'll jus take'en go over'ta the
Libry en gets me some proof! Never in my born days have I heard such
like. En them good 'ol boys in Ahstrailyer ain't gonna like it too all
fired much neither. :-)
(Wow..My spelling verifier went bonkers on the above.)
Enjoying the discussion, folks. (I was born in south Georgia.)
Gerry here: I didn't know you were from the Soviet Union!
Rex: Mark needs to
add Irish to his list (Scots, Anglican, American; So(u)thron, and
Strine)
which makes it at least six. New Englanders are also close....somehow
they lose all
R's late in the word: they don't park the car in Boston..they pahk the
cah.
Gerry: No, Rex. New Englanders don't pahk the cah in Boston; they pahk
the cah in Hav-id yaad.
I taught English to professional Turks and their children in Ankarra
for a while ..usually one on one, or just one couple at a time. My
experience was the biggest problem seemed to be the scope of application
of the vocabulary. One simple case involved "stretch". The students (a
husband and wife doctor team) had the concept down regarding rubber
bands and underwear...but when I asked if they ever had to stretch the
Chorba (soup) because of unexpected quests, or stretch their money to
get through the month; they were lost. We all had a lot of fun with
it, though.
My students were enrolled in an expensive program for professionals
who already had a good English fluency..but felt a need to polish it.
That is going on
all over the world....and to take the point back to an earlier thread:
I think there is already an international language of necessity
identified..and whether it is the one we would prefer..or select in
optimum circumstances..or not...it is English. Here in Bucharest, most
professionals speak good English..and if anyone speaks more than one
language; the odds are English is included in the group. It shocked me
to find more English speakers here than Russian speakers.
Please excuse an anth oriented non-linguists "observations".....
Gerry: Yup. I think whether or not we like it or don't, English is the
language of choice, of ease, of the internet, of international commerce
etc. If you want to become wealthy, you must speak English. Sad but
true. And even those folks from Georgia (next to Florida) and the good
'ol boys in Ahstrailyer are going to have to adjust their dialectical
leanings!
Gerry
--
Gerald Reinhart
Independent Scholar
(650) 321-7378
waluk@...
http://www.alekseevmanuscript.com