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I Commend Your English

 
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There are many many people from many different nationalities on the Java Ranch. I would just like to commend all those whose first language is NOT English on how well everyone speaks/writes it.
I envy your grasp of more than one language. Kudos and Congrats to all. I wish I had your talant, ambition, and knowledge.

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Happy Coding,
Gregg Bolinger
 
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Dear friend Gregg,
Me learn English very recently. It is great difficult lagnauge. I thankful yours support.
Best Regards, Have a Good Day, Thank You Come Again,
Bye,
Unpronounceable Name.
 
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It's such a shame some people have to be so childish (not Greg of course but whoever posted the above) I was going to remove it, but hey why should I give whoever he/she is the satisfation!
I would like to second Greg's commendment. The only language I know reasonably well other than English is "American English".
 
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It sure is commendable. I think it's easy for some nationals where they have English as the medium of instruction in school and colleges - not to mention our country, India, where people from different states have to resort to English as the common language to communicate.
What interests me is this innate flair for languages in some which makes it real easy to learn languages. My 6 year old nephew in India speaks english and 3 other regional Indian languages with great ease already.
One notion i got rid of after visiting English speaking countries is that, having English for mother tongue doesn't make one an English expert - which in fact came as a surprise.
 
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On the contrary, very few foreign visitors to India have known Kannada better than us One notable exception was Rev. Ferdinand Kittel, who turned into a Kannada scholar, and compiled the first ever Kannada-English dictionary. Here's a news article about the recent unveiling of his statue in Bangalore, and here's a brief biography.

[This message has been edited by Nanhesru Ningyake (edited December 01, 2001).]
 
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It's not something unusual. The most famous explanatory Russian dictionary was compiled by a Dane.
 
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It's all about the way you learn language as a child and as an adult.
As a child, language just is. It's a part of the environment, to be discovered and explored with the joy of adventure and no fear of embarassment or failure. As an adult, language is studied, categorized and theorized. Grammar is dissected; spelling is criticized; punctuation is mandatory.
A child finds it easy to be fluent in as many languages as are needed, but would never think to compile a dictionary, a thesaurus or a grammatical. An adult finds it easy to categorize regular and irregular verbs and discuss the subtle differences between the tenses and cases, but stepping off the edge of familiarity to speak a new tongue requires an effort of will.
Most people learn their native language as a child, but many wait until adulthood to attempt more. So students of a "foreign" language often address it with the skills of adulthood rather than with the exuberance of childish years.
Locals speak sloppy an' get away with it.
For non-native speakers, precision is a vital virtue.
 
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Hey Gregg are you related to Dwight Bolinger (was a linguists) ?
 
Gregg Bolinger
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I really don't know, but that strikes my interest and I will do some research and see what I can find out.

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Happy Coding,
Gregg Bolinger
 
With a little knowledge, a cast iron skillet is non-stick and lasts a lifetime.
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