Languages

I always wanted to learn Espanol, but I think I may be too old. I was in Costa Rica 10 years ago for a few weeks, and there is nothing like immersion to kick start a new language, I was picking up Espanol quickly, but I don't think I could learn it out of a book or classroom setting, I think it would be much easier to learn it "en la calle" (in the street). The pronunciation is so easy I think I could learn to read it by simply pronouncing the words from the text. The most interesting thing about the language to me is the different sounds, and "accents" you hear from various speakers, From Mexicanos, to Puerto Ricans, to Cubanos, to Ticos, Dominicans, to Spaniards, to Salvaldorans. For instance all I knew growing up was Mexicanos, so when I was in Costa Rica, the Ticos asked me why I speak spanish like a Mexicano. They knew I was a gringo from the USA, they thought it was really funny. That was the Espanol that I heard, and the way I heard it pronounced. "Es me gente!?!" lol. Mexicanos tend to use a lot of slang so its hard to know if you are learning the correct Espanol or not.Back in the 1990s I was proficient with Ebonics. not so much anymore, but I can understand most of it.I am fascinated by Jamaican Patois, but it makes little sense to me.

I have no idea what "needs a good rogering" means unless it mean Roger needs to get over here and do his thing.back 2006 I worked for a company, and for some reason the IT department was two former Brits (who were now Americans); one of the mangers was named Randy, and they always had a good laugh when he was around or if anyone had to "go get Randy" to help on the job. It was a long time before they explained what "randy" meant, and why it was so funny.From my perspective British people speak to fast, I am sure some of the posters here would be difficult for me to understand if I could hear them speaking. I like the USA Southern slow-talk. The even crazier thing about the British is the dialects. They are like completely different languages in themselves. I had a Professor in college from the UK, and she could speak this dialect, that was completely foreign. I understood what she said but it made no sense to me. And she was always conning freshmen into trying some delicious (yeah right) Marmite and toast. ugh!as for the spanish its completely true, and the use of completely different words to describe things also happens. I have a friend who worked for the NIH out here, and he learned Spanish in Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, but he had a Basque Co-worker from Spain, and they would have to stop mid sentence sometimes, because while both spoke Spanish, there were always words (usually nouns) that one or the other did not understand. I think one word was Shrimp. which on this side of the pond is camarn, but in Castilian it was the word for tadpole (renacuajo), and they had another word for tadpole in Spain. I think it arose when the guy from Spain said he was in the mood for shrimp for dinner, but the guy who spoke western hemisphere Spanish heard tadpoles for dinner.i dunno I wish i could learn another language. I looked up classes, as NOVA is very diverse, but it was really expensive, I'd rather hang out in el barrio, and listen.

well the Spanish conquered a huge range from Canada to Chile, and there were many natives to mix with and alter the language with.The Mexicans are the closest to us and therefore the more familiar in certain regions (its odd there aren't many around here, most up here are Salvadoran). but take the word Meixco. That is a nahuatl (Aztec) word, not a Spanish one. in Spanish its Meh-hee-co, but in its native its Meh-she-co. you think the Spanish came up with a name like Oaxaca?heck some of the Aztec words even made it into English like: coyote, avocado, chili, tomato, and chocolate.But go further south to Maya or Incan lands, and it would seem logical that those words would be much different.