Does WITP increase player's knowledge

[BraveHome]

"When a thing is funny, search it for a hidden truth." (Shaw) [;)]

[tonyingesson]

The main difficulty with English as I see it is the connection between pronounciation and spelling. I don't have any problems with it, but that's probably because I started learning English when I was 5-6 years old by watching English channels on the TV. Mandatory English education at our schools in Sweden starts at the age of 9 and continue until we're 19. I never found it difficult at all, I read my first novel in English when I was 13. The grammar is quite easy, pretty similar to my own language in many cases since it's a Germanic language too. Over here all students are expected to be able to read academic English when they start studying at the universities.

French on the other hand... easy to pronounce but I never learned to master the horrible grammars.

I'm not too fond of the "evolution" of languages though. Many of the nuances and the aesthetic qualities of many languages have been lost. Contemporary English and Swedish are nowhere near as beautiful as they were 100-150 years ago.

[tsimmonds]

The main difficulty with English as I see it is the connection between pronounciation and spelling.

What connection?[X(][;)]

[WhoCares]

ORIGINAL: tonyingesson
...
The grammar is quite easy, pretty similar to my own language in many cases since it's a Germanic language too.
...

Link: Indo-European (or often also referenced to as indo-germanic), to be exactly [:'(]

[RUPD3658]

ORIGINAL: DeepSix

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

When visiting a ww2 site in France, I had a frenchman say to me, "You Americans don't understand what it's like to have a foreign power occupy your country."

To which I replied, "Suh! Mah country is still under occupation by a furrin' power!"

Of course, he had no clue as to what I was saying...

LOL. I agree.... Cain't lose what ain't over yet! [;)]

I bet they learned the Civil War as "The War of Northern Aggression". When I lived in Florida I met a lot of people who belived that the South was just waiting for supplies and reinforcements.

[RUPD3658]

ORIGINAL: 2ndACR

I can spell oil. That is close enough for me.[:D]

What do you expect from a lowly grunt redneck.

Spelled O-I-L But it is pronouced "Earl" or "All" in TX correct?

[BraveHome]

ORIGINAL: tonyingesson

The main difficulty with English as I see it is the connection between pronounciation and spelling. I don't have any problems with it, but that's probably because I started learning English when I was 5-6 years old by watching English channels on the TV. Mandatory English education at our schools in Sweden starts at the age of 9 and continue until we're 19. I never found it difficult at all, I read my first novel in English when I was 13. The grammar is quite easy, pretty similar to my own language in many cases since it's a Germanic language too. Over here all students are expected to be able to read academic English when they start studying at the universities.

French on the other hand... easy to pronounce but I never learned to master the horrible grammars.

I'm not too fond of the "evolution" of languages though. Many of the nuances and the aesthetic qualities of many languages have been lost. Contemporary English and Swedish are nowhere near as beautiful as they were 100-150 years ago.

You also probably have less problems with it because Swedish too is an Indo-Germanic language. I just recently translated a Swedish ad for a friend, and I don't even know Swedish (just used a dictionary and 'common' sense).

As to the evolution making languages less beautiful, I wonder how much of that 'beauty' is related to the mystique of some of our antiquated vocabulary and rustic expressions? I think the beauty has lessened more because people seem to care less for the melody and rhythm of language today (poetry doesn't even rhyme anymore!) than ever before. This is also (I feel a blast of derision coming) reflected in popular music as well...