Posted on 09/02/2002 8:14:25 AM PDT by sweetliberty
Edited on 04/12/2004 2:10:06 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Mexicans and Guatemalans have a lot in common with Filipinos, and it's not just because they all have predominantly Spanish names. All three nationalities are also mostly brown, i.e., they live near the equator.
The English, on the other hand, are - well, mostly white. And they speak English English, which, to a majority of Americans, means "top of the heap." My husband (an Englishman) and I both speak English "with an accent," but guess whose accent is "admired" and which is "immigration-suspect?"
LOL! Now there's a familiar word!
3 pounds chicken, cut into serving pieces; 2 medium potatoes, cut into chunks; 1/2 cup white vinegar; 1/2 cup soy sauce; 1 Tablespoon peppercorns, crushed; 12 or more garlic cloves, crushed; 3 bay leaves; 1 to 2 cups water; Salt to taste.
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, cover, and allow to marinate one to three hours. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and allow to simmer for an additional 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated but not dry (allow for some sauce), and the chicken is lightly brown. Serve with white rice, green veggies, tomato wedges, and a glass of beer. Serves: 4 to 6.
1st choice San Miguel, 2nd choice Kirin.
So many now master English not because of its beauteous simplicity of structure, but because it is profitable both culturally and economically to do so and make the effort. Smart people learn English because they want to go places and get things. Writers write in English because the expressive potential is so much greater.
(((The romance languages, on the other hand, are difficult to get a grasp on because of the dozens of verb forms and the archaic baggage of gender, among other things )))
Native speakers of any language believe theirs is the best and simplest. Ours is the best because there's so much to it--because it is so complex. English speakers grab as they please among all the languages, and have for centuries. The result is a marvelous expressive tool which leaves (left?) behind many of the rules that other languages impose upon themselves.
Romance languages do not have any more verb forms than English, though nouns do have gender. Even a past tense such as the imperfect, which does not translate directly, does translate through subtler means. Romance languages are really almost childlike in their simplicity compared to Indic languages. Romance language verb forms follow regular paradigms...English verbs do not. Memorizing the irregular verbs is not that hard a job, because there are rather few. MOST English verbs fall into irregularity. (fallen? fell?) You have a fair predictive means to anticipate how to conjugate a Spanish verb...you have (has, had) no such assurance in English.
Now, a Japanese learning English will find it relatively easy because it lacks the insane calligraphic "alphabet" of many Asian languages. However, that same Japanese would find (found?) Spanish easier still.
Recognizing the differences in language hardly leads (led?) to an excuse to avoid learning it.
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