just wondering... he speaks english well...how did he learn it? He speaks Swiss German, German, French, and English....For sure 4 languages. What language does he speak to Mirka in. She is after all, Slovenian so she doesn't speak German or or French... Very interesting also how Americans just speak 1 language...Roddick, Fish, Blake, Querrey can't speak a word of any other language but English..the Brits and Americans just don't like to learn other languages..
what language does Fed speak to Mirka?
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IvanAndreevich
Legend
His mother is South African, so her native language is English.
Why learn to speak a language that you will never use? The only other language most Americans would ever need is Spanish, and even coming into contact with hispanics is not all that prevalent for most people here.
dadozen
Hall of Fame
Lol. Typical.
jimbo333
Hall of Fame
I'm sure Fed (and/or his parents) learned French and German because he wanted to challenge himself and to be educated, not because it was the practical thing to do in order to communicate with the people around him.
S
Serendipitous
Guest
Chinese
10 chars
10 chars
Claudius
Professional
I'm sure Fed (and/or his parents) learned French and German because he wanted to challenge himself and to be educated, not because it was the practical thing to do in order to communicate with the people around him.
Switzerland has 4 official languages, and different regions have different groups of people speaking different languages. It IS practical, especially in europe where so many countries and cultures are in such close proximity. You should be rolling your eyes at your own ignorance. Americans can get away with a single language becuase of the size and relative geographic isolation of the country, and strength of economy (don't need to move to find work).
I'm sure Fed (and/or his parents) learned French and German because he wanted to challenge himself and to be educated, not because it was the practical thing to do in order to communicate with the people around him.
In CH, at least in the German part, you learn (in school), haute German first, French by 5th grade, and you start English at 13 or so.
Swiss-German you pick up as you grow. You don't write Schweiz Deutsch as it's just a dialect. (A rather complicated one at that!)
Commando Tennis Shorts
Hall of Fame
I think it is a necessity thing. Americans don't need to speak another language in their business and personal lives, so why would they? Not saying it's right, but a lot of Americans probably think, "hey, most people in the world speak english anyway, so why would I learn anything else?"
Another thing to keep in mind is that in American schools, they don't stress learning another language. Kids don't usually start until they're in high school or later; by that time, it's too late in many cases to become fluent, whereas in other countries kids learn from a young age.
If people were smart, they'd start learning Mandarin Chinese RIGHT NOW, because not too far down the line, it will probably be the predominant language in international business
Another thing to keep in mind is that in American schools, they don't stress learning another language. Kids don't usually start until they're in high school or later; by that time, it's too late in many cases to become fluent, whereas in other countries kids learn from a young age.
If people were smart, they'd start learning Mandarin Chinese RIGHT NOW, because not too far down the line, it will probably be the predominant language in international business
She is from Slovakia not Slovenia
Slovakia is country to the north of Austria whereas Slovenia is country to the south of Austria. She is from Slovakia not Slovenia.
She emigrated to Swizerland when she was 2. Hence, you can be sure that they speak Swiss German to each other.
By the way, Roger's mother was Africaans - hence her native language is Africaans (which is somewhat similar to Dutch and Flemish (what they speak in the north of Belgium)) not English (though of course she speaks both).
Slovakia is country to the north of Austria whereas Slovenia is country to the south of Austria. She is from Slovakia not Slovenia.
She emigrated to Swizerland when she was 2. Hence, you can be sure that they speak Swiss German to each other.
By the way, Roger's mother was Africaans - hence her native language is Africaans (which is somewhat similar to Dutch and Flemish (what they speak in the north of Belgium)) not English (though of course she speaks both).
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I think learning another language can be very good. To show interest in other cultures, in other people, and just to explore your horizons. I think it would be very good if American children learned to speak Spanish. Isn't it weird to have just ONE language you can understand, and not a single word in any other language. Americans could also learn some Latin as that's the origin of a lot of the English language.
D
Deleted member 21996
Guest
so far so good:
some posters want to remain ignorant because they are americans and dont need to learn other languages,
Mirka was reborn in slovenia
there is English and American wich acordingly seem to be different languages...
Gotta love these boards.. always a place to learn something new everyday!
some posters want to remain ignorant because they are americans and dont need to learn other languages,
Mirka was reborn in slovenia
there is English and American wich acordingly seem to be different languages...
Gotta love these boards.. always a place to learn something new everyday!
Speaking of ignorant, Mirka was born in Slovakia, not Slovenia, which has already been posted.
i hope you realize they are different countries
Gotta love these boards.. always a place to learn something new everyday..lol
illuminati
Rookie
what does 10 chars mean?
he was being sarcastic.
kOaMaster
Hall of Fame
of course it's swiss german. roger federer grew up in basel, so he speaks the "baslerdeutsch", swiss german from basel
mirka grew up in kreuzlingen, so she speaks "thurgauerdeutsch", another swiss dialect.
as most swiss, they are fluent in german of course, since that is our actually "official" language in the german part.
and in school you learn both french (~5th grade) and english (7th grade) at least, so I guess they both can choose from either one if necessary
@illuminati: 10 chars means that your posting has to contend at least 10 characters. some people just add "10 chars" to a posting like "lol"
mirka grew up in kreuzlingen, so she speaks "thurgauerdeutsch", another swiss dialect.
as most swiss, they are fluent in german of course, since that is our actually "official" language in the german part.
and in school you learn both french (~5th grade) and english (7th grade) at least, so I guess they both can choose from either one if necessary
@illuminati: 10 chars means that your posting has to contend at least 10 characters. some people just add "10 chars" to a posting like "lol"
My ignorance? Did I not just say the same thing as you? It makes sense for people in Europe to learn multiple languages, more so than people in the USA. So why should we be criticized for not learning multiple languages when we will never need to speak them?
EDIT: Also to add, I took 5 years of Spanish in school and can't speak a lick of it because nobody that I come in contact with speaks Spanish and so I have no opportunity to practice to learn to speak it fluently.
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Underhand
Legend
Because language is a gift. If you travel to foreign countries you will soon learn that you are welcomed much more warmly if you at least TRY to communicate a bit in their native language - I always have to laugh at those tourists shouting slow English. DO YOU KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A CAB???
CAB?? TAXI?? CAR?? DRIVER??
gj011
Banned
How are Swiss German and German two different languages now?
This is like saying that English spoken in US is different language than English in Britain.
So according to that logic, Roddick, Fish, Blake all speak two languages at least.
malakas
Banned
do you speak german?If you spoke you would know.It's written mostly the same.And that's about the only simmilarity.
It's more a matter of geography. The Unites States is a large country. European countries are much smaller and are closely surrounded by many different countries with a unique dialect so it makes sense practically.
gj011
Banned
Still the same language. Those are the two dialects of the same language
Say Cockney and how they speak in Oklahoma are quite different too, but you would not call them different languages.
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malakas
Banned
They are 2 different languages,meaning that even written a german speaker will not understand so much.Spoken..no way.It's like speaking giberrish german while eating food.(no offence to swiss
)It's like serbian and polish for example.
klementine
Hall of Fame
There is a certain cultural philosophy that is learned once a language is grasped and used properly. There is not only the practical aspect of communication-- but etymology also encompasses a broader understanding of psychology,history, politics and sociology.
As one who is bi-lingual and who has a wife who is tri-lingual-- I can attest that all languages are spoken at different times and sometimes together in the same conversation. It really depends on the mood and subject of conversation.
As one who is bi-lingual and who has a wife who is tri-lingual-- I can attest that all languages are spoken at different times and sometimes together in the same conversation. It really depends on the mood and subject of conversation.
klementine
Hall of Fame
They are 2 different languages,meaning that even written a german speaker will not understand so much.Spoken..no way.It's like speaking giberrish german while eating food.(no offence to swiss
It's like serbian and polish for example.
Yasou re malakas
.. pou eisai stin ellada akrivos?
malakas
Banned
Yasou re malakas
geia sou klementine!
ahh sto panemorfo kardistan!Esy athina?wow lol einai pio polloi ellines edw pera apoti nomiza!
In the US, a year or two of a foreign language is usually the norm in high school, or starting in late middle school. Usually it is French or Spanish, but nowadays choices like Chinese, Filipino etc are also available.
Primary purpose of language is communication. If that is achievable, learning multiple languages is really not required. People become multilingual due to necessity, not choice. As far as a new language opening a window into the world is concerned, well and good, but it is the heart that needs to be opened up. Knowledge of many languages among the Western Europeans does not seem to have made them any less racist. Even if you know French, Spanish, German and Italian, you will still not have a clue about Mandarin or Swahili, and it says nothing about how you treat Algerian immigrants or anything else.
Primary purpose of language is communication. If that is achievable, learning multiple languages is really not required. People become multilingual due to necessity, not choice. As far as a new language opening a window into the world is concerned, well and good, but it is the heart that needs to be opened up. Knowledge of many languages among the Western Europeans does not seem to have made them any less racist. Even if you know French, Spanish, German and Italian, you will still not have a clue about Mandarin or Swahili, and it says nothing about how you treat Algerian immigrants or anything else.
It is just something people add to really short posts in order to reach the minimum number of 10 characters.
orangettecoleman
Professional
LOL maybe if you're a rich white person playing tennis at a country club that's true. a large percentage of the people i've been around my whole life have been of Hispanic descent. i wish I would have learned Spanish years ago.
gj011
Banned
They are 2 different languages,meaning that even written a german speaker will not understand so much.Spoken..no way.It's like speaking giberrish german while eating food.(no offence to swiss
It's like serbian and polish for example.
I disagree here. Its like I said American English and English spoken in Britain or say Serbian and Croatian.
Serbian and Polish are like German and Dutch.
ATXtennisaddict
Hall of Fame
I wish I could speak every language on earth.
malakas
Banned
An American can understand Australians and Brits.A Serb can understand a Croat and a Bosnian.
A German can't understand a Swiss.
Let's wait for a real swiss to chime in with his input.
galain
Hall of Fame
Respectfully, I would disagree. I live in Germany quite close to the Swiss border. I ran a workshop in Basel 2 weeks ago, with Swiss and German participants. While most of the workshop was done in German, we often had the Germans asking the Swiss to speak English because they had trouble understanding them. It was interesting for an English speaker to see.
orangettecoleman
Professional
Different dialects of Chinese are mutually unintelligible from a spoken standpoint, but are considered dialects rather than distinct languages because the written language is mutually intelligible. Probably the same thing with German and Swiss German I would suspect.
malakas
Banned
Switzerland is such an interesting country.Even from one cantone to the other,the atmosphere and the people seem different.It made a strong impression on me as a tourist.In Laussane the streets are more dirty,the people are more loud,there is some night life..Luzern is quiet,clean and everything is closed after 9.
anyway,maybe it's difficult for the people who don't know to understand how different swiss-german,and german are and sound.
gj011
Banned
American would hardly understand Cockney, also there are parts of Serbia where I could hardly understand what they are talking about, but it is the same language.
gj011
Banned
Yes I think this is the case.
