The english language is so complicated

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Forum -> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections -> Reading Room

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yo'ma

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 9:54 am

I am bh a good speller. I read to my kids and some of them follow along and some don't. The ones who follow along know how to read much easier than the other ones who don't. My ds has been reading books in spanish (b'h he's reading, most of my kids don't like reading), but my dh got him a book in english, so he started reading that. He's one of the ones who don't follow along when I read. Spanish is so much easier because it's phonetic and he doesn't learn english well enough in school for him to read it well. Anyway, he wants to read it well, so I have to stay with him when he reads to help him. Goodness! ght is only t. ould the l is silent. vowel constant e makes the vowel hard (most of the time). So many words... After awhile he'll be able to do it on his own and I'm so happy he's letting me correct him, but the english language is crazy and the british with those extra u's, why oh why? Can't Believe It

I think I already started a thread like this once, but I can't find it.

amother

Crimson

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 10:17 am

Hi just wanted to tell you, that when I started reading in English I read te words the way you write them. And after I started to learn how to pronounce them correctly. I just made the switch and read them correctly, now I read and speak English very well,

naturalmom5

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 10:21 am

French is a lot worse
I took it in school
Did well on regents
Can read it , but can't speak it to save my life

Ruchel

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 11:20 am

It is super hard.

singleagain

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 11:29 am

The reason why American has fewer u's like color v colour is bc typesetting is expensive and do America started dropping unnecessary letters.

Also my fav quote about English is that "it chases other languages down deal alleys and bashes them over the head to look for lose grammar and spare vocabulary"

amother

Forestgreen

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 11:39 am

I don't know how to upload a clip but this thread reminds me of a clip from an I love lucy. Too funny.

Rutabaga

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 11:45 am

amother [ Forestgreen ] wrote:

I don't know how to upload a clip but this thread reminds me of a clip from an I love lucy. Too funny.

This one?

singleagain

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 11:48 am

amother [ Forestgreen ] wrote:

I don't know how to upload a clip but this thread reminds me of a clip from an I love lucy. Too funny.

If it's from YouTube. Copy the link and put it between YouTube tags:

Code:

[YouTube]putyoutubelinkhere[/YouTube]

mamaleh

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 11:54 am

Rutabaga wrote:

This one?

Thanks! I needed a good laugh!

youngishbear

Thu, Sep 12 2019, 10:38 pm

singleagain wrote:

Interesting. I'd love to read more about that theory.

It doesn't explain why we write "spilled" and the Brits "spilt," or why we live in apartments while they rent flats. If we are looking to economize on typesetting, we are not going about it too well.

soap suds

Fri, Sep 13 2019, 12:53 am

singleagain wrote:

The reason why American has fewer u's like color v colour is bc typesetting is expensive and do America started dropping unnecessary letters.

Seriously? We should've dropped all those OUGHs while we were at it!

amother

Forestgreen

Fri, Sep 13 2019, 1:22 am

Rutabaga wrote:

This one?

Yup!! Thanks

singleagain

Fri, Sep 13 2019, 7:50 am

youngishbear wrote:

Okay, I I learned this from a screenshot of a social media... But then saw that it's in fact false according to Snopes

This is the image:

And this is the link

https://www.snopes.com/fact-ch.....eled/

It was apparently Webster's doing

And here's a BBC America link as well

http://www.bbcamerica.com/angl.....lings

yo'ma

Fri, Sep 13 2019, 8:54 am

singleagain wrote:

Okay, I I learned this from a screenshot of a social media... But then saw that it's in fact false according to Snopes

This is the image:

And this is the link

https://www.snopes.com/fact-ch.....eled/

It was apparently Webster's doing

And here's a BBC America link as well

http://www.bbcamerica.com/angl.....lings

Or because of capitalism, we spell it better Wink

singleagain

Fri, Sep 13 2019, 9:15 am

yo'ma wrote:

Or because of capitalism, we spell it better Wink

That's this pin

https://pin.it/hkexxpvbfvmet7

Having trouble getting the pin link direct

penguin

Fri, Sep 20 2019, 10:42 am

Directors at Daimler Benz and Chrysler have announced an agreement to adopt English as the preferred language for communications, rather than German, which was another possibility.

As part of the negotiations, directors at Chrysler conceded that English spelling has some room for improvement and have accepted a five-year phase-in plan.

In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Also, the hard "c" will be replased with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but komputers have one less letter.

There will be growing kompany enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replased by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 persent shorter.

In the third year, DaimlerKhrysler akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reash the stage where more komplikated shanges are possible.

DaimlerKhrysler will enkourage the removal of double letters, whish have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"'s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps sush as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" by "v".

During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be droped from vords kontaining "o", and similar shanges vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis, and employes vil find it ezi to kommunikat viz eash ozer.

Ov kors al supliers vil be expekted to us zis for all busines komunikation via DaimlerKhrysler.

Ze drem vil finali kum tru ...

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If zis mad yu smil, plez pas on to oza pepl.

penguin

Fri, Sep 20 2019, 10:44 am

And:
There are many versions of this humerous step-by-step plan, to reform - and finally transform - the English spelling. The original version of this joke was apparently by Mark Twain - who once gave a speech in German famously titled "The Horrors of the German Language" and who was quite a master of the German language.
A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s," and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "I" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all.
Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c," "y" and "x"--bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez--tu riplais "ch," "sh," and "th" rispektivli.
Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

singleagain

Fri, Sep 20 2019, 10:50 am

penguin wrote:

Omg this is brilliant 😂

It reminds me of the book Ella Minnow Pea.

When letters start falling off the monument they start eliminating it from usage

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385.....QVQW4

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