Hast Du nichts besseres zu tun,als dies zu lesen?!

Etre amoureux est si chouette!!!

2006-10-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

It is simply so good to be in love, even if you cannot have that what you love. The very fact that this person exists makes me so happy. When I think of her...

Same post, but a bit milder

2006-03-14T03:45:00.000-08:00

Irritatingly, Dutch speakers in the Netherlands and Flanders will often switch to English without asking when they realise that you are a foreigner. You just need to keep asking them politely to speak Dutch until they get the message. If they were in Britain they would expect to be allowed to practice their English, so it only seems fair that others be allowed to practice Dutch in the Netherlands or Flanders. On the other hand, most people there react very positively to your efforts at speaking Dutch, which is great. Fortunately in my experience there are many more of these than those who switch to English.

Just say no to English

2006-03-14T03:41:00.000-08:00

I am an English Native Speaker who speaks Dutch. Such people who try to insist on speaking English to me in a non-English speaking country really irritate me too. I find it very good when people worldwide are learning English, sometimes to a very high standard. However one undesirable side-effect is that some believe that they have the right to speak English in countries where English is not the official language. Of course they have NO RIGHT to insist on English or any foreign language anymore than someone in England would have to insist on Dutch. If their English is better than your Dutch, that is irrelevant. People should respect the customs of the country they are in, which means speaking Dutch in the Netherlands. If they don't like your Dutch, they damn well have to put up with it. They would feel entitled to speak English in England and resent anyone trying to deprive them of this right, even if that person spoke Dutch better than they spoke English. So Dutch-speakers should do others the same courtesy that they themselves would expect. I don't want to suggest that this is a specifically Dutch problem, there are annoying people like this in every country, but a particularly high number in the Netherlands due to the high general standard of English. I find that there is only one way to deal with those who switch to English without being asked (which is rude), namely to nip all attempts to speak English in the bud. Reply to any English with "In het Nederlands, alstubleeft" until they get the message. Never give an inch!

Speed Reading Novels?

2006-03-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

It's been said that you should read a novel slowly to enjoy it. Why? In films you try to leave out all that is not absolutely necessary. In this way the action should take place as fast as is possible. When reading fast, the action proceeds more quickly. Reading slowly is like pausing a film and pressing on "still advance" to watch it.

Talking of not reading books...

2006-03-09T05:08:00.000-08:00

I am one of these people who may buy a book, but not read it for several years, and then read it! Almost everything I buy is read at some point or another. To quote the author and martial artist Geoff Thompson "I consider it a bargain if I can gain the insights of great people for only a few pounds"

Burning books

2006-03-09T05:07:00.000-08:00

My brother showed be a photo of a bookstore with a poster in the window saying:

"there's only one thing worse than burning books, and that is not reading them"

I agree. At least if you burn books you recognise their power and value. If you ignore them you are blind to what can be learnt from them

The second commandment: thou shalt not make any idol.

2006-03-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Many idols can be made: in the time that Moses lived, the idols were statues. Nowadays we have many idols: money, power, fame, our own ego, political ideologies, to name a few.

But one idol enjoys a great deal of worship among Christians: the Bible!

One Buddhist story describes that when someone points to the moon, they want you to see the moon, not their finger! Their finger is only a tool to help you see the moon. In the same way, scripture is there to guide you in the right direction, not to be worshipped itself. Mistaking scripture for the truth is like mistaking the finger for the moon.

What is holy is not the bible itself, but the message that the bible is trying to impart. This is why people get worked up over verses like “Keep the Sabbath holy” and change their behaviour on Sundays, or even worse, try to force others to change their behaviour on Sundays. But this is not the point. The idea is that you should leave yourself time to relax. It doesn’t have to happen on Sunday, it could happen on Monday this week, Tuesday next week, Wednesday the next week and so on.
Another verse is “No one comes to the father but by me”. This does not have to mean “you must be a follower of me to come to the father”, but could also mean “You should do good to come to the father” or “there is no way of coming to the father but doing the right thing” even “I am very proud arrogant and cannot stand the idea of anyone coming to the father except through me!”

It does not matter where you get the message from, so long as you get it! Just like it does not matter if you say the moon because someone pointed to it using their finger, or a stick, or a sword, or just told you which direction to look without pointing, or maybe you found the moon yourself without having to be told where it was! What counts is that you saw the moon!

Why faith?

2006-03-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

I consider myself a Christian, although many would not consider me one. I call a “Christian” a follower of Jesus, i.e. one who regards Jesus as his teacher, regardless of what he or she believes. If you tell me that I am not a Christian that is fine by me. The reason why some Christians may claim that is not fine is that they consider it necessary to be a Christian to attain salvation.

One of the most confusing demands made is that "faith" is required for salvation. When I have asked Christians why this should be the case, usually I hear “that’s just the way it is”. When I say, “It doesn’t seem right that people are selected on the basis of whether they believe or not”, I sometimes hear the reply, “it may seem perfectly wrong to us but God knows that it is perfectly right”.

If we are able to see what is good, then we can say that such a condition is not good. If we can’t see what is good, why should we accept that it is good to love thy neighbour? How can we know that good is good and not evil?

I think faith should be thought of as something practical, like a crutch. It has been written that Jesus said, “Blessed are those who believe but have not seen”. I think faith is something that helps us when our efforts do not yield the expected or desired results immediately. Sometimes we fall on hard times and feel like giving up. Faith helps us to continue. Sometimes we may not see why a religion (such as Christianity) should help us, but if we have no faith we are not prepared to give it a try.

Whenever we learn something from a teacher, we do have faith that we will learn something from him, and this is why we are prepared to attend his classes. Sometimes our faith turns out to be unjustified, sometimes more than justified, but if we had had no faith, we would not have gone in the first place!

I think that this is a better way of looking at faith, as something practical, rather than a condition for entry into heaven

Wische tseni dlja inostrantsew?

2006-03-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

In Russia, as a non-Russian, one may be surprised to find that many museums and other attractions charge foreigners considerably higher prices simply because they are foreigners. In the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in 2002, foreigners were charged 300 roubles (approx. 10 dollars) for entry, but Russians only 15! It was a similar story at most other museums. When I was in Petrozavodsk and wanted to visit Kizhi (an island on Lake Onega with many very attractive wooden churches), I discovered that not only was the boat to the island more than three times as expensive for foreigners, but entry to the part of the island where the churches were more than ten times more expensive! Such experiences do not put you in a good mood for the start of your visit, which causes your enjoyment to be diminished.

Of course, such a policy is racist, although the motivating factor is not a dislike of foreigners, but greed. Some claim that such a system is fair, as foreigners can afford the higher prices. But surely Russians would consider it unfair if they visited a country where people earn even less than in Russia and were obliged to pay more just for being foreign. If one takes such an argument to its logical conclusion, everybody should be charged according to how much they can afford (Russian tourist attractions make no distinction between foreigners from “rich” countries and “not so rich” countries, by the way). But then, what’s the point of having more money, if you are charged more merely for having it? The only practical way to ensure that everyone receives a fair price according to their salary is to make sure that everyone receives the same salary, i.e. COMMUNISM.

On the other hand, this policy, however distasteful it may be, could be seen as necessary to raise enough money to keep the tourist attractions open. Foreigners (including myself!) do not always appreciate this. However, perhaps Russians do not either….

I was in the palace in St. Petersburg where Rasputin was murdered. I was visiting the exhibition on Rasputin’s murder with a Russian group. As we were led round the palace, sometimes it was necessary to wait behind previous groups as there was only enough space for one group in a room. Suddenly, a group of foreigners was led ahead of our group, i.e. queue jumping. Some Russian members of our group complained, saying that the foreigners should not be given any special treatment.

But, since the foreigners pay more and bring in more money, the museum gives them special treatment. Surely Russians should be glad that they are treated with less respect and importance for the good of the museum, as the foreigners’ money is needed to keep it open! Without this two-tier pricing system, the tourist attractions would not raise enough money, and after all, this two-tier pricing system, would not be there if it was not profitable.
Or would it? China had a similar this two-tier pricing system for many years, but decided to reverse it? Why? Almost certainly because it had proved to be unprofitable. Probably visitors had come back annoyed about being charged much more just because they came from abroad, which must have led to a fall in income.
So why is Russia continuing with it?

It may just be down to the stupidity of those responsible for promoting tourism in Russia. I don’t think Russia knows how to go about attracting tourists – and here it could take a leaf out of China’s book. Getting a Chinese visa is very easy – all you need to do is go to the embassy, pay your fee and receive your visa– and all this in a dictatorship. In Russia, a democracy, it’s more difficult: you need an invitation from a person or institute, or have to book as part of a tour group. There are some travel agencies which will obtain an invitation for you, but these charge high prices, even 90 Euros just for the invitation! Then, when you arrive in Russia, you have to register your visa. In China, you don’t have to do any such thing.

If Russia were sensible, like China, it would waive the visa requirement for EU countries, so that tourists would find it easier to go there! A lot of people, including people I know, are put off trips to Russia due to the difficulties in getting a visa!

The most famous Blair

2006-03-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Is it Tony Blair?

Or is it Eric Blair?

Eric Blair laid a great importance on words and the way that they interacted with the intellect. He wrote "The more slovenly our thoughts become, the more slovenly our words become. However, the more slovenly our words become, the more slovenly become our thoughts"

I hope the reverse is also true :) So I want to write more, to become better at expressing myself, in order to become better at thinking :)

Eric Blair might have been the most famous Blair of all time, had he not written under the name of George Orwell.

Recently I've been stealing a lot from other peoples' sites

2006-03-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

I like this comment:

It takes less than half an hour to learn “please”, “thank you”, “excuse me” and “Do you speak English?” in the language of the country one is visiting from the phrase book, but while many people will spend hours agonising over which clothes to pack, this little essential for foreign travel is nearly always overlooked.

Science: search for truth and fact? or money and fame...?

2006-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

More like the search for more funding for further research!

That Korean scientist who was caught out falsifying his results is perhaps an extreme example, but "modification" of results is commonplace! You can rationalise it my saying: well, we have to make our results look good, so that we can receive further funding to get more genuine, unmodified results!

Usually it's not about making up results, but perhaps pretending that you have got the same results more time than you claim (to make your results seem more reliable) or leaving out a few bad results, just leaving the good ones! The Chinese have a saying, "report the good news, not the bad". So it's rarely a case of outright lying as in the case of the Korean, but either embellishing the results or not showing all of them.

At least he wasn't lying when he said he had cloned a dog! That was the only non-falsified acheivement. I'm sure he will get a new job cloning beloved dogs about to pass into the afterlife :) or (I hope) cloning particularly tasty dogs for Korea's dog meat industry! :)

Wee test for Carandasche 02: German or Dutch?

2006-03-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Which of these is German?

1) Ik herken de verschillen tussen Duits en Nederlands niet

2) Nederlands is een mooiere taal dan Duits

Qu'est ce c'est, "Antwerpen"?

2006-03-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

Enkele maanden geleden voerde ik een gesprek met een Francaise met betrekking tot de stad Antwerpen: Tijdens de gesprek (in het Frans) begonnen wij over Belgie te praten. Ik vertelde iets over de steden, die ik bezichtigd had, maar vrij vlot ging het niet, niet alleen wegens mijn middelmatig Frans, maar ook omdat ik alleen de Nederlandse naamen en niet de Franse naamen van de steden in Vlaanderen kende. Zij heeft wel "Brugge", "Leuven" en "Brussel" begrepen, maar "Antwerpen" ... waar is dat? Ik heb verteld, dat het een grote havenstad aan de Schelde is, maar "Schelde" heeft zij niet begrepen. Ik zei daarna, dat Antwerpen de hoofdstad van Vlaanderen is, maar dat heeft niet geholpen. Ook het diamantenhandel kon zij niet met Antwerpen in verbinding brengen. Dan probeerde ik uit te leggen, hoe Antwerpen zijn naam kreeg, namelijk, omdat volgens het legende veel handen daar afgehakkt werd, en dat een grote bron op de markt staat, met een figuur boven, die een hand werpt. Toen ik simuleerde, hoe de figuur de hand werpt, sprong zij plootselijk uit haar stoel en deed een dikke encyclopedie open met een beeld van deze bron in ANVERS! De boodschap is: als jij Frans lert, beter leren dan ik :) en altijd de Franse versies van Vlaamse steden leren :)

Internationalism and language

2006-03-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

Recently I read the following opinion on the internet:

"Any truly international individual should have English as their primary foreign language"

About a year ago I had two conversations with an Indian girl here in Dresden who was too lazy to learn much German:

She said: "Why aren't all the signs in the laboratory in English?"
I said: "Because we are in Germany"
She said: "But we are international students" (on a course taught in English)

Here she had not learnt the local language, but considered herself ENTITLED to receive information in a foreign language

Another time I asked her why she did not make more effort to learn German. She replied that everybody was supposed to learn English, so that it was not necessary to learn any other language.

Again, this was demanding a foreign language, English, as a RIGHT. Not being grateful to the local people for speaking a foreign language when she should learn the local language, i.e. German.

I dislike this attitude intensely, not least because it is diametrically opposed to my own :) This position is "stereotypically American" for want of a better term, i.e. not learning other languages but expecting others to learn yours!

Internationalism is not about ignoring differences between countires and trying to coerce others into conforming to a standard imposed from outside, but recognising and respecting the customs and peculiarities of each country and adapting to them. Language, like all other customs, should be respected. If she was really an "international" student, she would recognise that the custom in Germany is to speak German and not English, and would have tried to learn German. The very least she can do is not complain about not having everything in English as in an English-speaking country!

I would say,

"Any truly international individual should try to learn the language of the country they intend to visit"

If it is unethical to use unwanted embryos for stem cell research...

2006-03-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

When a couple undergoes IVF treatment, several embryos are usually created, of which not all are implanted. If the treatment is successful, probably the parents will have no more use for these embryos.

Yet some oppose these embryos being used for research as they consider it unethical to conduct research on them, because scientists are manipulating a "human". But is it also not unethical to throw them into the bin - is that not killing a "human"? One might as well use them for something useful.

Society is prepared to tolerate abortion, for social and medical reasons, including the fact that banning abortion merely leads to illegal abortions being performed with the health risks associated for the mother. But if society can tolerate killing foetus, surely it can also tolerate research on an embryo which was never going to be implanted due to the medical advantages which could result from the research?

Russian joke

2006-03-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

A woman is leading a cow along the road. A man in a lorry sees them and decides to give them a lift.

"Where are you going with that old cow?"

"She's not old!" replies the woman. "She's only two!"

"I wasn't asking YOU!"

On n'aime pas les francaises, parce que...

2006-03-03T06:27:00.000-08:00

ils sont trop fiere de leur pays

ils ne sont pas paticulierement acceuilant

ils ne veulent pas repondre en anglais quand on y en parle

Peut-etre le premiere et le deuxieme accusations sont justifie, mais j'ai beaucoup de comprehension pour les francais concernant le troisieme.

Si on est dans un pays etrangere, ne-doit pas on faire un effort de parler la langue?

Un episode, qui s'est passe pendant mon sejour a Montreal: J'ai achete un bilet de l'autobus a l'aeroport, en francais. J'ai fait beaucoup de fautes et je me suis excuse a cause de ca, mais la femme etait tres amiable et patient avec moi.

Apres avoir achete le bilet, j'ai vu le prochaine client, une femme americaine:

"WHERE CAN I GET A TICKET FOR THE BUS?"

La femme, qui etait tres gentil avec moi, a ferme sa fenetre!

Si on m'adresse en anglais, sans faire un effort de parler allemend ou meme demande, si je parle anglais, ne recevois aucune reponse en anglais. Je les aide naturellement, mais sans parler anglais (souvent en une autre langue) . Ils doivent apprendre qu'ils ne peuvent pas simplement parler anglais...

No hablo Espanol, porque...

2006-03-03T05:57:00.000-08:00

I have lost all urge to learn Spanish or visit Spain because of my generally poor experience with Spanish people (with 3 exceptions though) .

Most of these have been Spanish ERASMUS-Students. In Germany, these seem to make up the highest proportion of exchange students.

Although the population of English and French speaking countries are traditionally criticised for being weak in foreign languages, exchange students from Britain and France are not the worst at German. They are not as good as those from Northern Europe and a bit worse than those from Eastern Europe, but better than the Italians and considerably better than the Spanish!

Spanish seem to have a bad attitude to learning the language of the host country. Maybe it would help if they didn't always hang around in one group together... which brings me to my next gripe about them...

If you don't speak Spanish, Spanish people don't want to talk to you. Although this may partly be due to their being bad at the host country's language (see above), even a small conversation in broken German seems to be beneath their dignity. So all their conversations proceed noisily, as they seem incapable of speaking quietly and hang around in groups of about 20 or more. This is another reason to despise them, as loud people who you cannot understand are always more annoying than those you can :)

As my Chemistry teacher said "there's nothing like getting cross to help you remember" (other reasons to curse someone :) )

DO NOT be fooled by those who seem friendly the first time you meet them, so friendly that you almost feel you have misjudged the Spanish :) The second time you meet them, they will act as if they have never talked to you! So many of them are false (by German standards)

To be fair to the Spanish, I know that there are 3 of them who are good at languages, open to people from other countries and genuine :) Out of the approx. 30 that I have met, 3 isn't SO bad...

Engels wordt niet ter wille van de buitenlander gesproken!

2006-03-03T05:47:00.000-08:00

Ik begrijp wel, dat mensen, die ongevraagd tegen me in het Engels antwoorden, meestal niet kwetsen willen. Maar als zij zich vergewissern willen, dat de gesprekspartner juist begrepen heeft, kunnen zij gewoon in het Nederlands vraagen, of alles duidelijk is. Een ongewenste overschakeling in het Engels is niet rechtvaardigd.

Als de mensen ongevraagd Engels praten, omdat zij denken op deze manier tegemoet te komen, bereiken zij het tegendeel. Niemand wil als een gehandicapte ondermens behandeld worden, alleen omdat hij van het buitenland afkomstig is. Dat is vernederend, neerbuigend en ook rassistisch.

Meestal wordt maar naar Engels overgeschakeld niet ter wille van de buitenlander, maar ter wille van de Nederlandstalige! In de regel omdat hij Engels oefenen wil, wat onterechte exploitatie en veronachtzaming van de plaatselijke gewoonten. Of wegens een combinatie van ongeduld en verachting, „Ik kan beter Engels spreken dan jij kan Nederlands spreken, en ik heb geen zin erin, naar jouw Nederlands te luisteren, zo spreek Engels!“ Op zulk extreme onbeleefdheid stuit jij gelukkig zelden, maar het gebeurt helaas soms, wel overal in de wereld, maar in Nederland en Vlaanderen bijzonder vaak.

Ik had het volgende ervaring met zo’n monster in een Brusselse hotel opgedaan:

Ik: Mag ik alstubleeft het sleutel voor het bagagekamer
Hotelmedewerker: Here you are. Your signature, please
Ik: Sorry?
Hotelmedewerker (aggresief): Your signature
Ik zwijg
Hotelmedewerker (schreeuwt tegen me): YOUR SIGNATURE! CAN’T YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?
Ik zwijg
Hotelmedewerker: Uw handtekening, alstubleeft

Ik ben met Bieneke erover eens, dat het heel goed werkt, als jij doet, alsof jij geen Engels spreekt J Bovendien wordt erbij het verachting van sommigen tegen Engelsontalige duidelijk – er zijn veel „stereotypische Amerikaner in Nederlandse pels“!
Ik heb in mijn niewuste teksten Nederlandstalige veel bekritiseert: ik wil ook zeggen, dat ik ook het positiefe ervaring opgedaan heb, dat Nederlanderstalige meestal heel positief op pogingen reageren, om Nederlands te spreken, wat geweldig is...

Geen ongevraade Engels!

2006-03-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

Hebben veel niet-Nederlanders dit problem?

Hoei!

ik kom oorspronkelijk uit Noord-Ierland, maar soms reis ik naar Nederland en Vlaanderen, omdat ik hou van deze landen, en ben door de Nederlandse taal heel geboeied evenals geintereseerd, maar tamelijk vaak stoot ik op het problem, dat veel Nederlandstalige ONGEVRAAGT naar Engels overschakelen, als zij merken, dat Nederlands niet mijn moedertaal is.

Hoewel ik het hoge niveau van Engels en andere talen in Nederland uitstekend vind, brengt dit een ongewenste neveneffect met zich.

Volgens mij is zulk gedraag niet beleefd. Ieder heeft er toch het recht op, in de officiele taal aangesproken te worden en zelf spreken te kunnen ? Daarentegen heeft niemand het recht, om op Engels of een andere vreemde taal te staan ?! Als Nederlandstalige een andere taal behalve Nederlands spreken willen, zouden zij toch vragen ?

Als de andere een betere kennis van Engels heeft als ik van Nederlands heb, is dat niet relevant. Hij of zij moet toch mijn recht respecteren, om Nederlands in Nederland te mogen spreken ?!

Wat doen jullie tegen zulke mensen? Welke strategieen vinden jullie effectief? Ik herhal "Kan U Nederlands spreken, alstubleeft" totdat de andere snapt, dat ik geen andere taal spreken will.

Is het niet ironisch dat Nederlandstaligen klachten steeds over een gebrekkige bereidheid van buitenlanders, om Nederlands aan te leren (bij voorbeeld - het onlangs goedkeurde regel, dat het Nederlands een voorwaard voor het huren van een sociale woning in Vlaanderen is), maar zelf tot het problem bijdraagen, indien buitenlanders, die zich het moeite doen, om Nederlands aan te leren, in een vreemde taal antwoorden!?

Stolen from another blog, this guy expresses what I feel, but much better than I could have

2006-03-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

If you have not lived overseas in a non-English-speaking country, it may be hard to understand the world of difference fluency in the language makes. Language is key to cultural understanding. One can simply never get the clearest view of a house looking through the dirty window or observing what comes out of the house. You have to go in. Language is the key.

What's the point of learning other languages if everyone speaks English?

2006-03-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

A lot of people ask this question, but generally in my experience many more non-native speakers of English than English native speakers.

One reason is out of respect for the customs of the country you are in, i.e. when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and language is one of the customs. Making an effort is generally well recieved by local people, especially when so few foriegners try at all. The Poles, Czechs and Chinese are particularly lavish in their praise. Some Dutch speakers may launch into English, but most react very positively to your attempts at speaking Dutch.

But the main reasons are not for the sake of the locals, but for your OWN sake!

Firstly, the assumption that everyone speaks English is in many places only partly true (in West Germany for instance, nearly everyone speaks English, but usually only very little) and in most places quite false (a trip to Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, France, China, Italy or Hungary will prove this). So knowledge, even basic, of the local language is very important.

Secondly, language is a part of the culture, so knowing the language better means you know the culture better. Local names will no longer be unfathomable sequences of letters, but mean something to you. You will understand what is going on around you and feel much more at ease. You will be able to talk to the local people and get to know them better. Interacting as an insider is much more rewarding and revealing that as an outsider. People sense that your willingness to learn about their language means that you are also willing to learn about their culture.

Thirdly, you will look at your own language and other languages differently, as you will have something to compare it to. You will appreciate lots of features of your language you were not aware of before. Goethe said that one should learn another language to understand one's own. And learning one foreign language is always a help in learning another!

I admit that it is usually possible to "get by" with English only, thousands of tourists go on holiday every year armed with no other language, but do you really want to be satisfied with only "getting by"?

Kolik jazyků znáš, tolikrát jsi člověkem.

2006-03-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

You live a new life for every new language you speak, as the Czechs say. This is one of my favourite sayings, not least because it inflates my ego :)

Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen

2006-03-01T09:07:00.000-08:00

Those who know no foreign language knows nothing of their mother tongue (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

I have found that those who do not know foreign languages are not good at talking to foreigners in their native languages, probably because they do not appreciate the difficulties that a non-native speaker may have.

When American and British tourists have talked to me (in non-English speaking countries), they often used complicated sentences with slang and colloquial expressions that it would be hard for a non-native speaker to understand.

Dutch...aren't they just Germans...?

2006-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

It is alwas surprising how many people don't seem to realise that a Dutch language exists and think it is German!

Two examples:

In Brussels (where Dutch is one of the official languages)

Weltbummler (to man standing in a church with a bucket): Waarvoor verzamelt u geld? (Dutch: waht are you collecting money for?)
Man (with a British accent, to woman also standing with a bucket): Can you help me? This gentleman's speaking German!

In Rotterdam (where Dutch is the only official language)

Woman: Are you planning to go to Amsterdam?
Weltbummler (who has a dislike of those who make no effort to speak the local language): Kan u alstubleeft Nederlands spreken? Ik begrrijp deze vreemde taal niet. (Dutch: Can you speak Dutch, please? I don't understand this language)
Woman (to companion): Ca, c'est un allemand!
(Weltbummler later helped the woman in French - he tries to help everyone, just not in English)

I can understand that people who know neither Dutch nor German may have difficulty in telling them apart, but why does it not occur to then that in a Dutch-speaking country Dutch would be spoken and not German?

No wonder so many Dutch become aggravated about it.

Why do people squabble about religious questions

2006-02-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

which cannot be answered?

Stereotypical Americans in European's clothing

2006-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

There are some stereotpyical English native speakers who make no effort to speak the local language when abroad but arrogantly expect the locals to speak English to them.

However, there are far more "Amerikaner im Europäerpelz" - those who have learnt English as a foreign language, but behave like stereotypical English native speakers!

English - obligation for all or arrogant demand by some?

2006-02-27T11:43:00.000-08:00

English is being spoken by ever increasing numbers of people. As it is the most widely used second language, it is obvious how a knowledge of it can aid communication with people from other countries, and why it is the language at international meetings and conferences.

But where it is a FOREIGN language... does that mean that one is OBLIGED to learn it?

I am pleased that more people are learning English, sometimes to a very high standard. But two side-effects of the increase in English-learning are the following.

Firstly, when in a non-English-speaking country, many who know English do not think they are obliged to speak the official language; rather, they believe that the local people are obliged to speak English to them. Claiming that a foreign language has precendence over the local, official language is arrogant and hypocritical. Speaking a foreign language is not a right; no one is obliged to speak to you in any other language but the official language. If they speak a foreign language with you, they are doing you a favour, not fulfilling an obligation.

But, I hear some cry, in these days of international contact, everyone should learn one language to facilitate communication. No one can be expected to learn all languages. All truly international people should have English as their primary foreign language.

However, being international is not about ignoring differences between countries and trying to impose one set of requirements on everyone. It is about recognising that there are differences between countries and respecting them. Therefore the Pole who learns French, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish and uses these languages when he goes to France, Russia, the Ukraine and Spain is being more international than the German who learns only English and travels everywhere only speaking English.

Not everyone can learn all languages perfectly, but everyone can learn an amount according to the length of stay in the country where the language is spoken If you only intend to be in Hungary for a week, you can learn how to say at least a few small everyday phrases such as “Please”, “Thank you”, “Yes”, “No”, “Do you speak English?/May I speak English?” and “I don’t speak Hungarian”. It never ceases to amaze me how many refuse to learn even these simple courtesies. It is only a small gesture, but with it you say “I recognise that Hungarian is the language here. I am sorry that I cannot speak it, but I would be grateful if you would do me a favour and speak English with me.” This shows respect for the culture.

If you plan to stay there for months to years, you should enrol in a language course and learn considerably more, instead of not learning and expecting others to speak English with you, which unfortunately many do. Not wanting to “do as the Romans do when in Rome” is a sign of disrespect.

The second negative side effect is that some local people think that they have the right to speak English with you, even though you want to (and have made the effort to) speak the local language. This problem is particularly acute in Dutch-speaking countries and the Nordic countries, where English levels are in general very high and foreigners’ knowledge of the local languages usually low.

Similarly, these locals who speak English without being asked are not respecting the customs of the country they are in. English, a foreign language, does not have priority over the local, official language.

Many claim that these locals start speaking English out of friendliness, out of a desire to help. In my experience only a minority is trying to help. But even if it is well-intentioned, switching to English without asking is unpleasant and patronising, implying that you are unable to cope with the local language and need to be spoken to in English to understand.

The majority of the locals who speak English without being asked want to speak English so that they can practice. This is unfair: surely the foreigner is entitled to practice the local language as well? And if they want to practice English, why don’t they ask, instead of taking the liberty of doing it without asking?

If everyone had the right to practice a foreign language with every native speaker they met, those who spoke popular languages would find it much more difficult to learn other languages than those with unpopular first languages (many more want to learn English than Danish, for example). Should not everyone have the same opportunity to practice foreign languages, irrespective of their origins?

Being an English native speaker is particularly irritating as they are most often confronted with English abroad than, say, Italians with Italian. Presumably most who do not have English as their mother tongue have not been in the same situation often enough to realise how annoying this is.

The third, nastiest, and thankfully smallest group consist of those who switch to English out of a mix of impatience and contempt. They think “I can speak better English than you can speak my language (often wrong), and I have neither time or desire to listen to you trying to speak my language, so just speak English!”

Here’s an example from my own experience in a Brussels hotel illustrating one of these hobgoblins:

Weltbummler: Kan U mij alstubleeft het sleutel voor de bagagekamer geven? (Dutch: please can you give me the key for the luggage room?)
Clerk (handing me the key): I need your signature please.
Weltbummler: Alstubleeft? (Dutch: I beg your pardon?)
Clerk (more aggressively): Your signature.
Weltbummler remains silent, pretending not to understand (a very effective method against those who reply in English without being asked)
Clerk (shouting): YOUR SIGNATURE!! CAN’T YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?!
Weltbummler remains silent, pretending not to understand
Clerk: Uw handtekening, alstubleeft (Dutch: Your signature please)

In summary, don’t forget the customs of what country you are in!

It's always those who haven't learned a language who claim that it's not worth learning...

2006-02-27T11:22:00.000-08:00

An attitude of many who make no effort to learn Czech (or Dutch):

Hi;It is not worth to learn czech, it is not a world sperade language..I advise you: don't spend your time. bye

But what about in the Czech Republic? It should be obvious that it is very useful there :)
Not just for for communication, and showing respect for the culture and customs of the country, but also for enhancing my understanding of the people there, and my understanding of other languages, including my own. Goethe said "to understand your language, learn another".

It's always those who don't know a language who claim that it is not worth learning, don't you find? So how are they in a position to judge the use of something they don't know?

One mistake I made when choosing a language was to choose one that was considered to me easy, and not that I was particularly interested in myself, i.e. Spanish. As I had no particular reason to learn Spanish, as it was popular and the classes were large and unfriendly, and had no realistic prospect of going to a Spanish-speaking country, I had little enthusiam and found the language consequently difficult. But when learning Czech, I was right next to the Czech Republic, had Czech friends and could go there every wekkend should I have wished.

Learn something because you like it and have a chance of using it, not because other's say it's easy to learn or you should learn it

Rant against Dutch-speakers who won't speak Dutch to you in the Netherlands

2006-02-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

"Nick P- Dorset I lived for a while in Amsterdam years ago, and tried to learn Dutch. What made it difficult was that nearly everyone you met was fluent in English, and would insist on speaking English to you. This went as far as people making it clear that they didn't want you to try to speak their language, to the point of hostilty if you tried- i.e. pretending not to understand you, laughing if you got it wrong, refusing to tell you how to say things etc. They had a real attitude about it I'm sorry to say. I thought it was just me, but I had a friend who was pure blooded Dutch, spoke it fluently, but being brought up in England had an accent when he did. He got the same reaction as me, although he said it was only around Amsterdam, and the West of the country that this happened to him. I can still shop in Dutch and Flemish however, (so there!). Nick P"

Nick P: you have my sympathy! I am an English Native Speaker who speaks Dutch. Such people who try to insist on speaking English to me in a non-English speaking country really irritate me too.
I find it very good when people worldwide are learning English, sometimes to a very high standard. However one undesirable side-effect is that some believe that they have the right to speak English in countries where English is not the official language.
Of course they have NO RIGHT to insist on English or any foreign language anymore than someone in England would have to insist on Dutch. If their English is better than your Dutch, that is irrelevant. People should respect the customs of the country they are in, which means speaking Dutch in the Netherlands. If they don't like your Dutch, they damn well have to put up with it. They would feel entitled to speak English in England and resent anyone trying to deprive them of this right, even if that person spoke Dutch better than they spoke English. So Dutch-speakers should do others the same courtesy that they themselves would expect.
I don't want to suggest that this is a specifically Dutch problem, there are annoying people like this in every country, but a particularly high number in the Netherlands due to the high general standard of English.
I find that there is only one way to deal with those who switch to English without being asked (which is rude), namely to nip all attempts to speak English in the bud. Reply to any English with "In het Nederlands, alstubleeft" until they get the message. Never give an inch!

Westerners are intolerant too!

2006-02-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

But of course the West (rightly) condemns the arrogance of Muslim countries in trying to interfere in an internal affair of Denmark, Westerners are not above such arrogance themselves.

During the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and the football world cup in 2002 (which is coming to GERMANY this year....oh no....) , which was co-hosted by South Korea, South Korea was aked to refarin from serving dog meat so as not to offend the sensibilites of Westerners.

Although some condemn dog-eating, no-one seems to be able to explain why it is more barbaric than slaughtering and consuming cows, pigs, chickens, sheep etc.

Why does dog eating offend some people so much in the abscence of an underlying moral argument? Could it possibly be something akin to religous fundamental intolerance "THOU SHALT NOT EAT DOG"

http://www.slate.com/id/2060840/

Amusing Muslims

2006-02-06T04:35:00.000-08:00

I find the reaction of certain Muslims to far more amusing than the supposedly offensive cartoons that they object to. I particularly like the way they stay on the moral high ground by only burning flags, threatening violence and violently attacking embassies (in Indonesia, they held up a placard showing the throat of the ambassador being slit open - but since Mohamed did not appear on the placard it was naturally not at all offensive)

Hypocriy in society knows no bounds

Of course, I am sure that it is not the cartoons themselves that are fueling this expression of outrage, but some deeper resentment which the cartoons have triggered off.

I find those who complain about TV programs and newspaper articles often stink of intolerance. If they find TV programs, mewspaper articles etc. offensive, no-one is forced to look at them. Just change the channel or buy another newspaper.

Un Wallon qui ne respect pas le Néerlandais

2006-02-06T04:25:00.000-08:00

Quelqu'un a écrit sur un petit forum belge pour "justifier" le fait que les wallons en Belgique ne doivent pas apprendre le néerlandais:

Le problème du néerlandais c'est qu'il n'est pas parlé. Les néerlandophonnes parlent chaqun leur patois, et le flamand de la côte est fort différend de celui de la campine, par exemple. C'est un peu comme si on disait que les néerlandophones doivent apprendre le wallon! J'en vois pas beaucoup qui y verraient un intérêt...

Mon reponse:

Excusez-moi, mais ça n’est que un prétexte pour ne pas apprendre néerlandais. En cette langue il y a des dialectes et des variations régionales, en anglais, en allemand et, j'ose de dire, en français aussi. En Chinois, les dialectes son si différentes comme les langues différentes. Mais personne n'asserte que l'apprentissage de Français, Allemand, Anglais, Chinois etc. ne vaut pas la peine, parce que l'apprentissage de la version standard facilite la communication, même avec des gens, qui ne parlent pas la version standard. Est-ce que vous avez appris néerlandais? Si oui, je suis sur que vous verriez l’utilité d’avoir appris néerlandais pour communiquer avec des Flamandes et se débrouiller en Flandre. Si non (comme je suppose), vous faites beaucoup de assertions concernant l’utilité du néerlandais en Flandre pour quelqu’un qui ne parle pas la langue. Selon votre argument, les Flamands ne doivent pas apprendre français parce que en Wallonie, le français n’est pas exactement comme le français en France ? J’ai parlé néerlandais en Flandre et pouvais bien comprendre les gens, bien que il y ait des accents. C’est toujours les gens qui ne connaissent pas une langue qui maintiennent que l’apprentissage de cette langue ne vaut pas la peine, n’est-ce pas ? Cordialement

Het is evident dat sommige Walen zoeken een en niet toegeven willen, dat hun onwil om Nederlands te leren op verachting , een superiorietisgevoel evenals luiheid baseerd. Wat ik bijzonder arrogant vindt, is dat zij zulke meningen over een taal uiten, die zij nooit gelerd hebben...

Irony of liberals

2005-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

"liberal" is a bit of a misnomer, as "liberals" aren't very tolerant about people having other views than they do. One can on the other hand be conservative but tolerant

Encore une poste

2005-08-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

Je me suis rapellé que je dois écrire quelque chose dans mon blog, mais j'ai oublié ce que je voulais dire (comme Ronald Reagan). Je suis très fatigué. Demain j'irai à la République Tchèque pour apprendre plus de tchèque.

Un ami m'a visité avec sa copine. Nous avons mangé très bien, si bien que Weltbummler ne pouvais pas bummeln si vite comme plus tôt (bummeln signifique faire une promenade en allemand) Nous avons deguster les cuisines allemandes, chinois et grecs, mais le visite au restaurant japonais était le plus amusant (pour moi) . Il a mangé beaucoup de WASABI sans savoir qu'est-ce c'est, et il avait donc un sensation très fort dans le nez, il a fait tels mouvements avec son corps .... et a crié MAMMA MEA... la copine a essayé a boire Saké, mais elle ne pouvais pas parce que le boisson sentait si degoutant... Naja, au moins ils savont, qu'est qu'ils peuvent attendre dans un restaurant japonais...

J'ai vu une filme choquant...

2005-03-14T06:24:00.000-08:00

...qui s'appelle Lilya4Ever. Il s'agit d'une fille qui est trompe par un homme, envoye a Suede et forcee travailler comme une prostitute.

I would like to be able to channel my negative emotions...

2005-03-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

...into doing something positive... for the last few days, when I think of something or someone who has annoyed me, I try to say to myself "YES!!!! ENERGY!!!!"

Onvriedelijke Vlaamsen / Flamandes desagreables?

2005-03-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

J'aime bien la Belgique, il y a beaucoup d'art (je ne pretends pas a savoir beaucoup sur ce sujet, mais j'aime bien l'art en generale), beaucoup des villes historiques, et la nourriture... je suis tombe amoureux avec les waffles...

On m'a dit "Si tu es en Flandre... tu ne dois pas parler francais avec eux, parce ils deviendront desagreables"

Je peux repondre... "ils ne peuvent pas devenir plus desagreables que les Wallons (les francophones), quand on parle flammande avec eux" (ils ne parlent pas flammande malgre cinq ans de flammande obligatoire dans l'ecole)

Quand j'etais a Bruxelles, j'essayais toujours parler flammande, mais le plupart des gens ne me comprenait pas...

Les francais ne sont pas accueillants?

2005-03-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

Ma prof de francais deplore l'attitude des francais aux visiteurs... elle a fait l'experience que si un tourist ne pare pas francais, les gens locales ne veulent pas les aider. Elle contraste cette situation avec ses propres experiences en Espagne, ou les gens aident volontiers en espagnol, meme si ils ne connaissent pas la langue du tourist.

J'ai rencontre plusieurs allemands qui sont retournes decus de la France, ils se plainent que les francais ne parlent que francais, ne veulent pas aider les visiteurs, sont froids et trop fieres de sa propre culture.

Je peux bien croire qu'ils ont raison, mais probablement ils n'ont pas decouvert aucune personne francais.

J'ai fait l'experience que si on essaye de parler francais, ils deviennent beaucoup plus ouvert, et si on reussi a les decouvrir, ils sont tres gentils, peut-etre plus gentils que les allemands.

Les reportages au sujet de la Russie...

2005-03-12T16:36:00.000-08:00

...sont souvent negatifs, non?

Je pense que beaucoup de ces "reportages" ont pour but le critique indirect d'une culture etrangere par presentation et diffusion des observations injuste, afin que les spectateurs pensent..."Dieu merci nous ne sommes pas si pire comme ils... notre culture est superieure..."... et les spectateurs VEULENT se sentir superieures, et donc ils regardent volontieres tels emmisions injustes. Naturellement les reportages ne doivent pas montrer une autre pays objectif et informer les spectateurs afin d'ameliorer le comprehension et le tolerence mutuelle...

To satisfy Voracious Reader...

2005-03-12T16:18:00.000-08:00

...je veux pratiquer mon fancais avant de partir en Quebec, ou (on m'a dit) on parle avec une accent "etrange". Mais qui peux dire, qui parle fancais "normale"? C'est un grand discussion aujourd'hui, quel forme de l'anglais est le plus "correcte"? L'anglais du Royaume-Uni ou ce des Etats-Unis ? (ou Canada, l'Afrique du Sud, Australie, etc...) Il existe une theorie que la version americaine est plus proche a l'anglais originale que l'anglais qu'on parle aujourd'hui en Angleterre???

Vorfreude ist die beste Art Freude...

2005-01-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

Wenn ich meinen Urlaub plane, macht es fast so viel Spass als der Urlaub selbst :)

People think Moomins come from Japan...

2005-01-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

...due to the cartoon (actually people think Nokia comes from Japan as well - I used to!) but actually they're from Finland. There's also a Moomin world in Naantali in Finland, where a conference is due to take place in September.... :)

The Weakest Link?

2005-01-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

Another example of hypocrisy...

I was watching "Celebrity Weakest Link" before Christmas. Actually I had to watch it because my mum wanted to watch it and we were having dinner in front of the TV. I remember thinking to myself, if one of the contestants got a question wrong which was easy, I just thought "they're dumb" but if I couldn't get a question right (usually about sport or television shows) I didn't think that I was stupid, but "How could anyone be expected to know that? What relevance does does this football player/tv show it have to anything?"

One of the celebrities, a pop singer, was unable to answer the question: what is the word "pop" in "pop music" short for? :)))

On another completely different topic:

2004-12-07T02:03:00.002-08:00

I remember hearing a rumor that the film "the Madness of King George III" (King of England from 1760 to 1820) had to be renamed "the Madness of King George" so that Americans would not think it was the third in a series of films like "Nightmare on Elm Street III". Or maybe this is merely anti-American gossip - actually racist comments about Americans are almost socially acceptable... I think this is slightly worrying

On a completely different topic:

2004-12-07T02:03:00.001-08:00

a while ago an ethicist claimed that transplants from cats would be unethical because the cat was unable to give its consent... :)

Of course we ask pigs, cows, chickens, lambs, turkeys and sheep for their consent before slaughtering them by the thousand to fill our bellies.....

J'espere que...

2004-12-07T02:03:00.000-08:00

...ca va marcher avec le congrès en Quebec... en tout cas je vais commencer avec la preparation, par exemple avec des emails a Carandasche 02 ;)

D'ailleurs

2004-12-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

Je vais essayer de lire des livres pendant les vacances.

Une problème qui est associé avec Noel... on doit écrire si beaucoup de cartes!!! Et c'est impossible de se rappeller a tous les details des vies des conaissances... c'est pourquoi on doit garder les emails vielles, comme réferences... en cas de Carandasche 02, ma petite "bibliothèque" se grandit... mais je voudrais rélire toute notre correspondence

Je pense que mon congrès à Canada a des problèmes...

2004-12-07T01:53:00.000-08:00

Ils duvaient avoir recu encore des resumés au 15me octobre, mais ils ont prolongé le délai trois fois! Mais peut-etre c'est bon, parce qu'ils seront obligés d'accepter ma resumé, si il n'y en a pas beaucoup :))

I'm impressed that some people can think of something to write in their diary every day...

2004-11-30T10:35:00.000-08:00

...I would have given up by now if I hadn't received such nice feedback from my fan-club (small, but the average member is cool! ;) )

Hypocrisy knows no bounds...

2004-11-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was outraged after I read articles on irresponsible dog owners who arrogantly or lazily (or for both reasons) refuse to clear up after their dog leaves it's excrement on the street.

Yet a few minutes ago I was munching on a cake with cherries in it. on the way back to my office lots of pieces dropped on the ground and I didn't even think of picking anything up...

One of the wonderful things about being an English native speaker...

2004-11-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

...is that people keep on asking to to correct/translate texts for them and say "Oh, it won't take long", "It's not much", "Ich brauche es heute (I need it today)"...

Annoying too are the people who try to speak English with you as soon as they learn you are a native speaker... though thankfully it doesn't often happen these days... a "WIE BITTE? (Pardon)", even if you've understood everything they've said, will nearly always do the trick and make them switch back into German...

Anyway enough bitching about the curse of English-speakers. There was a very nice "Weihnachtsmarkt" yesterday - actually it goes on until christmas - (Carandasche02's favourite time of year ;) ) with Glühwein and various sweet things...

Have started doing exercise again - ONCE, just ONCE in my life I would like to be very fit... but things such as Döner Kebabs etc. get in the way of this dream :)

Carandasche 2 est chouette...

2004-11-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

...Penelope Cruz est assez chouette, parce que elle resemble Carandasche 2. (J'ai regardé Vanilla Sky au weekend et remarqué ca)

Doing a PhD is a bit difficult....

2004-11-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

...especially if people are not very supprotive when it come to publishing the results...

2004-11-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

j'ai une petit but, en fait d'apprendre une douzaine des langes étrangees.

2004-11-15T05:35:00.000-08:00

J'ai commencé d'apprendre italiene... peut-être on va m'envoyer à l'Italie en septembre...je dois me preperer... je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais "Italia" est "Italie,Italy,Italien etc." en presque toutes les langues, sauf la polognaise (ils disent "Wlochy")

Unbelievably

2004-11-15T05:29:00.000-08:00

I remembered to write something in this blog and didn't forget over the weekend that it exists. Friend of mine is in Niger...

Funny that when we get angry with someone we're actually angry with ourselves...

Heureusement, je connais une femme très sympa

2004-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

...qui s'appelle Tati. Elle sera ma contact prémiere.

Ik weet niet, hoe lang deze blog zal duren....

2004-11-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Het meest ben ik veel te vuil, om regelmatig iets te schrijfen....