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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
 Posted - 10/31/2007 : 07:46:59 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by Siberia
So I see you've branched out from Moonscape News into comics, HM? Well done - there are awesome.
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Well, thank you very much, Siberia!
I figured that just because I have no talent in a field shouldn't bar me from trying it out, especially with such loose (downright sloppy, really) quality control being imposed upon me here. I love to read comics, so I really wanted to make some, too. Maybe I'll even learn some of the tricks while I fake it.
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Quite true - quite true. That's why I still write, after all. If you enjoy it, why not try? |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 11:51:55 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Siberia
Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by Siberia
So I see you've branched out from Moonscape News into comics, HM? Well done - there are awesome.
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Well, thank you very much, Siberia!
I figured that just because I have no talent in a field shouldn't bar me from trying it out, especially with such loose (downright sloppy, really) quality control being imposed upon me here. I love to read comics, so I really wanted to make some, too. Maybe I'll even learn some of the tricks while I fake it.
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Quite true - quite true. That's why I still write, after all. If you enjoy it, why not try?
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You write well, Siberia, even in your non-native English. (Your Portuguese prose must be remarkable.) I hope you keep it up for a lifetime!
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 14:08:46 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
You write well, Siberia, even in your non-native English. (Your Portuguese prose must be remarkable.) I hope you keep it up for a lifetime!
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Actually, it's quite ironic but my portuguese is slipping. I used to write much better in portuguese - maybe it's because I haven't written fiction in my native language for so long.
Portuguese is a fairly complex language - someone once said English is the language for literature and they're right. I find it easier to write in English than in my native language. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 10/31/2007 : 15:46:04 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Siberia
Originally posted by HalfMooner
You write well, Siberia, even in your non-native English. (Your Portuguese prose must be remarkable.) I hope you keep it up for a lifetime!
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Actually, it's quite ironic but my portuguese is slipping. I used to write much better in portuguese - maybe it's because I haven't written fiction in my native language for so long.
Portuguese is a fairly complex language - someone once said English is the language for literature and they're right. I find it easier to write in English than in my native language.
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English may simply have more words. English (unlike French, which has a guardian committee to prevent this from happening) unabashedly steals any and all foreign words that it likes.
I learned much watching Bill Moyer's "The Story Of English" TV series years ago. The language is a strong one. Much of the very strength of English comes from such theft. That's one reason I'm convinced that the USA needs no "official language." English can take care of itself.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 01:58:36 [Permalink]
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| That's one reason I'm convinced that the USA needs no "official language." |
Prob not the right place for it... but a government needs to have a single language that the functions of government are carried out in.
This isn't disrepectfull of any other language, but just simple pragmatism. Our government is already so bloated (mint sir?), it could explode at any moment.
That said, having a government language doesn't mean that the government should not make every effort to communicate with all it's citizens, even using the many languages spoken within it's borders. Just that the laws, policies, and other such things are officially written in one language, and that same language is used by government officials performing official government functions. It really is asking to much to expect a courtroom in New Mexico to function (and keep records) in Zuni, Navaho, English, Spanish, Apache, Ute, Acoma, and Ysleta.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 02:34:14 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dude
| That's one reason I'm convinced that the USA needs no "official language." |
Prob not the right place for it... but a government needs to have a single language that the functions of government are carried out in.
This isn't disrepectfull of any other language, but just simple pragmatism. Our government is already so bloated (mint sir?), it could explode at any moment.
That said, having a government language doesn't mean that the government should not make every effort to communicate with all it's citizens, even using the many languages spoken within it's borders. Just that the laws, policies, and other such things are officially written in one language, and that same language is used by government officials performing official government functions. It really is asking to much to expect a courtroom in New Mexico to function (and keep records) in Zuni, Navaho, English, Spanish, Apache, Ute, Acoma, and Ysleta.
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I guess I'd go for English being an official language, but I doubt there's a single locality where that is likely to be an actual issue.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 04:53:23 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
Originally posted by Siberia
Originally posted by HalfMooner
You write well, Siberia, even in your non-native English. (Your Portuguese prose must be remarkable.) I hope you keep it up for a lifetime!
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Actually, it's quite ironic but my portuguese is slipping. I used to write much better in portuguese - maybe it's because I haven't written fiction in my native language for so long.
Portuguese is a fairly complex language - someone once said English is the language for literature and they're right. I find it easier to write in English than in my native language.
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English may simply have more words. English (unlike French, which has a guardian committee to prevent this from happening) unabashedly steals any and all foreign words that it likes.
I learned much watching Bill Moyer's "The Story Of English" TV series years ago. The language is a strong one. Much of the very strength of English comes from such theft. That's one reason I'm convinced that the USA needs no "official language." English can take care of itself.
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That's not quite it, I think, though you do have a point. English has more words (but then, portuguese does absorb many words from many languages - then again, it's also related to a lot of languages, such as spanish, french and italian), which makes for more flexibility.
It's funny because most people here tend to think English is a poor language (vocabulary wise) and you have to know it a bit further to see how that is not simply true. It's just you can convey a lot of ideas with less words, which doesn't quite work in portuguese. I think the grammar is simpler as well.
Portuguese has, for instance, accent signs (or whatever you call them; the likes of á, é, â, ô, õ, ã), which english lacks. It doesn't seem like such a big deal, but there are at several rules just on how to use those and when (if anyone here knows French, I suppose it isn't very different). Verbs have declinations, which are different for every single tense (and those amount to about 12 - I'd have to count) and pretty much different for every verb (they do follow patterns, but they're not quite as clear cut as in english). The greatest problem in portuguese, methinks, is using the verbs correctly. It's easy to go wrong with that.
Then again, I never learned English as a native speaker might, so maybe I wasn't exposed to the subtleties of the language. What I know I picked up from non-textbook books, the 'net, etc. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 06:52:05 [Permalink]
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I recall from that "Story of English" series that most of the complex grammatical rules (gender, for instance) of other European languages was tossed out by English, because it developed more or less as a "pigeon" or compromise tongue to allow, say, Anglo-Saxon speakers to communicate with Danish settlers. They just ignored the complex rules of each contributing language, and the result was a streamlined tongue.
I remember as a kid seeing some Bible verse in translation in a whole bunch of different languages. The text of English was shorter than all the other, and much shorter than the Latin-based languages.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 11/02/2007 06:53:09 |
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 07:03:05 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Siberia
Portuguese has, for instance, accent signs (or whatever you call them; the likes of á, é, â, ô, õ, ã), which english lacks. It doesn't seem like such a big deal, but there are at several rules just on how to use those and when (if anyone here knows French, I suppose it isn't very different). Verbs have declinations, which are different for every single tense (and those amount to about 12 - I'd have to count) and pretty much different for every verb (they do follow patterns, but they're not quite as clear cut as in english). The greatest problem in portuguese, methinks, is using the verbs correctly. It's easy to go wrong with that.
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Does Portuguese also distinguish between male and female like Spanish? When I was learning Spanish I had a time remembering that. |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2007 : 17:40:26 [Permalink]
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Dude wrote: | This isn't disrepectfull of any other language, but just simple pragmatism. |
Good point. If most of the people who vocally advocated making English the USA's official language used mere pragmatic argument, it probably wouldn't be such a controversial issue. Unfortunately, almost everyone I've ever heard arguing for English as the official language did so out of some patriotic fervor and fear of Spanish-speaking immigrant "taking over". |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Ding psychoanalysis
