English Questions

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
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allf100
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Re: English Questions

Postby allf100 » Fri May 19, 2023 3:29 am

lavengro wrote:I do not think it necessary to have read the Bible to enjoy English literature, but in my view, having knowledge of the Bible would undoubtedly broaden one's understanding and appreciation of much of English literature, including some unexpected connections (looking at you here Ray Bradbury). I would suggest that if one were to read the Bible solely from the perspective of literature, definitely go with the King James Version (1611) for its amazing language rather than a more modern version.


Thank you very much for your helpful advice too.

Though I'm not a Christian, I found some quotes make senses to me.

For example,

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.

It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
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Re: English Questions

Postby Shall We Talk? » Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:40 pm

Regarding the questions about the pronunciations of 't' in English, Americans tend to pronounce the "t" like a "d" sound when the "t" is not at the beginning or end of a word. The British tend to pronounce the "t" like a tradtional "t" sound regardless where the "t" is located in a word. Both sounds are correct. It depends what dictionary you are using (American/British). Good dictionaries show pronunciation.
Keep in mind, as an English (ESL) tutor myself for many, many years, regardless of a learner's needs, I always include pronunciation practice because pronunciation takes a lot of practice, effort and time. I always tell learners of English the "t", "d" and "s" sounds at the end of words are very, very important to say, and for others to hear. And, try extending the final sounds of English words in general. It is very subtle when you carefully listen to native Englsh speakers talk to other native English speakers. Speak slowly at first, extend the words' ending sounds, and as you start creating good, automatic habits, you will sound like a native English speaker. Listening to talk shows (on TV, radio, podcasts, YouTube, etc.) are helpful.
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allf100
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Re: English Questions

Postby allf100 » Mon Jul 03, 2023 9:19 am

Hello,

Would someone please help me with the following questions? Thank you!

1. Re: Can "n*gger" be considered as "bro" between black persons?

On Tiktok, a Chinese person told his experience in the US. One day he wore dreadlocks in an evening, and a black stopped him and said, "N*gger, "... He said the black mistook him for a black because of his Afrian hairstyle as in the dark, the black man couldn't clearly see his other physical features, i.e. skin colour, and tried to rob him.

I wondered why a black would call another black "n*gger" which is considered as an offensive word. Some Chinese Tiktok users said if it would be offensive if other races address a black "N*gger", but if between black people, "n*gger" could be considered as "bro", and the word is friendly. Do you think it is true?

2. Usage of 'dear' in the mainstream of English-speaking countries, especially in the USA

A middle-aged American told me that he wouldn't address me and/ or other people "dear + given name" because 'dear' has a romantic connotation. - I found it is partly true because in informal business emails, my former American co-workers and supervisor never ever use 'dear + given name' when they wrote to me or other Chinese co-workers.

However an American client who is a woman sometimes would adddress me 'dear + given name'. Her male boss writes to me always started with 'Dear + name'. And I had a Canadian friend who was a professor, and he always started with 'Dear + my name' from the very first email. Well, there are never ever any romantic connotions in the words of theirs.

I think the usage of 'dear' depends on the mannerism of individuals. It doesn't necessiarily involve romance, does it?

3. Re: Do the British really don't understand American English? etc
Questions: - I put the same context at the end of this post.

(1) Do most British really don't understand American English i.e. eggplant, candy, potato chips? Don't most British watch American films etc?
(I know what those correspondent words in BrE.)

I think the below context probably exaggerates or is just for being funny. Needless to mention about the differences between BrE and AmE, when I talked to Americans and British persons I met, they could easily understand my Chinglish. And for a time, when I talked to an American and used 'flat' to refer to 'apartment', and the American had no problem in understanding me.

(2) I wonder if it is inappropriate/usual for a waiter to address a male customer as 'mate' and use 'hey' instead of 'Hello Sir' etc?

(3) Pronunciation of 'here'.
In the below context/video, I heard the BRITISH waiter pronounces "here" as /hər/. The /i/ is missing from /hɪər/ the way I would pronounce. Is that Cockney accent if you know?

I looked it up on online Cambridge Dictionary , and found either American or British English would pronounce /i/ in "here".

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dic ... glish/here

(4) Intonation of "it's just ME, (raising)

In the video/context, the British waiter told the American customer "it's just me." the waiter raises the intonation of the sentence/"me". It's just a declaration sentence, but not a general question. Why does he raise "me" in his words? Does intonation suggest that he is not sure that he could understand American English?

Context:
In a video on Tiktok, a British vlogger as well as English tutor impersonated an American and a waiter in England. He tried to told his Chinese audiences he couldn't understand American English. Here's the dialogue. 
W= waiter, C = customer
W: Hey mate, can I take your order?
C: Hey bro, can I get a ?
W: Wait, are you American?
C: Yeah man, wassup?
W: It's just, uh, the translator isn't here. It's just me, so... umm..?
C: But we both speak English bro. It ain't like I'm talking another language, man!
W: Are you sure you speak English? Okay, mate, I can do this. so what can I get you?
C: Ok, can I get a tomato, egglant & zucchini sandwich, a bag of potato chips and a bottle of water? And some candy for dessert.


PS - I've made up my mind to follow BrE because I've found what I learnt is (relatively close to) British English in my schooling, though I would mix AmE and BrE now and then. For example, bottle, in AmE, "o" is /a/, "t" is /d/, while I actaully pronounce "bottle" as /ˈbɒt.əl/, so I try to adopt BrE in my writing/the post.
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Re: English Questions

Postby DaveAgain » Mon Jul 03, 2023 10:45 am

allf100 wrote:
1. Re: Can "n*gger" be considered as "bro" between black persons?

I think that's just amongst lower class US blacks. Not something you should use yourself.
2. Usage of 'dear' in the mainstream of English-speaking countries, especially in the USA

"Dear X" is just a forumla for addressing in letters, "dear" as a term of endearment is something different.

Emails and text messages tend to be more informal than letters, which is perhaps why you've experience of people omitting "Dear" before your name.
3. Re: Do the British really don't understand American English? etc
Questions: - I put the same context at the end of this post.

(1) Do most British really don't understand American English i.e. eggplant, candy, potato chips? Don't most British watch American films etc?

We do see US films and TV series, I'm sure there are moments of misunderstanding with some terms, I don't think this would ever be a serious problem.
(2) I wonder if it is inappropriate/usual for a waiter to address a male customer as 'mate' and use 'hey' instead of 'Hello Sir' etc?

In a restaurant not appropriate, perhaps in a cafe where the two people were of a similar age? Generally "sir" though.
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Re: English Questions

Postby Cainntear » Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:34 pm

allf100 wrote:1. Re: Can "n*gger" be considered as "bro" between black persons?

The phenomenon here is a matter of undermining the negative connotations of a word by "re-approriating" it. People are very divided over whether the N word can be successfully re-appropriated.

Never expect to hear it, but don't be surprised if you do. And definitely don't ever say it yourself!

On Tiktok,

Don't believe what people say on Tiktok. The stories can be exaggerated or even made up as a way of driving people to share and watch the video.
I wondered why a black would call another black "n*gger" which is considered as an offensive word.

Using the term "a black" with black as a noun is also considered offensive. People in the UK would say "a black person". However, in the US, even that is not acceptable, and people who might be described as "black" in the UK would be called "African Americans" in the US.

Some Chinese Tiktok users said

Tiktok oversimplifies. As I say, there is a philosophy in favour of reappropriating the term, and there is another philosophy against it.
2. Usage of 'dear' in the mainstream of English-speaking countries, especially in the USA

A middle-aged American told me that he wouldn't address me and/ or other people "dear + given name" because 'dear' has a romantic connotation. - I found it is partly true because in informal business emails, my former American co-workers and supervisor never ever use 'dear + given name' when they wrote to me or other Chinese co-workers.

However an American client who is a woman sometimes would adddress me 'dear + given name'. Her male boss writes to me always started with 'Dear + name'. And I had a Canadian friend who was a professor, and he always started with 'Dear + my name' from the very first email. Well, there are never ever any romantic connotions in the words of theirs.

I think the usage of 'dear' depends on the mannerism of individuals. It doesn't necessiarily involve romance, does it?

As alluded to by another poster, "Dear Andrew," would be the traditional opening to a letter. When emails started, it was typical to write them like letters, but emails quickly became more common and more frequent than letters, and people very very quickly stopped bothering with the formalities of letter-writing.

In my experience, university staff tended to write "dear" in emails for longer than non-university staff, because they were more used to making formal announcements on paper, and were typically using email for fairly formal purposes. In a commercial office, you'd just be constantly dropping one or two sentence messages to someone in another office, so the letter-writing formalities dissolved.

There's an extra pressure now though: English teachers for most of the 2000s didn't realise that email was different from letters, and they started teaching "email writing" lessons using superficially modified letter writing lesson plans and materials.

We're now in a situation where people who regularly correspond with non-native speakers overseas tend to use letter-writing conventions, because that's what is expected of them by the other party.

(3) Pronunciation of 'here'.
In the below context/video, I heard the BRITISH waiter pronounces "here" as /hər/. The /i/ is missing from /hɪər/ the way I would pronounce. Is that Cockney accent if you know?

I can't tell you what you're hearing if you don't link to the video. There are a million possible explanations for this -- you haven't provided enough information to choose between them.
But also...
In a video on Tiktok,

Quoting TikTok on questions on language is about as useful as quoting a joke book as a source of scientific knowledge.
I probably wouldn't even have clicked the link if you'd included it...!
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allf100
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Re: English Questions

Postby allf100 » Tue Jul 04, 2023 6:34 am

Hello DaveAgain and Cainntear,

Thank you very much for your help. :)
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