Want to learn Japanese? LEARN ENGLISH FIRST!

[JohnBraden]

Originally Posted by godwine

You know, funny enough, I start noticing the new generation having difficulities distinguishing "You're" vs "Your", "Than" vs "Then" etc... i think this fall in your category

Add to that "their" and "there" as well. Yes, I've noticed this trend for a long time now and it shows the level of education in this country. It's quite scary, if you ask me....

[phishy]

You can thank programs such as "no child left behind" for the large influx of younger people butchering their own native language. Anyone can graduate from high school now.

[crime60]

It is pretty frightening what godwine and JohnBraden said,,, it seams that language is getting out of control, not only English. I am sure that its happening all over the world. Hell, sometimes in public places I get to hear my language getting butchered by my own people,,, it makes me want to shout out loud till I get everyone’s attention then "Baaaang" SHOOT myself in the head …
phishy hammered the nail right on the head, “anyone can graduate from high school now”, this is a heavy statement, but unfortunately it will NOT grab(or “to some” at least touch) our attention … I can’t imagine how the next generation’s language will sound,,, Ummm I picture aliens hahaha …

I spun away from the center of this thread, sorry I got carried away…

[Nameless]

Originally Posted by godwine

cannot comment on Spanish, as I have absolutely 0 exposure to Spanish

Japanese and spanish pronunciation are almost the same, we spanish speakers struggle very little, to have a somewhat natural Japanese accent.

Canaca con subtitulos en ingles - The Canaca subtitled in english - YouTube

Here's your exposure to spanish; wise words from St. CANACA.

also wtf is the 'your' 'you're' thing serious?.... err that is depressing.

[godwine]

Originally Posted by Nameless

Japanese and spanish pronunciation are almost the same, we spanish speakers struggle very little, to have a somewhat natural Japanese accent.

Canaca con subtitulos en ingles - The Canaca subtitled in english - YouTube

Here's your exposure to spanish; wise words from St. CANACA.

also wtf is the 'your' 'you're' thing serious?.... err that is depressing.

Dead serious, all Canadian kid once thought messed up grammar and spelling were cool, the coolness now became the norm. I see people use "your welcome" all the time, then, there is the mix up of then and than, their and there. Maybe we should open a new thread to discuss this

[dogsbody70]

doesn't language constantly evolve--?

[godwine]

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

doesn't language constantly evolve--?

My personal opinon: Slang does, not a "Language"

[Atredies]

i hear more spanglish than english in california. strange.

[Nebelherz]

Language changes all the time. Who define, what is proper English or any other language? You just see Old English is different from Modern English. But do we know, why excactly it changed this why? Maybe because, some people just started talking different? I don`t excactly know, why languages changes over time. Sure there are coming new words from other languages in one`s languages, but it`s not just that what changes over time. Some words starts to become totally different or words are used for different meanings, than their were used before. You can also see on dialects, that some words, are spoken differently and also meanings are changed or even grammar is different.

I think you does just need to learn English for Japanese, because there are more English Japanese learning materials, than in German. Ok, I think also, that English is a must, because it`s a world language.
^^; My English isn`t also very well, since I don`t use it that often to writing and speaking. (I use it more for reading. There are so many nice English books, which are not published in German. Ok anyway, I read also books in English, which are published in German, but why reading a translation, if a can have the original?)
Sure, I want to become better in English, but I don`t need too be perfect in English, for learning Japanese.

[Ronin4hire]

lol @ all you language elitists rueing the "corruption" of your beloved language.

If you think the English you speak is so "pure" then read some Shakespeare and ask yourself what language you are speaking now.

Bottom line.. language evolves.

If you are interested in this topic research linguistics and in particular socio-linguistics for yourselves.

To learn Japanese (or any language) all you need is the ability to grasp some basic concepts on the way the language works and practice it regularly.