NADIA

Hey Marius. I'm glad you found the website for the oshiwamgo language,which I don't understand a word of.
Here is a website were you will get a picture and some information about the mongoose.They are brave little guys,and will sometimes take on a snake.But go to the site below,and we will get alot of info on them.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/mangoose.aspx

NADIA

O,yes and as for answering your qeustions.Was no trouble at all.You can ask any time.

NADIA

And marius if the sight doesn't go to the mongoose immediately,just type in mongoose at the top next to search and it will give you the info.

marius

Thanks Nadia! Find it amazing that a meerkat and mongoose are the same specie, just different genus I guess.

Quote from that site, "The meerkat
(Suricata suricatta ), or suricate, is a social mongoose of S African grasslands; meerkats live in large communal burrows and prey chiefly on insects and other small invertebrates."

maddyjean08

I think meercats are the cutest little squirrel things!

Robindcr8l

Thought this was a really interesting article about a life in Malawi, Africa, that some of you might enjoy. Kind of a feel-good story!

http://www.asylum.com/2009/10/13/william-kamkwamba-boy-who-harnessed-wind-book/?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asylum.com%2F2009%2F10%2F13%2Fwilliam-kamkwamba-boy-who- harnessed-wind-book%2F

marius

Love feel-good stories. This was great. Thanks, Robin!

Login

Regional accents fascinate me. In the relatively small British Isles, regional accents abound. Except where people have deliberately acquired a ‘cultivated’ accent, it is possible to tell what part of the country a person comes from. Of course, there are English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents but even within those regions, accents vary.

In England, Birmingham and surrounding area has its own distinctive accent, as does East Anglia. I can usually spot them straight away. The northern counties of England are a little more difficult for me but by listening carefully, it’s possible to differentiate between Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, etc. The south west also has distinctive regional accents but I haven’t yet been able to distinguish between Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall. However, having only lived in the region for a relatively short period of time, perhaps the difference will one day become apparent. Of course, a London accent stands out a mile to most people I was born in the south east so that to me just sounds, normal'.

Ireland no doubt has several regional accents but, with the exception of Dublin (very distinctive), I can only distinguish between North and South ... they are very different. The same can be said of north and south Wales although I can usually pick out a Cardiff accent, having lived there for about three years in the 1960’s.

Scotland also has many regional accents but again, I would need to live there for a few years to tune into them. However, Glasgow has a very distinctive accent and is perhaps the hardest for the ‘outsider’ to understand. Up on the north coast of Scotland, the accent had something of an ‘Irish tinge’ in it for me.

Which brings me to North America. I recognize a New York accent immediately … you may say “doesn’t everyone”. The answer is no for most ‘foreigners’. The difference between north and deep south US is obvious to most ears but pinpointing individual states is not easy. The ‘Irish tinge’ in a Canadian accent is the only way that I can separate it from the US in general.

I lived in Germany for several years. A dialect is spoken in Bavaria and I never did understand it. A German gentleman from Berlin once told me that he could hardly understand a word of what was being said in Bavarian dialect. Fortunately for me, Bavarians will speak standard Deutsch when speaking to non Bavarians.

Does anyone else here enjoy picking out individual accents? To me it’s very similar to looking at a TD drawing and knowing which palette was used. My son is a great mimic and can entertain me by talking in many different accents. I can hear him now (not literally), talking in a West Indian accent. I could listen for hours to these delightful regional differences.

Login

There should have been a full stop in the second paragraph ... I don't have a London accent.

Dragon

I liked the comment about Canadians having an Irish tinge. I've never thought of it that way. I've heard from Americans that we tend to raise our tone a little at the end of each sentence making it sound like we're always asking a question even when we're not. Perhaps that's why they think we're s polite .
The western provinces seem to have pretty much the same accent throughout but the east coast has a wealth of different accents. I'm told Newfoundlanders can tell what town each other grew up in just by listening. I've always actually thought the east coast accents had a rather Irish sound to them. Sometimes when a group of Newfies gets talikng fast to each other it's like listenin to a whole other language.
And, of course, in Quebec french is the major language so many people from there have french accents. I should say Quebecois french accents because there is quite a difference between their french and France's french.
I've never spent any time out east so I'm not very trained at picking each accent out.

Dragon

+o =so

Login

Thanks Dragon. I'll bear it in mind that the 'Irish tinge' that I hear is probably east coast Canada. I have never heard Canadian French (as far as I know) and wouldn't understand it if I did. I'm sadly lacking in Foreign languages, having enough Deutsch and Italian to get by (more Deutsch than Italian) and a very light sprinkling of foreign phrases from around the world.

I forgot to mention that I can usually detect the difference between Australia and New Zealand, the latter having (to my English ear) a tinge of East Anglia in it. Why that should be, I couldn't guess. Maybe it's just coincidence that NZ and East Anglia have similar vowel sounds.

I think the variations in accents spices up any language. I quite enjoy the different phrasing that goes with it but, other than in quoted speech, I prefer to see the written word in good English. However, I break my own rules on TD ... with such words as you're and they're. It's a more relaxed way of speaking but as a child I was always told that joining words together like that should only be used in reported speech.

Login

... but I will carry on using the conjoined words because it sounds less stilted to the reader. I'll accept a slap on the hand for my sins.

polenta

Thanks for telling us how many English dialects or regional variations there are. Have you thought of us foreigners learning Englsih? Which English should we be taught? Difficult question, isn't it?

Login

Now, there's an interesting question polenta.

One of my husbands ex-colleagues in Italy, was very fluent in English and he spoke it with a 'posh' English accent. He had acquired the accent from his tutor. In Germany a large proportion of the population, both young and old, have learned English. Their German accent is usually very prominent, which I find attractive. However, I encountered many young Germans who spoke English with a US accent. On enquiry, I found that many had travelled in the US and others had learned from recordings.

I think it doesn't matter what the accent is, providing the speaker can be easily understood. Imagine a foreigner speaking English with a Glasgow accent, overridden by their own native accent ... they may only be understood by Glaswegians.

Personally, I like to hear a speakers own accent shining through, but I also admire any foreign person speaking English and 'sounding' English.

Dragon

Huh, I never knew that natives of Glasgow were called Glaswegians. I love this site, you learn something new every day!

polenta

Here they mainly teach British or American English with a great reputation for the latter. People often ask: "What English do they teach at this institute , etc?" I'm often tempted to say :" Uruguayan English."
Uruguayans often think British English is easier to understand but I think what they mean is (old?) BBC English or what I've heard is called "received pronunciation" sounds very easy or clear... but who speaks like that in UK? Maybe few people. I remember having heard Queen Elizabeth and the "annus horribilis " speech and it was incredibly easy to understand her.

polenta

I have the idea that the R is often NOT pronounced in UK. Therefore TEACHER becomes something like TEACHA. I also think that they omit this sound R in some parts of the States, don't they? For example the typical New York accent. Is that so?

marius

My ear for languages, dialects, etc. will never compare with Login's ear ... however ... question for Login, or anyone really.

I LOVE BBC television which is shown on our PBS (Public Broadcasting Station). When watching these shows, movies, or mini-series, it takes a good five to fifteen minutes to get my brain to be able to hear what the actors are saying. Once "it" sets in, I often go back to the beginning of the movie, etc. to make sure I've not missed something.

So, the kind of English spoken on these shows is how I think English people speak. However, one day while dining out, our waiter had a funny accent, (funny to me). I guessed he was from Austrailia and my sister laughed, made a bet and she was right - he was from the UK.

Finally - the question. What do most people in England sound like when they talk? Like the actors in English-made movies, or like the guy who sounded (to me) like he was from Austrailia? No laughing allowed about this question. It has bugged me forever.

marius

Polenta, don't know about R's anywhere. Not certain I could recognize a NY accent either. Might know it's from the NE. ?

One time there was a TV news story where a man from Louisiana was being interviewed. I could not understand ONE word the man said and asked my parents what language he was speaking! I was only seventeen so it was quite a shock to hear he was speaking English, but with a Southern "drawl."

When I moved to Oregon, people laughed at my "Southern accent." When visiting friends in the South, they said I talk "like a Yankee." I didn't know what that meant. It meant a "Northerner." Here, we say we have a "Missouri Twang." Words like dance, ask, fan, etc., have a rather drawn-out short 'a' sound.