Are you a native speaker of English?

[PCaddicted]

Classified.

[lovinglinux]

Nope. My native language is Portuguese.

[silex89]

My native language is Spanish! :D

[NovaAesa]

Bred and borne in Oz, so my native language is English.

[mips]

No, but my mother tongue is worse than my Engrish ;)

[pratikk]

That's two questions. Yes to both. I am a dreadful heathen native and I speak English. Blimey, I even type in it. Delightfully, archaically, as you see. :)

[sanderd17]

Nope, I speak Dutch, well, West-Flemish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Flemish) to be exactly. People from other parts of the Netherlands or Flanders don't understand me when I talk to family :D

[moma]

No. I speak Norwegian and Finnish (and Portuguese more and more).

[koleoptero]

What's the "classified"?

[Ric_NYC]

No. I speak Norwegian and Finnish (and Portuguese more and more).


Como aprendeu/aprendestes?
:)

[mips]

Nope, I speak Dutch, well, West-Flemish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Flemish) to be exactly. People from other parts of the Netherlands or Flanders don't understand me when I talk to family :D

I find that a bit hard to believe. I don't speak Dutch or Flemish but I have a friend in Belgium and I can understand a lot of what she says as long as she does not speak to fast. Reading is even easier. Maybe she is from the west, can't remember where she lives, will have to check with her so I'm probably wrong with my assumptions.

[moma]

Ric_NYC:
Sou falante nativo do finlandês e norueguês. E eu estudei português no Oslo e em Lisboa. A linguagem do meu coração ;-) como Fado.

[Ric_NYC]

Ric_NYC:
Sou falante nativo do finlandês e norueguês. E eu estudei português no Oslo e em Lisboa. A linguagem do meu coração ;-) como Fado.


Valeu! ;)

[odiseo77]

English is my second language (my first language is Spanish).

[blueturtl]

Are you a native English speaker or a native speaker of English?
English speakers vs. speakers of English.

No, but the latter sounds kind of funny to me.

Could a native speaker point out if there is anything odd about that phrasing?

[koenn]

Nope, I speak Dutch, well, West-Flemish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Flemish) to be exactly. People from other parts of the Netherlands or Flanders don't understand me when I talk to family :D

it's some sort of speaking disorder, then ?

[pbpersson]

I am from Chicago and have been told I speak Chicagoese. :)

[lovinglinux]

I find that a bit hard to believe. I don't speak Dutch or Flemish but I have a friend in Belgium and I can understand a lot of what she says as long as she does not speak to fast. Reading is even easier. Maybe she is from the west, can't remember where she lives, will have to check with her so I'm probably wrong with my assumptions.

I went to Azores, where they speak Portuguese and I couldn't understand most of what they were talking. Seriously, I had a hard time communicating there. I could understand the Portuguese in Lisboa, but not in the Azores. It was kind of embarrassing.

[koenn]

I find that a bit hard to believe. I don't speak Dutch or Flemish but I have a friend in Belgium and I can understand a lot of what she says as long as she does not speak to fast. Reading is even easier. Maybe she is from the west, can't remember where she lives, will have to check with her so I'm probably wrong with my assumptions.

Well, it's true, sort of.
It's true of most regional dialects in Belgium (but then, that's the case in most languages). but West-Flemish is a bit of a special case - their vocabulary, syntax and accent is often very different from other Flemish dialects. This might be due to a left-over mediaval influence from West-Frysian, which once was spoken all along the North Sea coast.


I remember a song in West-Flemish that they used to play on the radio - I had heard it several times before I even realised it was Flemish, I kept thinking it was some weird Englisdh dialect I just couldn't get.

[odiseo77]

I went to Azores, where they speak Portuguese and I couldn't understand most of what they were talking. Seriously, I had a hard time communicating there. I could understand the Portuguese in Lisboa, but not in the Azores. It was kind of embarrassing.

I experience something similar when I watch some films from Spain (not all of them, only a few where the pronunciation is very tight).
As for Portuguese, I can understand partially the brazilian Portuguese, but the portuguese from Portugal is very hard since, it's pronounced very tight with low emphasis on vowels (or so it seems to my ear) :)

[mips]

I remember a song in West-Flemish that they used to play on the radio - I had heard it several times before I even realised it was Flemish, I kept thinking it was some weird Englisdh dialect I just couldn't get.

Got a link to that song or some other sound bytes by any chance, would love to listen to the dialect.

If we had to communicate in our native tongues right now via writing you would get 99% of what I was typing. Most find our double negative comical though ;)

[koenn]

Got a link to that song or some other sound bytes by any chance, would love to listen to the dialect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxco3evmy6c




If we had to communicate in our native tongues right now via writing you would get 99% of what I was typing. Most find our double negative comical though ;)
yeah, I know. but it's easier in writing because the word boundaries are obvious.

There's a small chance you understand our dialects even better, because dialects have often kept older vocabulary, syntax or idioms that are not present in standard Dutch.

[Dustin2128]

My native language is Dustin2128 assembly.

[PCaddicted]

What's the "classified"?
It means "secret" . This option is for those who don't want to tell other users whether their native language is English or not.

[TeoBigusGeekus]

Μυ νατιβε λανγυαγε ισ γρεεκ.

[PCaddicted]

Μυ νατιβε λανγυαγε ισ γρεεκ.
Greek?

[el_koraco]

No, but I have a degree in English. And German.

[Ric_NYC]

I experience something similar when I watch some films from Spain (not all of them, only a few where the pronunciation is very tight).
As for Portuguese, I can understand partially the brazilian Portuguese, but the portuguese from Portugal is very hard since, it's pronounced very tight with low emphasis on vowels (or so it seems to my ear) :)


They speak fast and skip some vowels...


The word "potato" in Brazil is: batata. In Portugal it is: b'tata.

:)

[koenn]

Greek?
yes,
but the post is actually English, transliterated to Greek characters

[koleoptero]

Μυ νατιβε λανγυαγε ισ γρεεκ.

Ιτ γούλντ χαβ μπην μορ φαν ιφ γιου τζάστ τάιπ λάηκ γιού προνάουνς ιτ.

[TeoBigusGeekus]

Ιτ γούλντ χαβ μπην μορ φαν ιφ γιου τζάστ τάιπ λάηκ γιού προνάουνς ιτ.

I know, but I gave english speakers a chance to understand it.
Ah, well...

[TeoBigusGeekus]

Greek?


Μυ νατιβε λανγυαγε ισ γρεεκ.
My native language is greek.

[coffeecat]

Are you a native English speaker or a native speaker of English?
English speakers vs. speakers of English.

No, but the latter sounds kind of funny to me.

Could a native speaker point out if there is anything odd about that phrasing?

As a native of England, of (mostly) English ancestry, I'll try to rise to the challenge.

Interesting one. I believe they are both correct, but if I were to make a choice I would say that "native speaker of English" is the better usage. Even if it sounds funny in Finland! :wink:

My reason? The first is ambiguous, since it could be taken to mean a native speaker who happens to be English (nationality), rather than a native speaker of the English language. It's all down to timing:

"native-English...... speaker" = a native of England who speaks English.
"native..... English-speaker" = a native speaker of English.

There you are - "native speaker of English" is unambiguous. That's what I'll vote for. :)

[odiseo77]

They speak fast and skip some vowels...


The word "potato" in Brazil is: batata. In Portugal it is: b'tata.

:)

Yes, that's the perception I have, too :)

[Thewhistlingwind]

Yes.

US here.

[Quadunit404]

Yes, I have spoken English all throughout my life.

[ibrrfarr]

Yup, I speak the English. However, I guess here in Tennessee it would qualify as hillbilly! :)

[Linuxratty]

English. I wish I was bilingual ,but alas,I'm not. C'est la vie.

[dearingj]

US of A here, and I agree with coffeecat that "native speaker of English" is less ambiguous than "native English speaker".

[angry_johnnie]

nope. Spanish.

[ilovelinux33467]

Yes I'm a native speaker of english.

[Macskeeball]

As I sit here, my eyes gaze upon the question you have set before me and, once again, the waterfall of my sorrow begins to pour. Oh, woe is me, PCaddicted. Woe is me! For the very idea of a creature such as myself being able to decipher, interpret, and fluently articulate a language such as English is a concept I simply cannot fathom. Oh, the dreadful, dreadful, terrible truth! :cry: Oh, if only it were possible! What a world this would be.

Sí, señor. Mi lengua nativa es inglés y la hablo muy bien. :p

[pimentel28]

Nope. My native language is Portuguese.

It's my native language as well :D

[Khakilang]

Nope. English is my third language after Chinese and Malay.

[GWBouge]

Yes. And I still suck at it.

[LowSky]

Native Speaker here with a New York (state) accent.

[sanderd17]

Got a link to that song or some other sound bytes by any chance, would love to listen to the dialect.

If we had to communicate in our native tongues right now via writing you would get 99% of what I was typing. Most find our double negative comical though ;)

Last week, the surveillance on my exam was done by a South-African, and when he talked Dutch (or tried) we all sat there with a big smile, listening to his weird accent. I love the African language. But where the African language has no conjugations, in West-Flemish we even conjugate "yes" and "no". A little example:

Q: Are you going there?
A: yes WVL: joak
A: no WVL: nink

Q: Am I going there?
A: yes WVL:joag
A: no WVL: njig

Q: Is he going there?
A: yes WVL: joaj
A: no WVL: nij

Q: Are you (plural) going there?
A: yes WVL: jow
A: no WVL: niw

Q: Are we going there?
A: yes WVL: joag
A: no WVL: njig

Q: Are they going there?
A: yes WVL: joas
A: no WVL: nis

But that are not all the variants. We can put a "mo", or a "mo ba" in front of every "yes" or "no" to emphasize it. Like here, in another song of Flip Kowlier with the title "mobanin": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhcbI6WhSbI

We can off coarse speak Dutch, but not against family.

[FlameReaper]

Not a native speaker, however I've been grown to speak it.

My actual native language is Malay, though.

[Antarctica32]

I am a proud native speaker of american!

[lulled]

My native language is pt-BR (Brazilian Portuguese or just Portuguese if you think Brazil and Portugal speak the same language).

[skismy]

I am a proud native speaker of american!

:lolflag:

[Antarctica32]

:lolflag:

What can I say, it's nearly independence day!
God Bless America, long live freedom.