Soap Box Day Today

[Buddyboy]

I'll second the motion to stop mowing the yard. All in favor say aye?

[Wilma]

AYE?  The question mark is because I don't mow the yard.  My son-in-law does and I don't think I could persuade him not to.

[Wilma]

Gee, I forgot all about Fridays being soap box day.  Guess I have had too much to think about lately with Memorial Day, getting a new great grandbaby, and getting a garage sale ready.  Anyway, I don't have a soapbox today.  If I did have a soapbox, it would have to be the rain, but since nothing can be done about it, it doesn't do any good to voice an opinion on it.  And rain, rain, go away, doesn't work either. 

[Mom70x7]

Thanks for the reminder - I had forgotten.

My Soap Box today is people who shade the truth.

Or, at least, that's what they call it.

I like being able to trust what someone says.

Say what you mean.
Mean what you say.
Do what you say you will do.

And if you can't be honest, it's okay to NOT say anything!!!!!

It's similar to what I was taught as a child: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

If you can't be honest, don't say anything at all.

[Jody]

I don't mind the accent if the person is at least trying to speak English!  If you learn a language before the age of six {I think that is the age} you will speak the  language with  out an accent.  After six you  will have an accent.   Yes I know that you can take a lot of speach training  and get rid of accents.  I like to see them at least try.   But again we make it so easy to not even try.  It all has to do with our teeth and mouth developement.

[Teresa]

Accents don't bother me in the least. Everyone ...everywhere has an accent of some kind.
Whether they are from Minnesota or Mississippi, or New York .. or the foreign countries..
If they want to live in America.. I think that they should be able to speak English...and use it !
They will have an accent, but need to  "speak" the language.
But that goes both ways you know~~

If you are going to go to Europe or any foreign country (live there or visit for a period of time) we should abide by the same obligations.
Kjell gets a kick out the whole discussion about language (although he does agree about the issue about speaking English in the US.

He has an American friend working at the American Embassy in Oslo, Norway.
He has been working over there for over 20 years.
He still has a huge problem with the Norwegian language.

Kjell said he tried to teach him once the different European pronunciations of words with the letter R in it. ( R is a toughy)
He went through German, English (as in Oxford English), Irish, Norwegian and Swedish and it took his US friend half a bottle of Jack Daniels to get some of it straightened out. 

He has tried and tried and tried to get me to the point of even being able to say a few words correctly, but I'll be damned if I can get that weird sound to come off my tongue. They kind of roll the words off the back of the throat , and every time I say what I really think is the right way... he gets this screwed up look on his face and tries not to laugh.!

Seriously, he says it's  all about the courage to "sing the language or the accent". Every accent (US southern accent, the Italian, the Irish, the Norwegian, just to name a few) have their own song or rhythm. It is called intonation or variation of tone.
He hears different accents in people even in different parts of Kansas. I don't.. but he does.
And to try to teach him the 'slang' words that we use... Lordy, if that  hasn't been a challenge!

Have you all listened to foreign song artists and noticed that they sing better in English than talking it? I have..and I ask him about it..

Simply because the song.... the intonation, the tone comes first for a singer and it loosens up the native tone they are born and raised with.

So... if you decide to sing a language, you will partly or fully get rid of your native accent. Then again, it should not be necessary as long as they can make themselves understood.

Most people don't even know that Kjell is from Norway, because he doesn't have the typical Norwegian (talking American)  accent that all of his friends and family have. He has worked very hard on the English language since he was a wee lad in school.. and even got punished by the teacher once because he wasn't speaking English the "proper Oxford  way "  with the accent that that the English and London people used.
But then again... he can fluently  speak and understand 4 languages.

Better than me... I can only speak 2 languages... redneck and country and do both in English.. LOL 

[flo]

Teresa, this was very interesting.  Hope Kjell was not offended by some of the comments I made about speaking english.  Was not my intent.  Most interesting was the "singing" the language.  This goes along with a childhood girlfriend who stuttered very bad, just as Mel Tellis.  She could sing like an angel, tho.  And, of course, we all know Mel can sing a flawless song. 

[Teresa]

Kjell takes offense to very little. He is about the most patient easy going man I have ever been around. Not much ruffles his feathers. When it does, you will  know about it.
He is one of those .. Go IMMEDIATELY to the source and get it talked out!

He has lots of interesting things  to talk about on lots of different subjects. And my little world has been opened up to many different ways of doing things and looking at things.
( But so has his) 

[Mom70x7]

I know what you mean about the rhythm and singing of the language. My Jim can hear the different accents and used to be able to pinpoint which part of the country people came from. Even the eastern accents (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, etc.) he could hear as different.

And . . . the reason comedians are able to imitate other people is because they catch the rhythm of how that person talks, how they accent their words and where they put the emphasize in a sentence.

[Kjell H.]

No Flo, you or anyone else didn't offend me at all. Thanks for taking the time to ask though----appreciate the thoughtfulness

Teresa keeps nagging---.errr I mean asking me if I would post about things in Norway, but
---well for one, I haven't had any spare time to do much long writing, and 2, where do I start? 

If certain subjects come up I will try to give the Norwegian way of doing things, if it is different than here in America.
But I have no idea when..
But---
I WILL try!