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Post by wenxina on Mar 14, 2009 12:54:58 GMT -5
Look... why is it a big deal that a little Italian girl speaks English? Most kids now speak way better English then their predecessors a generation ago. I learned English as a first language, and hey, foreign. She probably had a heavy accent, which is hard to tell when you read it, and not hear it. You'd imagine that Buffy's probably pretty good at picking out words even when spoken with a heavy accent, since Rowena and Leah apparently still speak with their native accents.
But if you really want credit for pointing this out first, fine, I'll confirm your claim that you were the first.
I just didn't see much of it to care. The English spoken was rudimentary.
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Mathieu
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Post by Mathieu on Mar 14, 2009 13:22:43 GMT -5
Look... why is it a big deal that a little Italian girl speaks English? Most kids now speak way better English then their predecessors a generation ago. I learned English as a first language, and hey, foreign. She probably had a heavy accent, which is hard to tell when you read it, and not hear it. You'd imagine that Buffy's probably pretty good at picking out words even when spoken with a heavy accent, since Rowena and Leah apparently still speak with their native accents. But if you really want credit for pointing this out first, fine, I'll confirm your claim that you were the first. I just didn't see much of it to care. The English spoken was rudimentary. ?? Ok, all I want is bonus points for pointing this out first I guess. Now that you made it official we can move on. Wow I feel much better. No, seriously, what strikes me is that I am the only one who was annoyed by this detail. Am I the only one here who didn't learn English as a first language?? I think it's funny that you guys would assume that kids in foreign countries are fluent in English. Again, I grew up in France and I didn't start learning English until I was ten. So I'm aware that now kids start learning foreign languages right when they start going to elementary school and stuff but the only thing they know by the time they get to middle school is basic vocabulary and a few verbs such as "to be" and "to have". By no means would they be able to speak fluently, using perfect grammar, no matter how rudimentary their English is, even by the time they graduate from High School. At least not in countries like France, Spain or Italy where, let's face it, languages are not their strong asset. Germany and Netherlands might be a different story but I don't know those countries too well. So yeah, basically it amuses me that people can consider it's perfectly plausible that a 5 year old Italian girl from a small island can speak flawless English with a random stranger, considering that her level would be considered outstanding in Italy if she was, let's say, in 12th grade. |
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Post by wenxina on Mar 14, 2009 14:44:06 GMT -5
I guess we are colored by our own experiences. I'll admit that my upbringing wasn't entirely typical, but even those who didn't pick up English as a first language had to start in the first grade (what's that... seven, or so?). But to me, it's not entirely implausible that a little girl can speak fluent English. For all we know, she was brought up in a missionary school system, and they probably beat English into their skulls.  PS: Karma was added as an indication of credit... how capitalistic of me.  |
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Mathieu
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Post by Mathieu on Mar 14, 2009 16:24:03 GMT -5
You gave me karma?? Man, I really appreciate it!! It must be the first time I've ever gotten karma around here!! Maybe I shouldn't say that, it sounds really bad like I must be a bully or something. Anyway thanks. Capitalism rocks.
And of course we both base our arguments on our respective experiences. Coming from France originally, I can tell you for a fact that kids in Europe (besides the UK) are usually not able to come up with a correct sentence in English unless their own parents speak English at home. So it really struck me to see the little girl be fluent in English. I thought "wow, someone really did her homework and must have had private classes on the side!!".
Where were you brought up initially if I may ask? What did you mean when you said you learned English as both your first language and a foreign language in your previous post?
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Post by wenxina on Mar 14, 2009 16:37:35 GMT -5
I was born and raised in Malaysia. Although of Chinese descent (methinks somewhere in the southern region, but I can't be sure), my parents were horrible about communicating with me in the "mother tongue", and so instead of taking the more usual route of learning that language first, and English second, I learned English as a first language. Officially, I can't claim it to be my first language, because the national language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian Language), which is very similar to Indonesian. But it's the only language that I speak/write fluently, which in retrospect, I do kinda regret. But spilt milk and all that jazz. And that's a major tangent on my part. |
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Mathieu
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Post by Mathieu on Mar 14, 2009 16:47:23 GMT -5
Wow, that's really interesting! But you do understand Malaysian if somebody from Malaysia talks to you right? Why were your parents that bad at communicating with you in Malaysian? Do you mean they tried to teach you English instead?
Sorry for all the questions but that's something I am really interested in. Languages... and the human brain! How it all works. Even myself I sometimes come to a point where I lose some of my French after spending too much time away from the "mother country".
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Post by wenxina on Mar 14, 2009 17:01:08 GMT -5
I can still read and speak Malaysian, but I was never as fluent in it as I was in English. And I only ever learned Malaysian in school, since all my classes were conducted in Malaysian, except for English, which was conducted in well, English.
My parents were horrible at teaching me the Chinese dialect which is my "mother tongue". We NEVER spoke Malaysian at home. lol. Never spoke that Chinese dialect either, except for the occasional exchange between my parents. I have a very rudimentary vocabulary in that dialect. But for the most part, we communicated in English. And that kinda influenced my social sphere as well, since most of my closer friends had similar upbringings.
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Mathieu
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Post by Mathieu on Mar 14, 2009 17:09:01 GMT -5
You are a very special case indeed. I might know more Chinese than you do then!! I've been taking classes for four years now. But I'm not that good, even though I do enjoy the process of learning a totally different language. I feel like there's no way I will ever speak Chinese fluently no matter how hard I try. Unlike English that I'm now fluent in and Spanish that I can actually speak pretty well too. But these languages all belong to the indo-european language family.
Maybe the little Italian girl was brought up in Italy by English speaking parents and she learned English at home while having regular Italian classes at school. Or else maybe her parents are Italian but can afford to have her go to a private American school or something. Now everything starts to make sense.
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Nicholas
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Post by Nicholas on Mar 17, 2009 14:28:15 GMT -5
Many people I know who are from different countries know how to speak English as well simply because they were taught it in school over there as a secondary language as it is here for Spanish/French.
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Mathieu
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Post by Mathieu on Mar 17, 2009 16:55:56 GMT -5
Many people I know who are from different countries know how to speak English as well simply because they were taught it in school over there as a secondary language as it is here for Spanish/French. I guess you're talking about international students. I seriously doubt the 5 year old girl from the comic has gotten a chance to go on one of those exchange student programs yet. :-p |
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Post by henzINNIT on Mar 18, 2009 15:53:31 GMT -5
I don't think I finished this issue at any point... I was really uninterested for some reason. Roll on Faith and Giles!
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Mush
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Post by Mush on Mar 21, 2009 16:19:24 GMT -5
I got this yesterday. Argh hate that I get it 10 days after release but it's because i live in sweden and the comics are imported.
I'll have to say this was the best issue so far! It was structured like the tv series and it also felt longer than any other issue.
Andrew! So frackin' funny, and the part where they both talked about Daniel craig was hilarious.
The fight, ah Buffy kicks ass =D
But no twilight. that and the spider demon was a dissapointment. Otherwiste, superz!
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Nicholas
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Post by Nicholas on Mar 22, 2009 22:40:43 GMT -5
I as well thought that the comic had ALOT of dialogue in it which I think really benefitted it highly.
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Post by Tyler Austin "tiewashere" on Mar 24, 2009 21:54:30 GMT -5
This is the only stand-alone comic I could see as a full length episode based on length. It might have something to do with Andrew's monologues.
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Nicholas
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Post by Nicholas on Mar 26, 2009 22:55:18 GMT -5
Exactly. I feel that if the rest of the issues could have just as much dialouge in them, they will be able to express so much more emotion and character development.
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darthrosenberg9
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Post by darthrosenberg9 on Mar 30, 2009 23:49:48 GMT -5
I did thoroughly enjoy this issue for all of the Andrewy goodness. He's been somewhat mistreated this season. Surprisingly, he and Buffy had a great rapport. I'm still impressed by how well they were written together. Without giving up faith, I never really had high expectations for this issue (only because it sounded so gimmicky), but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope we see more of their dynamic in the rest of this season. I'm finally starting to feel like Andrew is one of the Scoobies---which, of course, probably means that he's going to die soon.
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Post by AndrewCrossett on Apr 15, 2009 12:08:40 GMT -5
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Post by Rebecca on Apr 15, 2009 13:08:18 GMT -5
That is really excellent news!
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Saturn 5
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Post by Saturn 5 on Apr 20, 2009 14:20:09 GMT -5
:moody:
Buffy 23
Not that interesting. Liked the Andrew stuff. I note that he's got a poster for Dr No on his wall, obviously come around to Warren's argument?
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Saturn 5
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Post by Saturn 5 on Apr 20, 2009 14:21:26 GMT -5
Buffy 24
Nice to see Faith and Giles together, nice to see her with the daddy she always wanted and this time he's a good guy. Like Courtney too, her fantasy about her parents getting back together is very Buffy. Faith meanwhile has had a remarkable rehabilitation, feeling guilt about the vamp she missed. Boy, no wonder the Watcher's failed when they have idiots like the Watcher who sacrifices Slayers to the demon in charge. He gets what he deserves.
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