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ORIGINAL: Beezle
English is really flexible. No real rules, not permanent ones anyway. So it keeps adapting and changing as either the world changes (with new technology words or careers) or the geography/culture chane (for example it went to Australia and became a language most other English Speakers can't understand at all. Something about surfing terms mixed in with how to cook seafood. And 400 words to describe a pint of beer).

That flexibility makes it irregular and hard to learn, but also gives it a power that is (one of) the things making it the, uh, "Lingua Franca" of the world.

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ORIGINAL: Tom Hunter

I was at a convention in Atlanta last fall talking to an Indian woman who was looking for tea. She explained she favored it over coffee because "the English ruled our country for 150 years." "Ours too" I said.

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should have been more specific about the Chinese

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ORIGINAL: Oleg Mastruko

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ORIGINAL: Mogami

Hi, Oleg I must have missed it or I would have posted it. What do you want?

This is the poll I had on mind, thanks:

Your policy regarding mods:

- I use only official 2by3 patches, no mods
- I use only graphical mods (maps, icons etc.) that do not affect the gameplay
- I use Andrew Brown map mod (and scenarios that go with it)
- I use one or more of the modded scenarios (Lemurs, Tanaka etc.) with modded OOBs, modded database etc. on regular game map
- I use (or plan to use) heavily modified stuff, like Lemurs scenario on Andrew Brown map

Vote and discuss.

Oleg

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ORIGINAL: Beezle
Chinese and English have gone the furthest along that path (becoming less declined).

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The main difficulty with English as I see it is the connection between pronounciation and spelling.

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ORIGINAL: tonyingesson
...
The grammar is quite easy, pretty similar to my own language in many cases since it's a Germanic language too.
...

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ORIGINAL: DeepSix

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ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

When visiting a ww2 site in France, I had a frenchman say to me, "You Americans don't understand what it's like to have a foreign power occupy your country."

To which I replied, "Suh! Mah country is still under occupation by a furrin' power!"

Of course, he had no clue as to what I was saying...

LOL. I agree.... Cain't lose what ain't over yet! [;)]

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ORIGINAL: 2ndACR

I can spell oil. That is close enough for me.[:D]

What do you expect from a lowly grunt redneck.

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ORIGINAL: tonyingesson

The main difficulty with English as I see it is the connection between pronounciation and spelling. I don't have any problems with it, but that's probably because I started learning English when I was 5-6 years old by watching English channels on the TV. Mandatory English education at our schools in Sweden starts at the age of 9 and continue until we're 19. I never found it difficult at all, I read my first novel in English when I was 13. The grammar is quite easy, pretty similar to my own language in many cases since it's a Germanic language too. Over here all students are expected to be able to read academic English when they start studying at the universities.

French on the other hand... easy to pronounce but I never learned to master the horrible grammars.

I'm not too fond of the "evolution" of languages though. Many of the nuances and the aesthetic qualities of many languages have been lost. Contemporary English and Swedish are nowhere near as beautiful as they were 100-150 years ago.