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<b>L O W L A N D S - L - 15 September 2010 - Volume 04<br>
</b><a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="FR">lowlands.list@gmail.com</span></a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="FR">http://lowlands-l.net/</span></a><br>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: <span class="gd"><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Paul Finlow-Bates</span></span><span class="gi"> </span><span class="go"><<a href="mailto:wolf_thunder51@yahoo.co.uk">wolf_thunder51@yahoo.co.uk</a>></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Subject: <span class="gi">LL-L
"Language learning" 2010.09.15 (01) [EN]</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Too southern and Latiny for
me. Middelsprake, which was promoted by Igmar Roedinger, formerly of this
group, is more suitable for us Northern types.</p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Paul</p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: <span class="gd"><span style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);">Mike Morgan</span></span><span class="gi"> </span><span class="go"><<a href="mailto:mwmbombay@gmail.com">mwmbombay@gmail.com</a>></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Subject: <span class="gi">LL-L
"Language learning" 2010.09.15 (01) [EN]</span></p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">In "response" to
Paul's suggestion of Dutch and James' counter (wist/hful) suggestion of
Esperanto as "foot-in-the-door ((feet-in the door??) languages", it
all depends which door you are trying to get your feet into.<br>
<br>
If "we" are trying to get in touch with our Germanic/Lowlandic roots,
then obviously Dutch (or Flemish ... or maybe Frysk) is a good choice;
certainly felt to be "easier" at all levels than German by most
English learners ... though if "easiness" is our criteria maybe
Afrikaans might be a better candidate (certainly less inflectional morphology
than Dutch) ... esp. considering it has acquired a few more English-like
grammatical features than Dutch. (If we practice our reading with the newspaper
"Volkskrant" -- which is what I broke my teeth on--, which my
professor and mentor CH van Schooneveld described as being written in English
syntax with Dutch words, then maybe the task of learning Dutch would be even
easier)<br>
<br>
On the other hand, as English has a significant Romance component in its
vocabulary (though a less significant grammatical component), Esperanto (which
is clearly not neutral but rather Romance-biased in ITS vocabulary) might be a
logical choice. It certainly has a "simple" grammar (though any
glance at a modern 600-page comprehensive grammar of Esperanto will show that
it no longer has "just 16" grammar rules). <br>
<br>
But, on both counts Papiamentu would be a good choice, as it has a significant
Dutch component as well, and as oppsoed to Esperanto at least it has more
native speakers and an actual culture (cuisine included).<br>
<br>
IF the English speaker is American, then the door to the biggest (and closest)
prize would have to be Spanish, which (at least until one "hits"
imperfect subjunctives!) is not overwhelming to the English-speaking learner.</p>
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mwm || U C > || Mike Morgan<br>
===============================<br>
linguist temporarily at large<br>
soon(?) @ IGNOU-UCLan New Delhi, India<br>
... sometime in THIS incarnation anyway<br>
... inshallah</p>
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