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Post by MartinM on Feb 2, 2010 15:52:56 GMT 1
I thought this might be interesting The answers are in no particular order. My first attempt at a poll, just a bit of fun
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Post by Madgolfer on Feb 2, 2010 16:13:11 GMT 1
Nice poll Martin, my answers were;
I employ a translator Essential for anything legal or important.
people are surprised when they hear you speak People just laugh when they hear me speak
I'm too old to learn It does get so much harder when you have not been in school for over 30 years!
I get by, just So many Croatians speak English it is easy to be lazy!
it's too complicated, so I don't bother The grammar certainly is, but if you SHOUT your words really, really loud they all understand English in the end. ;D
If there was a catagory for "I am just really stupid and bad at languages" I would have voted there.
Just have some fun with it, be prepared to make a complete arse of yourself and it's worth it in the end. ;D
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Post by gmh on Feb 2, 2010 19:45:15 GMT 1
No precise category for me there either. I would say that I understand it fairly well, I speak it poorly and slowly, I can read and understand it ok. I don't often have to write it, and to be honest I don't often have to speak it either. People sometimes compliment me on my speaking, but they are just encouraging me I guess. I have a crap memory for details, and that certainly doesn't help with learning Croatian because there are a lot of details. Basically I'm lazy. I probably could be speaking fluently by now had i put in more effort. I blame my wife for not helping me learn Croatian, and for speaking perfect English !! Sometimes it's very handy to say you don't understand though.
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Post by gobrea on Feb 11, 2010 14:53:32 GMT 1
Everything gmh has said goes for me, I blame the misses also! and of course not being fluent has its advantages
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Post by ray51 on Feb 13, 2010 21:34:04 GMT 1
A ( recently departed ) U.K. ambassador got to do it : really well , mefinkz ! His name escapes me but , nonetheless : Congrat's , old chap ! As for the rest : no point blaming the innocents , the language is indeed very difficult to western ear/eye/logic . Many other ( and greater ) nations went through this e.g. who'd seriously consider perfection in Dutch , Danish , Czech , Magyar ? We live in a different world today ( and the ever-imploding one ) , cheers !
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Post by MartinM on Feb 13, 2010 22:03:44 GMT 1
ray51 - may I be so bold as to furnish you with the name, of which you seem to be bereft, of the aforementioned ex-ambassador of the United Kingdom to the implied republic, of wherein many posters of this forum abide?
If so then the person's name in question is Sir John Ramsden.
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Post by crocanuck on Apr 24, 2010 0:05:56 GMT 1
I speak a little but am shy to use it in public. Most of the time when I am in Croatia and I try speaking Croatian to someone (especially if they are under 30), they just answer me in English. Sometimes I ask them to humour me and allow me to speak Croatian because I need the practice, but I find most people don't have the patience for it and just get annoyed.
Occasionally though, people will be impressed and I'll get a sarcastic "bravo!" or something like that..lol.
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Post by 3lions on Apr 24, 2010 9:11:15 GMT 1
I know just enough to know when people are making derogatory comments about me!
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Post by ray51 on May 4, 2010 11:39:39 GMT 1
ray51 - may I be so bold as to furnish you with the name, of which you seem to be bereft, of the aforementioned ex-ambassador of the United Kingdom to the implied republic, of wherein many posters of this forum abide? If so then the person's name in question is Sir John Ramsden. Thanks ! His name escaped my memory ( as do so many others , these days ) ; but he spoke Croatian really well , amaazing for a Brit-gent of his age . Brilliant ! Any ideas as to where he may have gone to ?
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Post by crojoe on May 4, 2010 11:59:26 GMT 1
Sir John Ramsden
Career Extensive and varied experience in corporate finance, HM Treasury and UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with a long record of negotiating with foreign governments in the EU, UN and in Central Europe/Balkans
As FCO European Political Correspondent responsible for all UK foreign policy coordination in the EU, then moved to HM Treasury. Between postings to Berlin and the UN in Geneva led the FCO Information team in London
Closely involved in policy of EU and NATO enlargement
As British Ambassador to Croatia dealt with difficult issues of post-war reconciliation
Left the FCO in 2008 to start a new career as Mediator and consultant
Chairs Advisory Board of Anglo-Croatian hotel chain GSHR (900+ staff) and lectures on EU issues
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Post by siriwan on May 4, 2010 13:50:10 GMT 1
I speak ok, not 100% yet but slowly getting there in some distant future, lol! I should start reading more in Croatian, that would surely help a lot with vocab, etc. My grammar is somewhere in the middle, not great, not too bad, and I sure don't worry about it much - it comes when it comes. So far so good, after 1 year of "boravak" here...
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Post by Ribaric on May 4, 2010 14:01:45 GMT 1
I had the advantage of a year of evening classes before I came here. I didn't speak so well but I understood enough the grammar to be able construct sentences from core words without needing to learn each variant. Of course, 100,000 exceptions catch me out but I can say pretty much anything now.
I do find the newspapers write in a form which leaves me stumped and I don't understand conversations between locals. I'm not too concerned about that because the small loud person of my acquaintance studied English throughout high school and university and speaks it beautifully - but when I get wiv me mates back in the smoke she ain't got a dog's chance innit.
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Post by siriwan on May 4, 2010 21:07:14 GMT 1
I looked around for evening classes etc. but all I found was Berlitz' courses at 3000 euros a week, lol! Right, Croatian is a rare language... :-)) So I do lack basic grammar sometimes, and I feel the need for a proper "course", not just the bits and pieces I gathered on the net, in small travel books, etc. But I'll get there... :-)
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