Hello Alain,
after your explanation I dont know what we should discuss now. Did you
expect such a reaction from all the friends in this list? They all like
to tell their experiences to each
other. And once you read them you can find a lot of interesting stories.
Stories that I have read in english.
Now think there would be one guy from Iran and this guy would say that
not english or french but farsi should be the real universal language.
Think that farsi is spoken in Iran,
Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, ... . What would be the difference
for you. I think it would make a big difference for you.
Let me say this to you, it is english because the past made it this way.
It could be also mongolian. What we have now is the result of our human
being history on this planet. And
as a side effect the world simplest language has been established. In a
way that is good for all english native speaking people. But that is not
important. And do you know why?
Let me explain it to you. You can even speak the same language with your
own countrymen and its possible that you really dont understand them.
So, it is not important what you say, but it is important what you mean.
The 'what you say' is our language (take english, french, ...), but the
'what you mean' is our brain our
soul our conversation our behaviour our stories and lots more. So the
language is only a simple tool like a car that you can use or not.
Now give me the answer why english, why french? Why not farsi?
By the way, I hope no one in this list has attacked you personally. Dont
be sad that french is not the universal language, it shares its fate
with all the other world languages. And
those will also survive.
For me its also interesting to discuss this issue from Quebec out, where
this territory is neither french nor english but originally from the
indian tribes in this area. What about their
languages? I dont go deeper in this discussion but we should all be
relaxed and respect each human being in his peaceful manner. Whats
better than to get wisdom. Wisdom you
receive by learning and even by learning a new language. I have great
respect for people who are willing to learn.
I wish you and all other a happy new year.
regards
Darya
Alain LaBontXX schrieb:
> À 13:19 2000-12-30 +0100, Darya Said-Akbari a écrit:
>
>> Bon jour Alain,
>>
>> I honestly had not the strength to read your whole email. [...]
>> Now it would be unfair from me when I would go into a deeper
>> discussion with you,
>> until I really understand what you mean. So please tell me in four
>> five sentences,
>> what you want to say.
>>
>> I promise you that I will not be unfair in our upcoming discussion.
>
>
> [Alain] The text, as I said many days ago, was not from me (and I was
> never able to know who was the actual author). I posted it because it
> was talling favourably about Unoicode, but it was also talking in bad
> terms about English while its message was to say that English was not
> the universal language that so many assume it to be. Perhaps -- and I
> agree -- the way to say that was not pedagogic nor diplomatic at all,
> but it indicated a frustration that is felt by many on the net --
> English also being seen explicitly or implicitly as an agressor by
> non-English speakers.
>
> I should perhaps not have posted it as I was perceived as the author
> (I had not indicated from day 1 that the text was not mine, and that
> is of course my fault). It is now almost established that the author
> was an English-speaking native or at least somebody who masters it
> almost perfectly, which is obviously not my case.
>
> In passing, here is a counter-example of an aggression against my
> language, French (now some will say it is normal, the site is in
> Canada):
>
> http://www.idiotdriveralert.com/
> « Important notice: The official language of this site is
> English/Anglais.
> Any posts or comments en francais will be deleted. Sorry. For further
> information, see the FAQ page. »
>
> I'm used to that kind of offensive statements against the use of my
> language or others. It is possible that the author does not even think
> it is offensive -- the FAQ is milder -- but it is explicitly offensive
> to me.
>
> Alain LaBonté
> Québec
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