> "The leading expert on the !Xóõ, Tony Traill, developed a lump on his larynx from learning to make their sounds".
I remember that when I began speaking English coloquially my maxilar muscles and tongue would get very tired. That was when I realized that English is way more oral than my native nasal Portuguese.
> A truly boggling language is one that requires English speakers to think about things they otherwise ignore entirely.
Portuguese and Spanish have 2 different verbs to entail the meaning of the verb "to be"; they are the verbs "ser" and "estar", with very different meanings. Depending on where and how you use it can mean very different things. E.g.: "estar" sick means that you have a temporary desease like stomach sickness, a cold or a flu; "ser" sick means that you either have an incurable genetic desease or you are a psycopath.
Also, when it comes to the grammar I totally agree: English grammar is a blessing, a wonder of simplicity. Portuguese and Spanish have lots of tenses for past and future, each with a different verb conjugation.
I remember that when I began speaking English coloquially my maxilar muscles and tongue would get very tired. That was when I realized that English is way more oral than my native nasal Portuguese.
> A truly boggling language is one that requires English speakers to think about things they otherwise ignore entirely.
Portuguese and Spanish have 2 different verbs to entail the meaning of the verb "to be"; they are the verbs "ser" and "estar", with very different meanings. Depending on where and how you use it can mean very different things. E.g.: "estar" sick means that you have a temporary desease like stomach sickness, a cold or a flu; "ser" sick means that you either have an incurable genetic desease or you are a psycopath.
Also, when it comes to the grammar I totally agree: English grammar is a blessing, a wonder of simplicity. Portuguese and Spanish have lots of tenses for past and future, each with a different verb conjugation.