(no subject)
May. 25th, 2010 07:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randomnessOne of the amusing ways I have come up with to think about what one might call language environments is to think of them as subtitled films. The language environment as I think of it includes both actual printed signs as well as conversations.
In that framework, I offer this progression:
United States:
English, with Spanish subtitles in specific areas.
Singapore:
English, with Chinese subtitles. Occasional Malay and Tamil subtitles, but you should not rely on them.
Hong Kong:
Chinese, with English subtitles which are generally spot on.
China:
Chinese, with intermittent English subtitles of varying factual and/or grammatical accuracy. As you travel away from the big international cities these subtitles gradually fade out until in the countryside, all you get is Chinese.
Some other places, for comparison:
Anglophone Canada:
English, with French subtitles.
New Brunswick province:
English, with even more French subtitles.
Quebec:
French, with English subtitles.
South Africa:
English, with Afrikaans subtitles. Subtitles in IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana, and the other four official languages are very intermittent and should probably not be relied on.
Western Europe:
local language with fairly consistent English subtitles.
Malaysia:
Malay, with English subtitles.
Thailand:
Thai, with English subtitles.
etc.
This is a framework I've come up with because it amuses me, not because I take it particularly seriously.
In that framework, I offer this progression:
United States:
English, with Spanish subtitles in specific areas.
Singapore:
English, with Chinese subtitles. Occasional Malay and Tamil subtitles, but you should not rely on them.
Hong Kong:
Chinese, with English subtitles which are generally spot on.
China:
Chinese, with intermittent English subtitles of varying factual and/or grammatical accuracy. As you travel away from the big international cities these subtitles gradually fade out until in the countryside, all you get is Chinese.
Some other places, for comparison:
Anglophone Canada:
English, with French subtitles.
New Brunswick province:
English, with even more French subtitles.
Quebec:
French, with English subtitles.
South Africa:
English, with Afrikaans subtitles. Subtitles in IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sesotho, Setswana, and the other four official languages are very intermittent and should probably not be relied on.
Western Europe:
local language with fairly consistent English subtitles.
Malaysia:
Malay, with English subtitles.
Thailand:
Thai, with English subtitles.
etc.
This is a framework I've come up with because it amuses me, not because I take it particularly seriously.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-25 06:03 pm (UTC)English with Icelandic subtitles
Glasgow:
Glaswegian with English subtitles
(I had an easier time understanding the locals in Iceland than Glasgow)