Spirituality
18 Aug 09
20 Aug 09
Originally posted by karoly aczelWhats wrong with Mandarin?
And English is definately the most likely candidate.
2. Meanings of words are changing and we need to have a BASIC agreement on what the meanings of some 'fundamental' words are.
Which is why we have dictionaries. We just mustn't get too hung up on sticking to the dictionary.
3. Some words shouldn't be translated because they are perfectly fine and retain a better meaning in their origonal language. Examples here could be 'dharma', karma', etc. (feel free to add to this list,I would be most interested)
Such words are absorbed rather than translated and if you want an exhaustive list you will find that it includes most of the English language.
20 Aug 09
Originally posted by Bosse de NageWell if your aim was to make Christians look like hypocrites then it has failed, as it is clear that they generally do not use the given definition of the word 'occult', and those that do would not mind it being used for them.
That is partly the light-hearted point of this thread, yes. I'd prefer to say it's about rehabilitating the word 'occult' by putting its usage into perspective.
The point of the post preceding your post that made me despair was simply to point out practices in mainstream religion that clearly fall under the specialised (Christian) meaning of 'occult'.
Or rather practices that other Christians claim that their fellow Christians practice. I doubt you will find anyone claiming to be both a Christian and communicating with the devil.
Bad mouthing each other is not unusual amongst Christians.
I haven't invented any definitions.
I didn't mean to imply that you did. I was merely pointing out that it is perfectly feasible to do so and that once done, we should not be afraid of a word simply because of its history. However we may still choose to avoid it because of the potential for misunderstanding created by its historic usage. I remember on an Oprah show, someone telling Oprah that it is OK to use the word niggaz so long as you spell it differently indicating that it is being used in fun, but Oprah said she never wanted to hear the word for any reason whatsoever - because of its history.
20 Aug 09
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Originally posted by FabianFnasI wouldn't know how to go about evaluating what is a good language. I guess it would depend on your needs. One advantage of English is that due to its worldwide use it has acquired many words from other languages giving it one of the largest vocabularies. But I am sure that any other language could easily do the same if required.
English is not the best language there is. I rather use Esperanto or any language that is well defined. English is not.
Mandarin has the disadvantage that it has problems when it come to writing it down. There is no perfect way of writing it using our alphabet characters and learning Chinese characters is a major undertaking.
However mandarin is much more compact than English which I guess is an advantage.
20 Aug 09
Originally posted by twhiteheadMandarin might be the most popular language, I'm not sure. English is probably the most popular second language and because of its proliferation in the 'free world',(through pop culture,etc.), it has postioned itself to become our world language. For example I come from Hungary and learning English there is all the rage. No one wants to learn Mandarin.
Whats wrong with Mandarin?
[b]2. Meanings of words are changing and we need to have a BASIC agreement on what the meanings of some 'fundamental' words are.
Which is why we have dictionaries. We just mustn't get too hung up on sticking to the dictionary.
3. Some words shouldn't be translated because they are perfectly fine and retain a bet ...[text shortened]... you want an exhaustive list you will find that it includes most of the English language.
20 Aug 09
Originally posted by FabianFnasI agree English is not the best language but we might just have to cut our losses and go with what we know. (you got to remember the average intelligence of the rest of the world is probably lower than that of the RHP community).
English is not the best language there is. I rather use Esperanto or any language that is well defined. English is not.
The influence of popular culture through music and film has undoubtedly tipped the scales in the favour of English.
But hey, If someone told me to learn Esperanto or Mandarin as our new world language, I would do it.
20 Aug 09
Originally posted by twhiteheadNo, my aim was not 'to make Christians look like hypocrites'. If I gave that impression, blame the coffee. I just thought I'd let an irony run its course, which I think it has done.
Well if your aim was to make Christians look like hypocrites then it has failed, as it is clear that they generally do not use the given definition of the word 'occult', and those that do would not mind it being used for them.
21 Aug 09
Well if your aim was to make Christians look like hypocrites then it has failed, as it is clear that they generally do not use the given definition of the word 'occult', and those that do would not mind it being used for them.I do, I as a Christian got nothing to hide, everybody should know about it, it would be selfish to keep it to ourselves
21 Aug 09
Originally posted by karoly aczelWell Hungary is obviously closer to the main centres of English than to the main centre of Mandarin. The Prime Minister of Australia however chose to learn Mandarin despite coming from an English speaking country.
Mandarin might be the most popular language, I'm not sure. English is probably the most popular second language and because of its proliferation in the 'free world',(through pop culture,etc.), it has postioned itself to become our world language. For example I come from Hungary and learning English there is all the rage. No one wants to learn Mandarin.
English has spread for many reasons including pop culture, news sources, science, computers(and the internet), centres of education etc. But then again, my sister-in-law went to university in Cuba and learnt Spanish.
As China starts to become more of a super power and as the Chinese become wealthier and start to travel more, Mandarin will start to spread. Now if they stopped printing English instructions on all their products we would all be forced to learn Mandarin 🙂
Actually, half the products I buy these days have instructions in Mandarin translated word for word into English making them uninteligible.
Anyway. I'm playing it safe and learning Mandarin.
21 Aug 09
Originally posted by Bosse de NageMan, no kidding. I'm trying to learn Mandarin from Living Language software. It claims you can learn Mandarin in "4 simple steps". But I am not finding them so simple.
Have you got a teacher? Mandarin seems to be one of those languages you don't learn from a handy audio course.
21 Aug 09
Originally posted by LemonJelloI'm learning Hebrew at the moment. Definitely more challenging than any others I've encountered, but still, I can communicate somewhat after a few lessons. That tonal stuff, though, is frankly daunting. But there's a nice big Chinese family down the road from me, so I'm tempted. At the same time, there are a lot of Koreans around, too, and I admire the logic at work in the Korean alphabet. Should North & South Korea succeed in combining, watch out China, I say.
Man, no kidding. I'm trying to learn Mandarin from Living Language software. It claims you can learn Mandarin in "4 simple steps". But I am not finding them so simple.
21 Aug 09
Originally posted by Bosse de NageNo, I don't have a teacher and it is certainly far from easy. I have been using a variety of sources on the internet and am progressing very slowly.
Have you got a teacher? Mandarin seems to be one of those languages you don't learn from a handy audio course.
Maybe when I feel confident enough to have a very very basic conversation I will go and try it out with someone in one of the Chinese shops.
21 Aug 09
Originally posted by Bosse de NageI watched a Korean movie recently and it sounded very Indian to me (certainly more Indian than Chinese or Japanese.)
I'm learning Hebrew at the moment. Definitely more challenging than any others I've encountered, but still, I can communicate somewhat after a few lessons. That tonal stuff, though, is frankly daunting. But there's a nice big Chinese family down the road from me, so I'm tempted. At the same time, there are a lot of Koreans around, too, and I admire th ...[text shortened]... he Korean alphabet. Should North & South Korea succeed in combining, watch out China, I say.
21 Aug 09
One of the biggest problems I am having is that most of the tv series I have been able to obtain are either Taiwanese or from Hong Kong and
have the lyrics in Traditional characters or Hong Kong characters both of which are different from what I want to learn which is the mainland simplified characters.