Thank you for visiting. For now, Putin is begrudgingly playing along and propping up Lukashenko because he’d rather manage the Belarusian’s gradual downfall than have him toppled by a popular uprising. Actually there is some suspicion that the Merkel family was well connected in East Germany. As a matter of fact all these states allocating undisclosed money to religious schools need to be reigned in and that money needs to go to improving our teachers and their wages. I am, as ever, impressed with the company I keep on DU... " know we don't have a need for being multilingual..." < I don't know about that. It blew us away. Speaking at a meeting of his Security Council, Putin said that “it would be extremely sad if the treaty ceases to exist without being replaced by another fundamental document of the kind.” "I also thank you for the invitation", Putin answered in German. and 2 years of Spanish because 4 years of foreign languages was...REQUIRED! What are your proposals?”. think I recall that mentioned several years ago, and forgotten it. I agree...I think it's atrocious young children aren't required to, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116852/merkel-was-right-putins-lost-his-mind-press-conference, http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1017&pid=178804, http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-germany-usa-idUSBRE99S0XL20131029, https://pmatep5f7b.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ProdStage. Yes - but in my observation of American's interpretation. Trump, Putin and Macron call for immediate ceasefire in Karabakh but Turkey's Erdogan demands 'full Armenian withdrawal' Presidents of America, Russia and France called for a return to negotiations It would be if each of our states all spoke different languages...we'd learn to speak a few ourselves if we ever wanted to travel. And we were bi-lingual from childhood, then had French for five years. DUH! the lingual transition pattern is well known among linguists. It is the children of those pidgin speakers who apply grammatical rules and either learn the new language or develop/create what would be known as a new language (creole) complete with structure and grammar. It’s widely known that Putin honed his German skills while serving as an intelligence officer from 1984 to 1990 in the city of Dresden when it was part of the former German Democratic Republic. It does help to know English by knowing its origins. I speak 3 languages and also had 7 years of Latin and Ancient Greek.. You know, I think we finally found our Putin fan. Sadly we are all military and capitalism at any cost. So now she is interested in taking French in college and will probably be paying more attention to politics too. English-speakers mostly don't need to learn another language. Putin had arrived in Dresden in the mid-1980s for his first foreign posting as a KGB agent. Putin diffused a seemingly tense moment with one quick comment in German when the president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Christoph Leitl, started talking about Ukraine and Crimea. And they know more about US politics than I do! They also see us as quite nationalistic, to the point of being silly enough to shoot ourselves in the foot (Defense spending vs Social programs). As Leitl had to pause as the other businessmen giggled, Putin also joked that he was “afraid” to hear what other proposals he might have. I think Putin is nothing but a Russian Bush. Most schools around my area did not even offer foreign languages before high school, and when you got to high school, you had French or Spanish to choose from. "In Sunday's New York Times, Peter Baker reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had tried talking some sense into Vladimir Putin. Journalists were in for a treat at a 2013 briefing in Hannover following talks between Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel when Putin unexpectedly came to Merkel’s rescue after she couldn’t comprehend a question posed by a Russian reporter. The best public school systems in the US still offer, We confuse "ignorant isolationism" and "American Exceptionalism". Nothing like the experience of travel to make one realize you need to broaden your horizons. As of 2019, almost half of Russians (45%) felt ashamed over the collapse of the Soviet Union. After stating that Russia always saw Germany as one of the most important centers of European culture, Putin switched from his native Russian to the “language of Goethe, of Schiller, and of Kant.” No need to say that his address was met with a standing ovation on behalf of the startled parliamentarians. My German is horribly rusty at best but I was able to survive in Koln for a bit (mainly through kind, English speaking Germans). I think making kids learn another language fluently and the culture it comes from would do a lot to lessen the racism in this country. Lol, it was good in a way because I learned a few phrases in a very short time. Lol, I HAD Latin for a few years, wouldn't say I studied it because I was not very good at studying. Putin, speaking at the German government’s Meseburg castle, said such a move had to make sense from a business perspective. The moment was captured on video during the presser. how much more connected one feels when there is a grasp of that language connects us. With an eight grade girl in Finland...who I think wanted a chance to practice her English...and it was impecable...and I ask her about it and she said it was mandatory part of school...as well as other languages. Speaking in German, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen for the invitation to Salzburg next year at a press conference in Sochi. The country and the people are beautiful. The fifth guy must've been visiting. I grew up around Finnish and Lithuanian in my grandparents home and many of my childhood neighbors spoke French, Spanish (Castillian), German and Polish. Putin did not hesitate to employ his newly-acquired skills to garner international support for Russia’s bids to host major sport events. The holdup was due to a technical issue with the simultaneous translation. Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you, Russian President Vladimir Putin © Alexander Zemlianichenko. Russian and Soviet power have long been based on waging disinformation wars. The extent to which Russia plays this game in an ever more obtrusive and simultaneously nefarious fashion has recently been exposed. I took 2 years of Latin in high school in the late '50s. I'm bilingual and I find I understand other cultures better because of it. Likewise the NeoCons spewing their wisdom on CNN, FOX, and Meet the Press. A good start would be requirement of a second language for graduation for all students and a third minor language. They also both expressed optimism about Ukraine’s new comedian-turned-president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Our lack of desire to explore this area speaks volumes. “In 1914, Mr. Putin, Ukraine was a part of Austria…” Leitl intriguingly started, only to be interrupted by the “confused” Russian leader, who wondered: “What does it mean? Thank you, I'll do that. Putin and Trump are the only heads of state — with the exception of some third world autocrats — not to accept the result of the U.S. election. It was good politics. Mr Putin was a KGB officer in Dresden up to and including December 1989, when the communist East German regime collapsed amid mass pro-democracy protests. Vladimir Putin saved KGB offices from East German looters . Almost all of Vladimir Putin's most significant moves during his past 20 (yes, it's twenty) years of rule are clearly reflected in the results of an annual poll run by Levada Center. Very interesting thread. Have you checked with John McCain lately? From what I've seen, That's right.. we can't know everything now.. it's all unfolding. For example, the French man answered the Italian in French, even though the Italian spoke in Italian. Russia has promised military aid, stated that a reserve force is at the ready should an intervention be required and announced there will be monthly joint military exercises in western Belarus. So those 2 have no need for translations, know exactly what the other said. Wealthy Northeast Yankee Republicans, both of them, Bush and DuPont. The US needs a major restructuring in education based upon principles similar to the Montessori system without the religion attached. They are very provincial in their thinking. Incidentally that is how Russia does it and I have met some amazing highly intelligent multilingual Russians. For now he's just a mean ol asshole who cracks down on Gays and Journalists in Russia. In an essay published Thursday evening in U.S. magazine The National Interest, Putin blames the Western powers for appeasing Nazi Germany and … We definitely do not invest enough in culture in general. But let's disregard Mexico, Central and South America for a moment and ask 'why are more Americans not proficient in Norwegian?'. Putin shows German skills as he unexpectedly steps in as translator at forum (VIDEO) https://t.co/eaPZUHEImRpic.twitter.com/alqpDANAB1. The first generation arrives with in a new land/country/culture with a foreign language, their children (often) devise a pidgin language which contains parts of the old language and the new one. Tea party is the epitome of American know-nothingness. have no proof, I suspect that if more of us knew some Chinese less of us would be looking for jobs, because we would have been paying more attention. We were encouraged to attempt translation like it was writing poetry. Definitely recommending your post. Thank you to Mira for kicking it off. While meeting with Austrian businessmen in Vienna in June of 2014, Putin demonstrated that he can easily use foreign languages to make witty comments. “In another world,” she said." It's one of the indicators that show the process of acclimation to culture. I still only speak English, tho. Shit or get up off the pot. However, Putin’s most famous try at German to date remains an epic 20-minute speech he delivered to the deputies of the Bundestag, Germany’s Parliament, in September of 2001. English words for Puten include turkey and turkey hen. Create new account | My Profile | My Account | My Bookmarks | My Inbox | Help | Log in, Back to top Alert abuse Link here All 5 spoke a different language, and none spoke in English. They all spoke in their own language. The Stasi is listening and it's all being recorded," warned her mother, according to one biography. He worked for the Soviet security services in Dresden in East Germany during the 1980s and used German on … New Zealand? Locally, Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools. ‘We can speak German’ Putin and Peru’s president decide what language to use at APEC (subtitles) NOVO-OGARYOVO, December 2. In 2013, the Russian President once again resorted to the modern lingua franca to personally appeal to the members of the International Exhibition Bureau as Russia competed to host Expo 2020. We may not agree with how that country's governing entities go about their business and some of it is pretty cruel in our eyes, but it helps to recall that there are some pretty dicey things we do in our country that others find wrong or offensive too. Western Europe stereotypically deals with countries. While I, Years ago we went to Switzerland. in Key West, FL back during the Cuban missile crisis and those folks could barely handle American English - I was from New England and had been around folks with a better grasp on the language and grammar. Jon Huntsman apparently speaks Mandarin Chinese and it probably cost him some GOP support. Putin diffused a seemingly tense moment with one quick comment in German when the president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Christoph Leitl, started talking about Ukraine and Crimea. Compare that with, say, Belgium, which has a French-speaking south and a Dutch-speaking north, or Germany which borders France and the Netherlands and Denmark and Poland and the Czech Republic ...Continental Europeans are more likely to be multilingual just because they're going to encounter more languages and need to be able to communicate in the regular course of things, especially if they live in border areas. Most native English-speakers live in areas which don't have a lot of overlap with other language regions, because of geography (the southern border of the US and Quebec being partial exceptions to that, as well as areas of the UK with Scots Gaelic and Welsh speakers); the UK? The German Democratic Republic or GDR - a communist state created out of the Soviet-occupied zone … I found out Switzerland has 4 national languages. a problem we americans make when trying to judge others by applying our values and norms as if there is no other set of values and norms in the world. The officers often prodded their polyglot troops into action by speaking English since it was more commonly understood than German. She gave a speech in London at EU Meeting last week and she gave the first part of her speech in German with a translator...but the last part of her speech was in English without a German accent ...more like she had a British teacher. As well as some non-base who might think French a stuffy language and culture. We need a rebirth...a renaissance of our own. Germany Putin and Schröder: A special German-Russian friendship under attack. Notably, while Russian is the Russia’s only official state language, there are some 37 ethnic minority languages that have official status locally. As President Putin was trying to lay out his opinion on the MH17 tragedy in Ukraine that the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) blamed on Russia, Wolf couldn’t help but constantly interrupt him in a bid to clarify his stance on the matter. ...by now. Four years Latin, French - 4 yrs high school, 3 yrs College. Merkel also speaks English...with a slight British accent. Try Boston and much of New England. /TASS/. Apparently, the interpreter simply repeated the word in his translation, as he didn’t know what it meant – so Putin stepped in and translated it to the delight of the locals. RT recalls five memorable episodes when Putin didn’t shun the opportunity to speak a foreign language in public. I loved Switzerland. If he can't use it to take your money, he becomes mute. Russia’s president also inadvertently surprised his English interpreter as he was speaking at the opening of Universiade in Kazan in July of 2013. An avid sportsman himself, he personally presented Sochi’s bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics to the International Olympic Committee in a 5-minute speech in English in 2007. But he would refuse to speak it on his presidential campaign trails, because he knew, I'm sure, that his base wouldn't be impressed with it. take a second language in school...they need to start young...most don't start until high school and that's really too late...it's young kids who grasp language quickly. And yet, nothing: because of what the OP is talking about this very interpretation of what Merkel actually said about Putin has been skewed for reasons of demonization... it happens a lot. but what about knowing where the components of English come from and why we spell certain words the way we do and why? This pattern is also an indication that teaching the children will subsequently educate three to four generations all in one concerted effort. Can you imagine NJ and NY speaking different languages? So Merkle knew what she was talking about when she said Putin "was not in touch with reality".. What part of "not in touch with reality" is so vague? I even rec'd it in the original OP it appeared in. and useful. Putin paid tribute to the Tatarstan Republic’s native culture by concluding his speech with the Tatar word “isänmesez” (“welcome”). Thursday’s incident at a St. Petersburg forum, which saw Putin casually translating for former State Secretary of the German Defense Ministry, Willy Wimmer, went viral, with the latter only half-jokingly suggesting that the Russian leader’s skills were worth including in the Guinness Book of World Records. © 2001 - 2020 Democratic Underground, LLC. THanks. Outside visiting the Vatican, I'm screwed! simply by calling DuPont by his real name, Pierre, during a nationally televised debate. Could be someone is trying to put out the idea that Putin is a crackpot... that's a dangerous assumption, imo. and 5 business men were having lunch at the table next to us. (Reuters) - When Angela Merkel was growing up in communist East Germany, she recalls her parents getting nervous whenever she talked for too long on the phone. Speaking on a possible date of a meeting between the aides to the Normandy Four (Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France) leaders, Peskov stressed that they would agree on a … The incident ended very goodheartedly, with no war of words ensuing. Find more German words at wordhippo.com! Hence the reason the world sees us as dumbed down and militaristic. No German, 'cause our neighbors speak Spanish. But of course I was educated in Europe... the person I responded to and not me. See post #40 & my reply #48... Those countries are so small and all their neighbors in all directions speaks a different launguage. He and his cohorts are apoplectic over Obama's "feckless foreign policy", his weakness, his appeasement. Four. I've always felt it important to learn other languages and to make music, for the sake of greater connectedness. Permalink, Last edited Tue Mar 4, 2014, 10:36 PM - Edit history (1), Response to wheniwasincongress (Reply #5), Last edited Wed Mar 5, 2014, 12:36 AM - Edit history (2), About | Copyright | Privacy | Terms of service | Contact. of that fact it is quite diluted in value. a wide range of other languages to students. an island country. Four years later, he celebrated Russia’s success in winning the right to host the 2016 Ice Hockey World Championships by giving a whole speech in English in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. I remember watching it on television, when Bush called him Pierre, you could hear the audience gasp. of Putin's actions.. from his brutal stance against Gays and Journalists who disagree with him.. or a Girl's Rock Band.. They spoke SIX languages! letting far-right neo-cons control his Foreign Policy. Really polished my writing skills. Don't discount all those from immigrant families. Speaking alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday, Putin said the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would not “close the door to shipping gas through Ukraine”. This website uses cookies. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed concerns over foreign meddling in the internal affairs of a number of countries. Although fluent in German, Putin still struggles with English and rarely speaks it publicly. When I went to Italy everyone there could speak English, but one very stubborn guy tole me 'you are in my country, you speak my language'. I had been trying to plant the idea in her head to take French (she's studied Spanish and Japanese) but she wasn't interested until she met these two young men. Come and say hi if you ever manage to return! #VIRAL: Pentagon studying #Putin's body language to predict his behavior http://t.co/ZYhX4ML8uy. That's some serious weirdness going on, if a person can't distinguish between Obama and the NeoCons. Although far less known, Russia’s President doesn’t shy away from publicly expressing himself in English either, despite the fact that he has only been learning the language for a few years amid his tight schedule as head of state. Officially, besides his native Russian, Putin speaks English and German—a language he used on a daily basis in his past career for the Soviet security … Being a native English speaker in the modern world is kind of like being a Roman in the 2nd century AD. It doesn't mean we think we're so important that we don't need to know anything but English...it just isn't necessary and hardly ever needed. She met two boys from Denmark the same age as her. If you were "lucky" some places offered Latin as well. I grew up with Spanish everywhere around me in the US. It is usually the children who teach new languages and cultural norms not only to their children but also to the generations before them (their parents and grandparents). I was taught French by a Belgian so I didn't learn the creole of Quebecois (Acadian). Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. Imperial measurement system is close second. It came in handy when living in a French chateau while avoiding the Viet Nam war. As the journalist paused, the Russian President successfully took up the role of fluent interpreter. At times I can also speak perfect nonsense. Even during the First World War in the forces of Austria-Hungary, There's a thread saying MERKEL tried talking Poot down & said he's out of contact with reality n/t, In Scandinavia, everyone is required to study English, starting in elementary school, Early in the internet years I had a correspondence. Australia? Oh well. I'm going to go with. This is still a fraction of 150 languages from over 14 language families that are known to be spoken in the vast multi-ethnic Eurasian country. Countries still using the measurement system based on the King's Foot: German is my second language, French and Spanish are also not unfamiliar, thanks to the Massachusetts upbringing. Speaking during an online meeting dedicated to inauguration of new hospitals for coronavirus patients built by Russian Defense Ministry, Putin said Russia has enough capacity to … And you didn't mention that many of us who may be first, second, or third generation Americans may also have relatives who speak the language of the country of rigin still. READ MORE: Putin dazzles with German skills as he unexpectedly steps in as translator at forum (VIDEO). K&R. Conclusion. Easier to scold the help in their native language, doncha know. I guess if we say 'Spanish does not count' then fewer Americans are bilingual? And if we did things like broadcast a second language in a small screen on the news like they do in Japan, we would learn things about other cultures that would benefit and profit all of us. "Hang up! Read RT Privacy policy to find out more. I mentioned something similar when it came to various countries' foreign policies: Disregarding Spanish while speaking of US languages in use is very odd. We've had our disagreements here, I know, but it felt stranger than usual to have a relative newcomer just blurting it out like that. All rights reserved. He's part alien!!! Yeah, I heard that reported several times, but I think we should not assume that report is accurate. While Putin has amazed the internet with an impromptu interpretation for a German politician in St. Petersburg, that is only one of many episodes when Russia’s president proved he could break any language barrier to convey a message or discharge tension. “In 1914, Mr. Putin, Ukraine was a part of Austria…” Style and tone is so important to the process. © Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 2005–2020. An island country (even if it is a continent). Sad. The Russian leader has an affinity for the Germans and Merkel especially: He served in the KGB in East Germany, where Merkel grew up. And everyone understood everyone. She said, Mom! which is part of the reason for the confusion of English spelling (it's a Germanic language with a strong Latinate/Romance component from the influence of Norman French). that students 100 and 200 years ago were taught latin, at a minimum, but also Greek was considered necessary for those who could afford higher learning. Americans who only speak English don't. I have always felt the Latin helped give me a command of English, where so many words have Latin roots. An island country. Besides his native Russian language and Englsih, Putin also speaks German. Putin and Macron indicated their advisers would hold further talks to explore the possibility of a four-party summit with Ukraine and Germany in what is known as the Normandy format, in the next few weeks, but neither hinted at a more tangible breakthrough in the conflict. Not that she didn't before, she's probably more politically astute than most of her classmates. Putin’s renowned wit, while often posing a challenge for interpreters, is not at all limited to Russian. just came back from a cruise with some friends. It was definitely an aside to you about her/him. All we can do is go by past. Most international business is conducted in English, English is taught in schools in Europe (I know a good many Germans who are quite fluent in written English, for instance, as well as Belgians and French and Dutch). We Americans should try to learn languages. even in Mexico we learned a second language, by law. My wife and I were having lunch.