I be ain't talkin' no whack english, boy

[Peegee]

Ebonics is (for some reason) considered a separate language altogether. However it (sort of) uses common english 'grammar' (I am hesitant to make this a claim; let's just say 'I tend to see it as using english grammar sometimes ). Anywho:

What is your opinion of ebonics?
What do you have to say about people who mix languages in their sentences? Does it bother you to schalten Sie plötzlich Sprachen tout en lisant une phrase ?

Ebonics implies an African origin. I prefer 'black english' which embraces other 'black' cultures, including haitian, jamaican, and other cultures. Some university courses actually teach black english (not to be confused with ebonics).

As for randomly switching languages, as long as I understand what it means, I have no problem with it. I try not to, but when I speak Chinese, I sometimes pause, think, and decide to finish the sentence in english. *sigh*

Also, since it's not technically a fallacy to speak random languages within a sentence/paragraph/etc, my only argument against switching languages for whatever reason is that it is unclear, or contributes to a sense of unclearfulness in expression.

[Nait]

It's fine by me, but then again I'm such a great guy.

[Kirobaito]

I hate ebonics.

[Bernhard]

Randomly switching languages is plague. :aimmad: But I generally don't bother saying anything. Each to their own. I don't think it's worth letting it get on my nerves.

[Mikztsu]

I don't mind it, as long as the company you are with understands what you are saying. Generally, I find it always kinda rude when people starts talking with some other language, what their companions can't understand.

[crono_logical]

My dad's side of the family tend to randomly mix english and bengali together in the same sentence, or othertimes it'll be one person speaking in one language, the other in the other yet both understand each other fine :p I don't really think it's a problem, some things are easier to express in one language concisely than in the other, and it's fine if both sides know both languages :p

[Breine]

My family speeks many languages: Danish, German, American, Swedish and sometimes French... So I'm kinda used to it, it doesn't bother me at all... As long as people can understand it...

[Dr Unne]

Some rules of ebonics are actually more consistent than official English grammar. For example in ebonics I think you tend to conjugate all verbs regularly, even irregular ones. So you have drived instead of drove, and things like that. That's what I learned in linguistics class anyways.

I don't know any other languages, so I tend to speak only in English.

[Nait]

There is no official english grammar. x)

[Dr Unne]

By "official", I mean commonly accepted as standard by academia. For example, most people would say that "officially", you need to capitalize the word "English".

[Nait]

But still. :(

[Leeza]

When I'm speaking with other Russian people we switch back and forth between Russian and English and even use some English words that we have Russianized because there really isn't another word for them in Russian. Ebonics is okay when you're only speaking to other people of your culture, but not when there is a mix because that is rude, in my opinion.

[Nait]

Where from Russia are you, Leeza? I want to know before we invade Kola.

[Leeza]

I believe that my ancestors were from the Georgia area in Russia. Where's Kola?

[Bernhard]

http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/es_map/articles/images/murmansk.gif

[Yamaneko]

Those two guys speak like that in the movie Airplane. :D

Leeza: It might be a port city or close to the Black sea. Near Poti maybe. I'd have to check again though, but I've read about it in a book. It is a very small town, and EVERYONE is Russian Orthodox. Ok, this was all off topic. :p

EDIT: Ok, there's a map and I was wrong.

[Strider]

Fo shizzle, my nizzle.

My mom's family always switches up the languages they speak whenever they converse. They go back and forth between English and Spanish, and sometimes ask me if I understand what they're saying. More often than not, I don't. :(

[Nait]

Kola is the peninsula northeast of Finland. Norway and the Soviets didn't use to have a land-border before the wars cause we had another arm there, called the Petsamo area known for its mines. Murmansk is pretty close to that area.

[Mikztsu]

Yes, Mother Finland's left arm is still missing 'cause Russia stole it. :mad2:

[Nait]

No, MAIDEN Finland. >:O Sweden is the old crone, Moder Svea. *_*

[Mikztsu]

Oh yeah, that hag. ;-)

[Nait]

What's Norway? Anyone know? I know England is that funny Bull-guy, and I guess the US is Sam, but what is Norway? Oh yeah, and Ireland is the harp, right? There must be some list on the net or something.

EDIT:

Wikipedia to the rescue! Blast, it only gives the lion as Finland's symbol. :mad2: Well, at least OUR lion has a gauntlet and a crown.

[Yamaneko]

Make your own forums about how great Finland is and I'll join, just stop talking about it here.

[Nait]

Oh yeah, Yama is a Knight now-a-days. :( Fine.

I tend not to switch languages when I speak with people, except if it's someone I know who knows swedish but of who I am not sure whether he or she prefers swedish. Here, have a chart:

http://www.geocities.com/naitsirk85/languages.html

[Proxy]

I listen to it. I speak it occasionally, just for fun. I have no problem with it

[Evelia]

There's this girl at my school who speaks some Japanese and tries to have conversations with me and others in that language, when she knows we don't speak any of it. I think that's impolite and annoying. I don't mind language-switching, as long as everyone involved in the conversation can understand it.

I wish I spoke other languages besides English. I really want to become fluent in Spanish, but the language department at my school isn't that great and it's going very slowly. I also dislike my teacher, and that doesn't help. =\ And I like ebonics.

[Denmark]

I don't mind, provided I can understand it.

Sometimes, when I talk to my old German teacher, she speaks in German and I respond in English. Mostly because I'm too lazy to think of the German words. *nods*

[Logan]

There's a girl at my school who does that, mixing english with spanish, and I have no idea what she's saying half of the time. I don't mind it though.

[SomethingBig]

I can tolerate some ebonics to an extent. When people take it to the extreme, that's when I get annoyed. I have to cope with ebonics for an entire 45 minutes in my chemistry class and it drives me insane.

[escobert]

Everyone In my family has spoken english for hundreds of years. We don't speak anything else.

[Peegee]

Bert, you speak "american". American != English. I don't even want to capitalise it.