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From: ddg@cci.com (D. Dale Gulledge)
Subject: Re: Concerning the number of esperantists
In-Reply-To: don@donh.vip.best.com's message of Thu, 15 Aug 1996 01:48:36 GMT
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Date: Tue, 20 Aug 1996 21:04:39 GMT
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In article <4utvpb$2g6@nntp1.best.com> don@donh.vip.best.com (Don HARLOW) writes:

   By the way, I was surprised to notice in China, on store windows where
   the name was spelled in Pinyin (presumably for foreign visitors), how
   often the letter 'N' was reversed...

I can't say that I find that surprising given the number of times I have seen
similar errors committed here in the US by people whose native and only
language is allegedly English.  :-)

Humor aside, your point is valid.  Anyone speaking or writing in a second
language is apt to make mistakes.  Most of us are guilty of many similar
errors in our own native tongues.  One purpose of an international auxiliary
language is to minimize these problems and to allow beginners to quickly move
beyond this stage.

I suspect, though I am hardly an expert on the subject, that adult learners
handle a second language much differently than children.  We can only
internalize grammatical rules after years of practice or if they are simple
and without exception.  If you need never remember the exceptions, the
impediments to internalizing the rules are much smaller.

- Dale
--
D. Dale Gulledge, Software Engineer
Directory & Operator Services, Nortel.
Rochester, NY

Warning: Bicyclist in mirror is moving faster than you think.
