How Good Is Your 'Proper' Language?

[boomerang]

My Greek is very poor, can't read or write...The Cypriot dialect is not bad...My eldest daughter speaks excellent Chinese

[Leon]

So who are the two who voted that their Turkish is excellent?

I can read Greek in my head perfectly and very good out aloud but sometimes I have to stop and say the word slowly if it's very long and unknown. I can write it perfectly too , so I know where my A* in Greek GCSE came from .

I don't think my speaking is as good as my undersanding (although considering I've been taught proper Greek sometimes when I hear Cypriots talk really fast in kypriaka I can't understand) and often when I'm trying to explain something I switch to English, so my next plan is to brush up on my 'in-depth' conversational skills. I'm not sure what category my Greek would come under but I won't vote anyway so I can see others' abilities.

It's a shame about erolz really. I mean I can't understand the mentality of some people. You'd think him being a born and bred Turkish-Cypriot he would speak Turkish by natural instincts to his son, not forgetting that he will be able to converse with his own family and other Turks and Turkish-Cypriots, and he'll be 'in touch' with his true self. I've heard of Greeks moving to Canada, having five kids and speak only Greek to all of the kids except the youngest one! Also, many Greek-Cypriots (I don't know about Turkish-Cypriots) that have been born and raised in England themselves also speak English to their kids, despite speaking very good Greek. I find this quite weird. You'd think they'd actually want to speak Greek to their children so as not to lose their true heritage. I'm only half Greek-Cypriot and I will speak English and Greek to my children (if I have any) whatever the nationality of their mother.

What do you think? Which language will you speak your kids?

Leon.

[thebrix]

[Dhavlos]

leon, for my parents at least, it is easier for them to speak english as it is their first language, just like english is my first langauge...they make an effort someitmes....but english is a lot easier...especially when your brothers will not speak to you if you speak greek to them they are so stubborn lol

[Cyprus rules!]

Yup i'm known as a "Chaloua" in Cyprus, it's not said in a racist way, it's a form of teasing..it's said more if you speak Greek in a very "English" way, but it's still annoying...lol

[Xenos 2Fan]

I said that my Turkish was good even though I speak proper turkish very well and I can write very well. I only run into trouble when I read computer generated turkish with some of the new symbols. This really drives me crazy. When I master this compturkish I will claim that my turkish is excellent.

@Erolz

Erol you may not be far off by describing Turkish Cypriots born in england as "londrada". I think you could be describing their mindset and mentality to be in london.

[Xenos 2Fan]

[cannedmoose]

From my external perspective, Charlies in Cyprus aren't subjected to any kind of racial abuse, as others have said, it's more of a ribbing teasing than anything harsh. Nonetheless, BBCs are generally regarded as being brash by born-and-bred Cypriots.

The thing that I find somewhat frustrating is that when I attempt my faltering Greek in Cyprus, more often than not people will respond in English, which makes it incredibly difficult to learn. Ah well, once I live there I guess I'll pick it up quicker, it's almost impossible to learn without using it every day.

On my recent trip I was certainly understood by a number of people who I swore at while driving

[CY]

I think I'm the same with Dhavlos on my Greek. I mean, I didnt do badly in the GCSE and AS - got A for both of them (wont mention A-level ... results in August ahh!) but when it comes to talking to Cypriot/Greek people I suddenly lose all confidence, even if in the back of my mind I know that I know how to speak.....

I think I have a complex and am scared of speaking Greek in front of people who's first language it is, but once I get in the flow I'm ok ish...

It's also to do with the the whole "I don't know where I stand" thing. As in, I'm not English, and with friends in England I'm labelled as the "cypriot" (which i dont mind at all, because im proud to be cypriot) but when I'm in Cyprus, although i have no english blood in me, I always feel that I am part of some "under class" of a person because I'm British born and don't speak greek as well as I should....so i'm in abit of a limbo really-and i dont like it at all!! and its really annoying because in Cyprus alot of British Cypriots or "Kibraioi tou londinou" have a REALLY bad reputation or are mocked by the cypriot cypriots but I'm not exactly a typical "kibraia tou londinou!"

Ok..heh enough pouring out!

[city]

[anna]

I heard that in America, many years ago, an Irish boy lived in an area mostly inhabited by Greek immigrants. The Greek children had to go to Saturday Greek School and the Irish boy felt lonely, so he joined them and learned very good Greek.

He later became a cab driver and was telling his Greek-speaking passengers that he was asked to use his Greek skills whilst serving in Greece during World War II.

It is a beautiful language and after nearly fifty years married to a Greek Cypriot, my husband still moans when I make a grammatical error and I tell him that he had to re-learn English after doing two years National Service in the UK during the fifties - well, at least take out the swear words!

Regards,
Anna.

[thebrix]

I have no connection to any of the three countries and speak no Greek or Turkish.

I can parse Greek quite well, rather as I can do with French. Although the two other languages I know well are both notoriously difficult (German and Russian), and I also know enough Latin to get by, Turkish has defeated me.

I tried to learn a couple of years ago but had to give up; it is simply too structurally different from the other languages I know and the vocabulary doesn't give many hooks to hang existing knowledge on.

My father put it rather well; "the Turks must all be very clever to understand a language like that"