English language sometime surprise me

[ReadyPlayerOne]

I'm not english and that's not my language, so it happen i need to translate words while reading or writing on forums, i also trying to learning something more listen the pronuciation on google translate.

I didn't remembered whats the name of flour in english so i used google translate and than listen the pronuciation, and what i heard sounds like flower, than i wrote flower and for my foreign ears it sound the same.

At 99% it's just my ears bad, but i whould like to know if there is a chance that the pronunciation is just the same or if it's just a bad google text to speach

[Touch My Hamm]

English can be one of the most difficult languages as it is such a bastardized variant of its former self. It's changed so much throughout history it's crazy. But I love that about English. If we look at some fun examples:

 

Shameless copy & paste

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The farm was used to produce produce.
3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4. We must polish the Polish furniture.
5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10. I did not object to the object.
11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

[PlayStation 2]

"Flour" in English is pronounced like "flower". 

Numerous words are like that, like "pear" and "pair".

[WereCatf]

13 minutes ago, ReadyPlayerOne said:

I'm not english and that's not my language, so it happen i need to translate words while reading or writing on forums, i also trying to learning something more listen the pronuciation on google translate.

I didn't remembered whats the name of flour in english so i used google translate and than listen the pronuciation, and what i heard sounds like flower, than i wrote flower and for my foreign ears it sound the same.

At 99% it's just my ears bad, but i whould like to know if there is a chance that the pronunciation is just the same or if it's just a bad google text to speach

Just wait til someone comes and tells ya to go get some durries at the servo, mate.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, WereCatf said:

Just wait til someone comes and tells ya to go get some durries at the servo, mate.

Heck, I've been speaking English for all my life, far longer than most of you have been alive (most likely, more than twice as long) and I didn't understand that. 

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

Yup, it's too complicated indeed.  Let's ditch it and use Flemish instead.   

[Beef Boss]

8 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

Yup, it's too complicated indeed.  Let's ditch it and use Flemish instead.   

Or British

[akio123008]

2 hours ago, ReadyPlayerOne said:

than i wrote flower and for my foreign ears it sound the same.

Pro tip: capitalise "I" every time you use it. Native English speakers find themselves highly important.

 

12 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

Yup, it's too complicated indeed.  Let's ditch it and use Flemish instead.   

I can live with that. 

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

2 hours ago, ReadyPlayerOne said:

I'm not english and that's not my language, so it happen i need to translate words while reading or writing on forums, i also trying to learning something more listen the pronuciation on google translate.

I didn't remembered whats the name of flour in english so i used google translate and than listen the pronuciation, and what i heard sounds like flower, than i wrote flower and for my foreign ears it sound the same.

At 99% it's just my ears bad, but i whould like to know if there is a chance that the pronunciation is just the same or if it's just a bad google text to speach

Out of curiosity, what's your native? 

[xARACHN1D]

Hey man. English can be tough. It was my first language. But I really commend you for taking the effort to learn. Good for you!

[D.U.F.F.]

52 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Heck, I've been speaking English for all my life, far longer than most of you have been alive (most likely, more than twice as long) and I didn't understand that. 

Bloody hell. Thanks to heaven Americans do not speak like british

[3 Lions]

7 minutes ago, D.U.F.F. said:

Bloody hell. Thanks to heaven Americans do not speak like british

If it wasn't for the British you'd be still speaking in Spanish. 

[ReadyPlayerOne]

34 minutes ago, Rohith_Kumar_Sp said:

Out of curiosity, what's your native? 

I'm italian

22 minutes ago, xARACHN1D said:

Hey man. English can be tough. It was my first language. But I really commend you for taking the effort to learn. Good for you!

Thank you, it's important to learn english this days, probably mine is bad, but it's enough to understand what people wrote and can be understood (i hope).

What is really hard is to understand different accent when i travel, because someone speak very clear, and someone else doesn't even seems english, i was once in Dublin, and just a friend of mine was able to talk with Irish, it was impossible for me, that's because my english ability is average, but also because their accent was really different in what i usually listen, in example i don't have too much problem to understant Linus i understand 90% of what he say, probably because a lot of words are tech related, otherwise probably the % will drop between 70-80, but that's just because my english dictionary is limited, otherwise the pronuciation is really good, i was once in canada and i had no problem. What i whould like to know because i'm curious is to read and listen myself writing and speaking english with english ears i think whold be pretty funny to listen and read all my errors.

Unfortunatly learning languages is not my strong point, i think it's one of my weak point, i trying to learn english out of school since 2003 at least, at school was really bad i don't even count it, and i think it's a kind of magical adventure learning not just words and verbs, but also understand how your mind and attitude will change with a different language, that's probably another huge topic, but i suggest everyone here to try to learn another language, if you are english/american/canadian, i can suggest to learn my language, italian, just because you could start to read important writer that can't really be translated, because a lot of words and feelings do not exist in english, and li think italian culture is really huge and there is a lot to discover and to be appreciate for real you must know italian, or the translation will destroy all the magic. Anyway every language you like will help you to be close and think in a different way, and that's really an interesting experience imho

[D.U.F.F.]

6 minutes ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

If it wasn't for the British you'd be still speaking in Spanish. 

Eso no es problema para mi

[Nup]

A nice poem about english pronunciation:  The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité

Its full of tricks, really once you can converse I think thats the most fun you can have in a language.

Writing correctly is wonderful and useful too, but not as fun.

[3 Lions]

3 hours ago, ReadyPlayerOne said:

I didn't remembered whats the name of flour in english so i used google translate and than listen the pronuciation, and what i heard sounds like flower, than i wrote flower and for my foreign ears it sound the same.

At 99% it's just my ears bad, but i whould like to know if there is a chance that the pronunciation is just the same or if it's just a bad google text to speach

The word 'flour' actually derives from Old French. It most likely became an English word in the 11th century after the Norman conquest (1066), lots of Old English words were replaced with Old French words around this time. This language was known as Middle English and was spoken up until the 15th century.

 

 

[spartaman64]

you should learn chinese next  most pronunciations have 4 meanings and words due to there being 4 tones

[Commodus]

2 hours ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

The word 'flour' actually derives from Old French. It most likely became an English word in the 11th century after the Norman conquest (1066), lots of Old English words were replaced with Old French words around this time. This language was known as Middle English and was spoken up until the 15th century.

 

 

I always think of Chaucer: "And bathed every veyne in swich licóur / of which vertú engendred is the flour..."

[Drak3]

5 hours ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

If it wasn't for the British you'd be still speaking in Spanish. 

Deutsch and Gaelic.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

9 hours ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

If it wasn't for the British you'd be still speaking in Spanish. 

if it wasn't for the Americans (twice), the Brits would be speaking German.

[akio123008]

14 hours ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

The word 'flour' actually derives from Old French.

Not an expert on this, but in Dutch "flour" can be translated as "bloem", which happens to be the word for both "flower" and "flour". 

 

14 hours ago, ReadyPlayerOne said:

I'm italian

Also I'm afraid we have to inspect your wiring loom .

[wasab]

Alright, how many of us speak English as their 2nd or third langauge? 

[xARACHN1D]

8 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

if it wasn't for the Americans (twice), the Brits would be speaking German.

If it wasn't for anybody we would all be speaking Mesopotamian.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 minute ago, xARACHN1D said:

If it wasn't for anybody we would all be speaking Mesopotamian.

Nope. Not all civilizations started in that region. Nor did Mesopotamia conquer all of even the known world of its time.

[xARACHN1D]

13 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Nope. Not all civilizations started in that region. Nor did Mesopotamia conquer all of even the known world of its time.

You right, I was honestly not serious. I do know there were other civilations.