Ajidica
High Quality Person
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2006
- Messages
- 22,209
#forgotaboutafricaReplace portuguese with chinese
portugal and brazil cannot into relevance
#forgotaboutafricaReplace portuguese with chinese
portugal and brazil cannot into relevance
"Believing in progress does not mean believing that any progress has yet been made".
Franz Kafka
According to an actual person of letters (Fernando Pessoa) there are only three languages likely to play an international role. English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Seems quite logical (maybe the portuguese one less so, but at least there is Brazil, and a couple african countries) given that French is only spoken as first language in France and a number of african nations, and German is only a first language in Germany/Austria and some bordering stuff (eg parts of Switzerland).
Speaking at least a second language is obviously positive. For starters, you are always provided with added info if you don't identify something as a singularity. That said... it isn't like you gain much more if you can use base x, x1, x2 etc for arithmetic, despite gaining something if you are fluent in at least two different ways.
#forgotaboutafrica
I was referring to Portuguese being spoken in Africa in Angola, Mozambique, and a handful of other tiny countries.ah, so you agree with me that chinese will grow in importance in future years?
Does the growing importance of China actually imply the growing importance of Mandarin Chinese? It's not as if everyone in China even speaks Mandarin, and to the extent that it's widely spoken outside of the North, it owes as much to aggressive language policy of the central government as to the cultural aura of Beijing.
Spartans said:
Yeah, it's in Plutarch.Speaking of laconic:
Spoken as a reply to King Philip, when the latter threatened (in so many words) that if he reaches Sparta he will destroy it.
Iirc it is mentioned by Plutarch; not sure if sources closer to the time mention this.
Yeah, it's in Plutarch.
Although Philip and Alexander never bothered with Sparta, Alexander left the B Team in Europe with his regent, Antipatros. The Spartans saw this as an opportunity to crush the Macedonians while Alexander was away and struck a deal with the Iranians for an alliance. As part of the deal, the Iranians shipped them the survivors of the Greek mercenaries that had fought hard - and lost - against Alexander and his Macedonians at Issos. With Iranian support, King Agis III declared war on Macedonia in 331 BC and scooped up a bunch of isolated garrisons in the Peloponnesos. Regent Antipatros mustered the rest of the B Team and marched south, and the Macedonians met the Spartans at Megalopolis. The Spartan army was completely wrecked and the king himself was killed in battle.
Over the next few centuries, Macedonian kings regularly smacked down the Spartans, most notably at the Battle of Sellasia.
The Spartans, in short, talked a big game, but they were singularly incapable of backing up their words - at least against the Macedonians.
This is not only the greatest article I've read this week, it may be the greatest thing in written history-Angry Staff Officer, "Warfighter: Battle of Endor"
This is not only the greatest article I've read this week, it may be the greatest thing in written history