It was all completely incomprehensible to me. I was fearful of the language. You had to look up every third word.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
All true language is incomprehensible, like the chatter of a beggar's teeth.
More has been screwed up on the battlefield and misunderstood in the Pentagon because of a lack of understanding of the English language than any other single factor.
Language failed me very often, but then, the substitute for me was silence, but not violence.
The surest method of being incomprehensible or, moreover, to be misunderstood is to use words in their original sense; especially words from the ancient languages.
I had problems getting my words out. If people spoke directly to me, I understood what they said. But when the grownups got to yakking really fast by themselves, it just sounded like 'oi oi.' I thought grownups had a separate language. I've now figured out I was not hearing the hard consonant sounds.
I was terrible in English. I couldn't stand the subject. It seemed to me ridiculous to worry about whether you spelled something wrong or not, because English spelling is just a human convention - it has nothing to do with anything real, anything from nature.
It's really difficult for me. Language, I am sorry that I haven't. I think I just always expected that you learn a word in place of a word and when I discovered how difficult the grammar was and learning that was very discouraging for me.
I love language, and I love the failure of language.
I'm afraid the Internet is filled with people using really very intemperate language.
I have been a believer in the magic of language since, at a very early age, I discovered that some words got me into trouble and others got me out.