Job Discussion Forums

jessicah632 · Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 36 Location: Texas, USA

The "Eurasian" label seems to fix the problem. I seem to recall that in Russia they do teach that 6-continent model, thereby putting Russia with both Europe and Asia. Which, naturally, makes more sense, because while the bulk of its landmass is on Asia, over 80 percent of its people live on the "Europe" side. So I think most Russians would then prefer the "Eurasian" label. (BTW I think the division b/w "Europe" and "Asia" for Russia is the Ural Mountains, but my geography could be totally wack.)

I was thinking about it, and probably some of the reason I was taught what I was (that Russia is geographically "Asian"), is that politically at that time it was considered so separate and closed off (along with the eastern European/Soviet bloc) from Europe that it was strange to associate Russia (and indeed modern-day Poland, Ukraine, etc.) with Europe. That's the best reason I can give for the education I received regarding Russia. *shrug* Though, I bet, ask me again in ten years, and I'll definitely refer to Russia as a "European" language. Right now it's just weird for me.

I think the EU is an interesting notion. While, naturally, it would be foolish to assume the EU is the ONLY definition of "European" -- Justin pointed out Switzerland, and what about Norway? They haven't joined yet either, and they're clearly European -- I do wonder what will become of the EU as it expands, and whether those nations will eventually join it. I'm especially interested in whether or not Russia will join the EU -- as we know, the EU recently has added a lot of ex-Soviet nations. It seems to be growing in power, but I'm no expert.

Oh, and the reason I assumed most of us on here weren't American was because when I was travelling down in Latin America, it was 1 North American for every 9 Brits and 7 Aussies. No offense to anyone for my assumptions Smile

--Jessicah

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 8:39 pm Post subject:

Cdaniels · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:05 pm Post subject: Dollarization

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Just wait until the expected deluge of Chinese tourists arrives. A country has to be on a PRC's approved list for visitors to go...Brazil was recently listed. China wields a powerful incentive with that list, when discussing trade and investment.

Ni hao, my friends.

Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

khmerhit · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:04 pm Post subject:

Mastery is a tall order, naturegirl! I used to think my French was a bit weak, now i have a job where i use it five hours a day and it looks like i have nearly mastered it -- but i know i havent really. Point being i guess, that if you have some basics in a language and you get a chance to use it all the time, you can have whipped it good but pronto. The chinese HIGH SCHOOL students i help teach DO not practicE their English as much as they could, and they are residents of an english-speaking country----but if they get the basics while they are teenagers, then they will be ready to practice and will be prepared to speak it every day---when they get tossed out onto the job market, in a few years..

SORRY FOR CAPS

Cdaniels · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:29 pm Post subject: Je Je?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Luna Chica · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 177 Location: Trujillo, Peru

SEE MY POST ON ABSORBING THE LANGUAGE FOR A DEFINITION OF JE JE. SORRY THOUGH SHOULD HAVE PUT A FULL STOP IN BEFORE MY JE JE.

MERRRRRRY CHRISTMAS WITH A DOUBLE-R GUY Laughing

JO JO JO

Cdaniels · Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:05 pm Post subject: je je je

I thought I had become pretty savvy at looking up Spanish words on the internet, but googling "je je" turns up everything from Dutch sites in the Netherlands to sites for meeting marriage-minded Filipina women. It just goes to show how much there is to learn about a language/culture.

matttheboy · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 854 Location: Valparaiso, Chile

cartago · Joined: 19 Oct 2005 Posts: 283 Location: Iraq

Turkish is actually not an Indo-European language. I think the reason why Turkey is considered part of Europe, besides part of it being in Europe, is that it wants to associate itself with Europe seeing that as a way to progress. I think most people would agree it's sort of part of both Europe and the Middle East. Being a non-Arabic country does sort of set it apart.

I don't think Russia will ever join the EU. There are too many human rights abuses, not that Turkey hasn't had that problem too. But at least Turkey seems to be making progress in that direction and Russia is not.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject:

While it's true that Turkish is linguistically not "European," I believe, and it doesn't really look like part of Europe geographically, and they do have some problems where laws and human rights, or the lack thereof, are concerned, I think the reasons they've had problems in their attempts to join the EU have more to do with...Cyprus. (And this one is pretty complicated.)

Regards,
Justin

Cdaniels · Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:55 am Post subject: European or not European

"Turkish" is apparently not an Indo-European language. Embarassed

It is an official language of Bulgaria, though. Shocked

Its also spoken in Kosovo and Macedonia. It has been classified as an Altaic language, with some controversy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_%28language%29
Cyprus may be the #1 complication for EU membership, but there are additional issues. Turkey has not officially acknowledged the Armenian Genocide. (Armenian and Kurdish happen to be Indo-European languages) BTW Russia will probably never be an EU country, but it sounds naive to say this is because of human rights abuses.

cartago · Joined: 19 Oct 2005 Posts: 283 Location: Iraq

Turkey also doesn't allow conscientious objection and has threatened journalists over certain issues as well as the writer Orhan Pamuk for some remarks about the Armenian genocide.

I know there must be many other reasons why it's unlikely Russia would never be part of the EU, the human rights issue is the only obvious one to me right offhand though.