XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.language.latin   
   From: occam@nowhere.nix   
      
   On 09/11/2024 02:12, Jeff Barnett wrote:   
   > On 11/8/2024 1:02 PM, HenHanna wrote:   
   >> Are you sleeping, are you sleeping. Brother John, brother John.   
   >> Morning bells are ringing,. Morning bells are ringing...........   
   >>   
   >> ____________________   
   >>   
   >>    Americans perceive it as a quintessentially British song   
   >   
   > I would be fascinated to what Americans you are talking about. My   
   > experience as an American would say that you are wide of the mark. Most   
   > American kids first heard / learned the sang as a round, first sang in   
   > French a few times then in English often in unison as the grand finale.   
   >   
   > I know in many parts of the world, the average citizen speaks 4.23   
   > languages at age 12 while the average American never speaks more than   
   > 0.69 languages at any age. Despite that sad fact, most American children   
   > learn to sing this song at school or camp at an early age and in French.   
   > In fact, it's this song which is often called out to convince Americans   
   > that there are languages other than English.   
   >   
   > But I assure you I, in all the years I have been around in America, have   
   > never seen or heard any native aver the Friar to be English.   
      
   What Athel wrote (upthread).   
      
   The only thing I'd like to add it that Hen Hanna only speaks 0.35   
   English, and thinks even less - in any language.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)