...
person above...
Freddie came in India around 1950 or so...
India gained independance in 1947 so India was free, I am extremely thankful if he wouldn't have gotten Indian education or else he would cursed India in every song.
India is practically a land of retards, the education is completely retarded... If Freddie was in British Boards maybe he didn't knew Hindi (Hurray!)
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Just for the record, the fact that there are five to ten foreign words in Mustapha doesn't mean anything. I can learn three or four commands in Korean and put them in a song and that doesn't mean I can speak the language.
I wonder what language he learned first? Considering the rather heavy accent that his parents seem to have when speaking English might suggest that they did not speak English as their native language. (Of course, the accent could be just the result of the enviroment, in case they do speak English as their first language.) My point is that his parents might have taught him some other language than English at home.
In any case, Freddie probably came in contact with English very early on in his life. That would explain why he spoke such good English (I am not a native speaker so I cannot necessarily judge very well, but to me his intonation etc would suggest that he learned English rather early). However, he probably was in contact with other languages too, both in Zanzibar and in India, but to what extent he learned these languages, is unknown.
In any case, Freddie probably came in contact with English very early on in his life. That would explain why he spoke such good English (I am not a native speaker so I cannot necessarily judge very well, but to me his intonation etc would suggest that he learned English rather early). However, he probably was in contact with other languages too, both in Zanzibar and in India, but to what extent he learned these languages, is unknown.
Wooo I'm so late for the party. But his first language wasn't English and he lived between india/zanzibar for most of his first years. At least until he was 17 . So I guess he had to communicate somehow? He didn't show it to the world just like he never spoke of his roots ever. He was just freddie mercury to the public and would only hear him speak English but I'm sure he must've spoken at least 2 to 3 languages. According to his mom he spoke gujarati which is from India and I guess whatever they spoke in zanzibar.
ask his sister... I always thought his mother was Indian, father European.
Actually Freddie was a Parsi so naturally he spoke Parsi style Gujerati. Along with English. That is what Parsis speak. We do not really know our original language which is the Avestan language as that is a completely lost language.
He would have learnt some Hindi in school, and picked up Arabic or the local language in Zanzibar.
He would have learnt some Hindi in school, and picked up Arabic or the local language in Zanzibar.
[QUOTE] [b]Ready_Coddie wrote:[/b]
...
person above...
Freddie came in India around 1950 or so...
India gained independance in 1947 so India was free, I am extremely thankful if he wouldn't have gotten Indian education or else he would cursed India in every song.
India is practically a land of retards, the education is completely retarded... If Freddie was in British Boards maybe he didn't knew Hindi (Hurray!)[/QUOTE]
How can you post a comment like that? claiming that most of the population of a country is retarded.
i take it you've been there and witnessed this for yourself?
Because a country is poor, it doesnt make those who live there any less able. The unfair structure of the country is such that those from a poor background dont often get a chance to progress past basic education. Those in the upper classes do. Those who progress through education in india usually become very successful in their chosen career. The British NHS, and private medical system too, is staffed to high levels of ability by people from india.
The blanket coverage of most of a countries population as being retards, is in its self a retarded view i think.
...
person above...
Freddie came in India around 1950 or so...
India gained independance in 1947 so India was free, I am extremely thankful if he wouldn't have gotten Indian education or else he would cursed India in every song.
India is practically a land of retards, the education is completely retarded... If Freddie was in British Boards maybe he didn't knew Hindi (Hurray!)[/QUOTE]
How can you post a comment like that? claiming that most of the population of a country is retarded.
i take it you've been there and witnessed this for yourself?
Because a country is poor, it doesnt make those who live there any less able. The unfair structure of the country is such that those from a poor background dont often get a chance to progress past basic education. Those in the upper classes do. Those who progress through education in india usually become very successful in their chosen career. The British NHS, and private medical system too, is staffed to high levels of ability by people from india.
The blanket coverage of most of a countries population as being retards, is in its self a retarded view i think.
I always wondered (as a not native english) if Freddie was seen like a foreigner talking a good english. To me he doesnt sound very British (like Brian), he sounds like an international perfect english speaker.
[QUOTE] [b]McFluid wrote:[/b]
I always wondered (as a not native english) if Freddie was seen like a foreigner talking a good english. To me he doesnt sound very British (like Brian), he sounds like an international perfect english speaker.[/QUOTE]
I was asking myself that question too. From what I've heard from native english speakers, Freddie had a posh english accent.
I always wondered (as a not native english) if Freddie was seen like a foreigner talking a good english. To me he doesnt sound very British (like Brian), he sounds like an international perfect english speaker.[/QUOTE]
I was asking myself that question too. From what I've heard from native english speakers, Freddie had a posh english accent.
The answer is no. This is a Queen fan site. We would know what languages he spoke.. after all the documentaries and stuff that we know about him. Please let this be the last thread. Freddie spoke English.
[QUOTE] [b]RafaelSomma wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]McFluid wrote:[/b]
I always wondered (as a not native english) if Freddie was seen like a foreigner talking a good english. To me he doesnt sound very British (like Brian), he sounds like an international perfect english speaker.[/QUOTE]
I was asking myself that question too. From what I've heard from native english speakers, Freddie had a posh english accent.
[/QUOTE]
Freddie could speak with any accent he wished. he had a perfect pitch, so even if he grew up with 0% knowledge of English, he could have made himself sound native in very little time after mastering the vocabulary and grammar.
[QUOTE] [b]McFluid wrote:[/b]
I always wondered (as a not native english) if Freddie was seen like a foreigner talking a good english. To me he doesnt sound very British (like Brian), he sounds like an international perfect english speaker.[/QUOTE]
I was asking myself that question too. From what I've heard from native english speakers, Freddie had a posh english accent.
[/QUOTE]
Freddie could speak with any accent he wished. he had a perfect pitch, so even if he grew up with 0% knowledge of English, he could have made himself sound native in very little time after mastering the vocabulary and grammar.
[QUOTE] [b]Fmercurio wrote:[/b]
Wooo I'm so late for the party. But his first language wasn't English and he lived between india/zanzibar for most of his first years. At least until he was 17 . So I guess he had to communicate somehow? He didn't show it to the world just like he never spoke of his roots ever. He was just freddie mercury to the public and would only hear him speak English but I'm sure he must've spoken at least 2 to 3 languages. According to his mom he spoke gujarati which is from India and I guess whatever they spoke in zanzibar. [/QUOTE]
As I always understood it, English is spoken pretty much all over India............so he very well could have grown up speaking it mainly....
Wooo I'm so late for the party. But his first language wasn't English and he lived between india/zanzibar for most of his first years. At least until he was 17 . So I guess he had to communicate somehow? He didn't show it to the world just like he never spoke of his roots ever. He was just freddie mercury to the public and would only hear him speak English but I'm sure he must've spoken at least 2 to 3 languages. According to his mom he spoke gujarati which is from India and I guess whatever they spoke in zanzibar. [/QUOTE]
As I always understood it, English is spoken pretty much all over India............so he very well could have grown up speaking it mainly....
Like Noorie says, Parsis speak Gujarati as their "native" language (because they settled in Gujarat, India, when they were persecuted and driven from their original homes in present day Iran by Islamic conquerers of the time). So there is a very high probability that he at least understood, if not spoke, the language, since he did spend quite a lot many years in India and with family in Zanzibar. And the fact that he was educated in India means that he definitely couple communicate in Hindi.
English medium schools are very common in India (I studied in one myself) and India has the largest number of English speakers after the US (more than England lol).
For the member who called Indians retard, I wish he/she was still here on the forum so I could kick their ass online.
English medium schools are very common in India (I studied in one myself) and India has the largest number of English speakers after the US (more than England lol).
For the member who called Indians retard, I wish he/she was still here on the forum so I could kick their ass online.
@Vocal Harmony - I know you mean well, but
"The unfair structure of the country is such that those from a poor background don't often get a chance to progress past basic education. Those in the upper classes do."
Which country (dealing with any level of poverty) does not have this situation? It's not a situation unique to India. It is certainly unfair but not unnatural.
In India , what we do have, is an age-old social order which has historically made it difficult for certain sub-communities within the Hindu community (and also other religions, possibly due to the shared traditions) to come out of their backwardness.
But this challenge and situation was acknowledged by our nation builders right at the time when we gained independence from the British, and affirmative action had been put in place. The merits and de-merits of these affirmative actions are open to debate, but the fact is they have made a huge change in the Indian society, and even though there is a long way to go for us in this matter (you cannot change 1000s of years of tradition and mindset in only 75 years, not in a country of our size and population), the benefits have reached a lot of people and transformed their lives and that of their future generations. I would not be able to explain this more without you having the proper cultural context.
What I can tell you is, discrimination on the basis of social status is almost non-existent in urban areas, and very rare (compared to earlier) in even rural areas. And any incident of such discrimination makes big news and is legally a crime. The so-called backward classes today have a big voice and strong presence in the nation's political space and they are no more "marginalized".
By the way, the poorest of the poor (and the richest of the rich) in the country today do not belong to any specific social group, or should I say, belong to all the social classes.
"The unfair structure of the country is such that those from a poor background don't often get a chance to progress past basic education. Those in the upper classes do."
Which country (dealing with any level of poverty) does not have this situation? It's not a situation unique to India. It is certainly unfair but not unnatural.
In India , what we do have, is an age-old social order which has historically made it difficult for certain sub-communities within the Hindu community (and also other religions, possibly due to the shared traditions) to come out of their backwardness.
But this challenge and situation was acknowledged by our nation builders right at the time when we gained independence from the British, and affirmative action had been put in place. The merits and de-merits of these affirmative actions are open to debate, but the fact is they have made a huge change in the Indian society, and even though there is a long way to go for us in this matter (you cannot change 1000s of years of tradition and mindset in only 75 years, not in a country of our size and population), the benefits have reached a lot of people and transformed their lives and that of their future generations. I would not be able to explain this more without you having the proper cultural context.
What I can tell you is, discrimination on the basis of social status is almost non-existent in urban areas, and very rare (compared to earlier) in even rural areas. And any incident of such discrimination makes big news and is legally a crime. The so-called backward classes today have a big voice and strong presence in the nation's political space and they are no more "marginalized".
By the way, the poorest of the poor (and the richest of the rich) in the country today do not belong to any specific social group, or should I say, belong to all the social classes.