As for your insistence that Indo-European languages did not first emerge in what is now north central India, I can’t believe you’d really rely on Wikipedia. Like I said, I have a degree from a university better than any in Germany on this subject and am thus more qualified than the 14-year-old genius who posted to Wikipedia. The theory, like the theory of evolution, is only controversial to those without knowledge about the subject. Like you.

I loathe the overapplication of the word as it gradually begins to lose its meaning and turns into something overly quotidian and banal. People begin to shout “racism!” at every trivial occasion where somebody does not treat them nicely enough. Same with “fascism”. That’s a classical example of a dysphemism treadmill. Negative hyperbole, cacophemism, fighting words, power words, loaded language, all words for the same annoying phenomenon. Language as weapon. Which could actually be called a propaganda or brainwashing technique.

The ignorant bastard is you. The Indian sub-continent is South Asia, not Central Asia. And if you got educated about the matter, the idea that the Indo-European languages came from India is only current among Indian nationalists and totally discredited among experts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_India_theory

I’ve a degree in English and linguistics from UC Berkley. I know where the ancestral indo European language that morphed into English and German come from you ignorant bastard. Your German education system has failed you again. It is indeed from the Indian sub-continent.

English spelling has basically stayed the same since the late Middle English period, i. e. about 1400, and continues to reflect the way the language was pronounced back then.

That’s the reason why it’s such a mess. Unfortunately, updating it is not an easy task, as no other spelling would account as well for the different ways to pronounce English - the traditional spelling is perfectly neutral because it does not reflect any particular regional accent.

The only viable way to update the spelling would probably be to remove some of the most irregular spellings, such as “enough”, by replacing it with “enuff”. Even then, the disadvantage would be that the connection with related languages would be lost - “enough” resembles German “genug”, much more than “enuff”, “night” resembles Scots “nicht” and German “Nacht”, “nite” far less so.

Shakespeare’s English predates the split into British and American English - a number of actors have learned its pronunciation as an accent just like any other accent of English. I’d advise you to try and learn this pronunciation if you desire one that is “original”. Or try the late Middle English pronunciation - it’s as close to the spelling as you can get, and much more logical and familiar to Germans (especially considering that Middle English is more similar to German in some other ways as well.

Also, the ancestral language of German and English was never spoken in Central Asia, but in Northern Germany, haha. If you’re thinking about proto-Indo-European, the Ukraine is not in Central Asia, but in Eastern Europe, and suggesting that the Ukraine is in Central Asia is just as offensive and ignorant as calling the Americans “innately arrogant”.

By the way, to say arrogance is innate is simply ignorant and no better than racist drivel you twit.

What i find confusing in English, from a learning standpoint, is the flexibility required to use English words properly. Follow me:

Will you READ this to me?
Have you READ it yet?

Ha ha, same word, different pronunciation. Deutsch does NOT do this to me.

More Examples

He will LEAD you astray.
That bunker is lined with LEAD (the metal).

The following are from: http://the_english_dept.tripod.com/eng.html

The bandage was wound around the wound.

The farm was used to produce produce.

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

We must polish the Polish furniture.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..

A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

I did not object to the object.

It’s hard for me to judge either way since both come naturally to me; but it seems English, especially with silent letters not found in German, would be more difficult for foreigners.