Done with Bonaparte.

[sak4]

Here's a piece about the songs on GH.  Also made me think DWB had a parallel with DS being on long tours and referring to Ed Bicknell, MK was tired of it all!

http://www.oocities.org/shoaib_knopfler/interview/golden.html

 

[Marijo58]

Thanks Sak4 for the link to the interview on Golden Heart's tracklist!! Really interesting and it confirms what I thought about how he got the idea to write Done with Bonaparte!!!!

[JF]

I always wondered if the title means "made" or "tired"

Finished with, fed up with, had enough of, etc!   

for many years, I thought it was the former : "made". meaning his life had been "made" through Bonaparte's wars. His life has been all the way "directed" governed" "conducted" by Bonaparte

but now I am discovering the right meaning...thanks Superval

why is the english learning so bad in France's schools....

[Marijo58]

Here is a very well done video on You Tube!!!

[superval99]

I always wondered if the title means "made" or "tired"

Finished with, fed up with, had enough of, etc!   

for many years, I thought it was the former : "made". meaning his life had been "made" through Bonaparte's wars. His life has been all the way "directed" governed" "conducted" by Bonaparte

but now I am discovering the right meaning...thanks Superval

why is the english learning so bad in France's schools....

I shouldn't worry too much about French teaching, JF.  Your English is extremely good, no matter what you may think!   

I do, however, worry about the English taught in British schools, particularly grammar and spelling.   

[twm]

I agree with superval. Grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence construction in English have all been neglected in schools over here.

Creativity and expressing one's feelings have been encouraged, which is great, but it has been at the expense of the "nuts and bolts" of the language. At times, it has resulted in a lack of clarity in meaning and understanding and the need to re-read a sentence several times in order to divine exactly what the writer is trying to convey.

You need to know, to understand and to apply the "rules" of a language before you can go on to break those "rules" in order to increase the impact of what you are writing.

The difference between everyday spoken English and more formal written English has been underplayed in schools, not to say ignored. 

I love the English language - its vast vocabulary, its many different words with similar but slightly different meanings, its pliability, its regional and national variations (some expressive words used in Scotland but rarely elsewhere, for example), its ability to absorb from other languages, the way it evolves and develops and so on - but I do wish that some of its more formal aspects were better understood and applied.

Good grief, I sound like an old fogey! Perhaps that's my role from now on - grumpy old man!

[superval99]

If you are a grumpy old man, then I am the grumpy old woman!   

One of my biggest gripes is "could of", "should of", etc!

[LoveExpresso]

This is very interesting, but of course it's also daunting to non English-speaking people like me. The problem is, you don't know if you made a mistake or not -  and of course no one should hestitate to post at AMIT only because his or her writing skills are not excellent..

There are helpful tools like LEO, but sometimes the effort has to stand back on hehalf of a fast, fitting and flowing forum post..

Facebook is a painful source for all kinds of misspelling and lazy use of 've or 's..

But generally, the level and quality of AMIT postings is very high, compared to many German spoken forums I got insight in..

LE

[superval99]

LE, I have the highest regard for all of the posters on this forum, especially those for whom English is not their first language.  It never ceases to amaze me how well they all speak/write English.   I wish I could speak German as proficiently as you speak English, for example!     btw I think twm's post explained it all perfectly!   

[LoveExpresso]

Thanks (but I was not fishing for compliments here), it is really hard work sometimes.. harder than it looks.. but of course, when it comes to MK stuff, working never is a great barrier.

But AMIT is also a great source of learning it, alongside.

I remember sitting in Oberhausen in the Irish Pub 2011, before the Bob show, sitting there at a table with three or four different languages.. speaking German, listening to Dutch, French, English speaking people at the same minute, Mr. Pottel speaking three languages at least, trying to answer in English... my head was swirling and I only had a cup of coffee! 

LE

[superval99]

.. but of course, when it comes to MK stuff, working never is a great barrier.

LE

Yes, I agree!    I always read (and try to understand) the comments on the German Amazon site and then use the translator to see if I was anywhere near correct!   Sometimes I surprise myself!   

[JF]

I learned a lot (and I am still learning) about english language, just by reading and posting here

[twm]

My previous post was solely about what I regard as the decline in the teaching of English language skills in schools in this country and the resulting "errors", large and small, that I see and hear almost daily here.

I am all for breaking "rules" - when appropriate to emphasise a particular point and when done knowingly - but I fear that the "errors", the "rule breaking" to which I refer, were made out of ignorance of the basics of English.

By the way, if any non-native English speakers reading my previous post interpreted it as a sleight on their contributions to this forum, rest assured that the thought was not in my mind. Indeed, I am humbled by your proficiency in English.

I will go further and add that, within "Dylan World", I have had overseas contacts talk to me about the standard of English exhibited by some of our native English speakers. When a "foreigner" comments on the poor English of someone born, bred and educated here, it must surely show that something is seriously amiss.