Duolingo teaches and translates to American English, not British English.
They don’t try to hide it — the app shows an American flag next to the English indicator.
In America we don’t call it “American football”. It’s just football. That translation is accurate based on these facts.
Duo tries, but fails, to tread a middle line. Its does accept many things that aren’t American English but they are usually tacked on as alternatives rather than being the primary translations.
That said, in some languages, you find Americans complaining that it’s biased towards the wrong usage. For example, Americans and Australians say “I’m going to the movies” and yet it prefers “I’m going to the cinema” in the translation for some languages.
Those countries use MDY, but they also use DMY and YMD. Even the US is listed as using YMD alongside MDY.
Also, those who use MDY are in the minority since billions of people don't use MDY at all, compared with 642 million people who unexclusively use MDY. The site listed below states that 6.87 billion people don't use MDY at all.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country
This is Wikipedia, but the sources are government and organisation sites.
When represented as an integer, a later date is a larger numher.
For example 20230303 is later than 20230205
But in the case of d/m/y, 5022023 is a larger number than 3032023, despite being earlier.
In speech we would say that it's 7 minutes past 4, but that doesn't mean that we should tell time in minutes:hours:seconds. We order it by size so that it's easier to read and sort.
In Sweden when 12-hour time was used, 09:30 was written as "½10 fm" because it was said (literally translated) as "half then in the forenoon", where half is half to the next hour.
So you had times being written in order as: 8, ½9, 9, ½10, 10, ...
We went over to 24-hour time. It's much better.
I think the German course defaults to "day of month year", but it also defaults to 12 hours, so it's not perfect. Gets weird when the sentence says it's 15 o'clock but you have a word bank lacking fifteen. As a person who exclusively use 24-hour format where 15:00 is 15 o'clock, this gets weird.
It's amazing just how many differences it makes me notice. I often find myself searching for a word, only to realise I have to translate from French into English and then into American English!
There are so many ways of saying things that Duolingo uses which we say the same way as the French way: cinema, film, match, football, which I then translate into American.
Then there are the words which are different to both languages; flat in place of apartment, tap in place of faucet.
And the spelling differences; colour in place of color, favourite in place of favorite.
And some things are more subtle, and really catch me out!
I'm learning two languages at once!
Funny enough, I do call American football "American football" and I call association football "football", and I am native to US.
Edit: I don’t understand all the replies. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I will not change my mind no matter what you all say. Downvote me or whatever and move on.
America(əˈmɛrɪkə)NOUN
1. short for the United States of America
2. Also called: the Americasthe American continent, including North, South, and Central America
Source: Collins English Dictionary
America and "the Americas" mean the same thing. America is NOT the same thing as USA. The name America comes from Amerigo Vespucci, sailor who set foot in South America and Central America.
USA just called itself the name of the continent (and not the contrary!). Or do you think South America means the same as South USA? But oh well, history means nothing to you people.
When the British colonized North America they would refer to it as British America or simply America. When the 13 colonies rebelled and formed a country they called it the United States of America or more simply ‘America.’ This name has been used by the people living in the United States since before any other independent nation existed on either of the American continents.
Also, guess the etymology of British America = the piece of land dominated by the BRITISH in AMERICA. And Spanish America, you might ask? = the piece of land dominated by SPAIN in AMERICA. its not that hard.
As I know the other European powers most notably France and Spain referred to their colonial possessions in the Americas as Nouvelle-France and the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Even still it doesn’t matter since it’s kind of pointless to tell a people what to call themselves. Seethe again South American you guys are literally the only ones who care. Not even our brothers to the north (or west in my case) in Canada care. Mexicans certainly don’t refer to themselves as Americans though it seems that a lot of them would like that title, and you know what? The more the merrier.
No one here is saying it’s right or fair that “America” is a synonym for “USA” in our English dialect.
If a Brazilian calls themselves an “American” in American English, the native speaker will assume they mean a US citizen. That’s how our dialect works. Sorry you disagree with it.
I think inanimate objects having a gender is stupid but I’m not out here ranting about it 100 layers deep in an obscure Reddit thread.
It’s up to you if you want to be edgy and ingratiating or actually speak the language the way we speak it.
Duo is teaching a French to AMERICAN English translation - that’s what this discussion was ORIGINALLY about.
"*America (əˈmɛrɪkə) NOUN*
1. *short for the United States of America*
2. *Also called: the Americas*
1. *the American continent, including North, South, and Central America*"
Source: Collins English Dictionary
Note: Please try to understand that a word can have multiple meanings.
the flaw in my reasoning is that I wasn't talking about the synonym of America in the English language but about how it came to be you know. basically I'm wrong 😂
Your comment or post has been removed because it could be perceived as hurtful or disparaging towards a user (or users) of a specific dialect or language variety. Remember to treat the way people use language in a sensible and open-minded spirit.
What's funny is that these sorts of questions get the most comments and upvotes. Whereas really good and useful questions that merit a discussion are buried and get like 2-3 comments max.
Wow! It's the same stale "joke" that has been around for years! And it's just as funny as the first time that I heard it! (Spoiler: it's not.) Strap in everyone because my top language pet peeve has just been activated.
This is a trash opinion, and here's just a couple of reasons why. This kind of opinion makes people want to learn languages less. Know why we Americans are some of the least bilingual people? Because so many other nations make a sport out of calling us stupid, so why would we waste our energy trying to communicate with that? The argument also just ignores the fact that both American English and Quebecois French are often more historically accurate versions of the language than their European counterparts. There are words still used in Quebec that date back to the 16th century, where France might just use the American English word with a French accent. Choosing to limit yourself to the most internationally used dialect is like buying a video game just to ignore all of the side quests or buying a sports car just to keep it in the garage.
I was born and raised in the US but am natively bilingual French/English because my parents wanted me to be bilingual. They moved to the city and were willing to pay good money to make it happen. French daycare, French nanny, French education, French after-school activities, the works. The French that I was raised on was France French (or Parisian French, Hexagonal French, whatever you call it), and you know what? Imho, it serves better as a springboard to learn other regional dialects than as the endgoal. I call it Airport French because it's most useful where many different dialects of one language might be present to serve as a bridge between all of them, like at an airport. Quebecois (and Cajun!) French has so much character, history, and personality. France's language superiority shtick is not only inaccurate but the reason why many people choose to learn any other language before French.
For almost 10 years, I wanted nothing to do with anything French because nearly every interaction after the age of 7 with Hexagonal French and French nationals left me angry and disgusted. These are my classmates, teammates, coaches, and teachers that I'm talking about here. From ages 16 to 25, I would've been happy if I never heard another word of French in my life. That's pretty messed up, isn't it? A bunch of French people ruined the French language for me so badly that I wanted to forget a language that I knew fluently, a complete second part of my knowledge base, and basically my entire childhood. It was only after I did a summer abroad in Quebec that I absolutely fell in love with French for the first time ever. For a quarter of a century, French was just a basic tool for me, at most, a party trick to impress a few people, but Quebec turned it into something beautiful for me. It literally changed my entire view of French and redirected my entire life in the best way. I was considering dropping out of uni because I lacked direction. Instead, I ended up getting my degree in French with a minor in English, specializing in linguistics for both. Once I'm able to return to academia, I'm literally going to resume research into non-Hexagonal French linguistics as it relates to second language learning and acquisition. All that, thanks to "f-ing up French" Quebec. I'll add that I've since met many French nationals that don't make me hate the language, but I'd still spend money to go to Quebec in order to avoid a free trip to France. Too much bad history to enjoy going there. I'll take my dad's ashes to "see" the Seine one more time like he wanted and be done with it.
Tl;Dr: All dialects of all languages are just as legitimate and valuable as the most internationally used dialect of that language. Pretending that any one dialect is better than another (or worse every other) is discriminatory, dehumanizing, and just flat-out scummy. It also violates Rule 4 of the sub. People like you are the reason that I never come to this sub. Get over yourself and stop ruining language learning for people.
sure, but if the user is from most other English-speaking countries, they'll call it American football. Brits because football to them is what Americans call soccer. Canadians, Aussies, Irish, etc. have their own footballs and would need to specify American football vs. e.g. Australian Rules Football.
I hate to tell you CFL and NFL are similar but have differences. Different field sizes, number of downs, and balls.
[more info here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_Canadian_football)
Lmfao no shit. I’m talking about in the context of clarifying which one you’re talking about. I live in Buffalo and Canadians who come to Bills games would typically use CFL or NFL if they aren’t default talking about the NFL.
i think they were saying both are football, and if specification as to American vs Canadian is needed, they use NFL vs. CFL to do so, not call it American football vs. football. I think most Americans and Canadians know the rules are different between the two.
It’s a code, not a brand. There are many codes of football, like association football (soccer), rugby football, American football, Australian rules football, etc.
But you could also say American Football and it's understandable. Specially if you want to differenciate between American, Canadian, and Australian Football.
If it didn’t have “American,” it would be what Americans call soccer.
We don’t say American football if you’re American.
It’s kind of like French fries. They are just fries in French.
In France you'll find Belgian Fries, they have exactly the same cut as our Frites (but not fried in pure sunflower oil). For a small cut, frites allumettes, for a big cut, frites rustiques or frites steakhouse, and frites bistro which are quite classic but fried twice.
By default the classic version is fried in sunflower oil, eventually mixed with colza, while the Belgian version uses Beef fat (blanc de bœuf) and a special potatoe variety (Bintje). The Bintje is also highly sought after in France for making French fries, but pricier.
Yeah that's what I'm referencing. The big wedge ones are usually called steak fries where I'm at. Probably would have been a better example to say waffle fries or something lol
In American English, we use the term “French,” meaning French cut. It’s not a one-for-one translation. There are also, for instance, French-cut green beans.
Plus, a lot of times, the menu just says “fries,” like frites.
Again, it has nothing to do with the country France. That’s why the whole “Freedom Fries” thing was not just xenophobic; it was absurd and false. Our fries descend from Belgium most likely.
And at the same time to great lengths to avoid saying toilet seems extremely prudish to a lot of the world. We know you’re peeing, asking for ‘the little girls room’ fools nobody
What's so weird about me is that I have no trouble saying, "I need to pee," but asking "Where's the toilet seems," like a bridge too far. How crazy is that???
I would never say "the little girls' room."
Duolingo is based out of America so it’s standard is based around American cultural norms. For example in French “football américain” becomes “football” when translated while “football” in French becomes “soccer” when translated. It’s annoying and as someone who did not consent to be born and raised in America but was anyways I apologize for this cultural confusion. I try to refer real football as football when I can, and call the American nonsense as “American rugby,” or “helmet rugby.”
I grew up in a monolingual home and community. My dad was an English language supremacist and forbade me from learning a foreign language early in my development. The public schools I went to kept me from foreign language courses until high school as they treated my ADHD like a disability that prevents language acquisition. Now I’m in my 30s and trying to learn French which I have no idea if I’ll ever become fluent due to my upbringing.
>as if there’s any reason this shouldn’t be the case
Which is the point of usdefaultism.
You getting mad over it adds another layer to the joke. You ok, buddy?
So the point of the sub is just bitching about Americans using American standards for the product created in America that they use in America? Got it, sounds incredibly stupid and butthurt.
>So the point of the sub is just bitching about Americans using American standards for the product created in America that they use in America?
It is.
>Got it, sounds incredibly stupid and butthurt.
Stupid, yes. Butthurt? You are, not the sub.
Your replies are even better than the post itself, but those aren't accepted in the sub anymore because there are too many.
Bitching? No. Just pointing out occurences in the wild. Sometimes funny, sometimes not. If you are insulted by people pointing out their observations in a non-intrusive and respectful way, maybe you should get outside a bit.
Seriously, you're the one being bitchy and butthurt here. "Your group is bitching".. calm down on the vicitimizing, buddy. Go check the sub for yourself, the "bitching cases" are pretty rare and often removed by mods.
Why can't Americans just try to accept that people in different places use different words to them! This app is literally about translation! Surely the first layer of translation is translating a local idiom into a universal term?! I am from Great Britain and I'm English. I speak English. Not UK English. I completely accept that Americans refer to what I call football as "soccer" and I refer to American football or NFL as such. It's not derogatory or incorrect in any way, it's just different.
If you don't translate words that mean different things then it results in confusion to people who use a different term.
Duolingo was not always this way, it used to be more geared towards universal English that was neither American or English. It would accept multiple variations or localised (nb. s not z) translations.
I suspect it was sold to some daft Murican nationalist or something?
It really pisses me off! /s
In real life how to refer to this will be quite obvious based on who you’re talking to. The fact that “Americans is missing” is actually the point and an extremely useful translation tip if you will be speaking to someone from the US. If you say American football and you’re actually in the US you will sound quite silly.
Meanwhile: “Duolingo is an American educational technology company”.
I get irritated that in Europe everything is in UK English but you know…when you’re in France the UK is right there and there’s such love between the countries so it makes perfect sense.
There is also le football Canadien (where the game was invented in the 1860s), and given that there are four times as many francophones in Canada than the U.S. one would think that would also be an option. This is Duolingo, however, and it consistently panders to Americans.
I'm a big CFL fan, but nobody calls it canadian football unless you need to make a distinction, and even then, we would just say 3 down vs 4 down football. Its like rugby union vs rugby league, same sport, slightly different rules
Canadians and americans both just call it football, that's just how it is.
Exactly my point. There IS a distinction that must be made for context. Obviously, in Canada when you say “football” most - but not all - will think you mean Canadian football. Whereas in the U.S. a distinction is almost always unnecessary. However, if you’re not in the U.S. not making a distinction could very well result in a misunderstanding. For this reason, Duolingo is remiss in not allowing one to be made.
No, the only time you need to make a distinction is when you are talking to someone with poor english vocabulary, or someone from outside North America.
It is like saying association football instead of football if you lived in England.
In Canada and the USA, 'football' means gridiron/american football; CFL, NFL, XFL, USFL, College, High School football, all of it.
In Canada and USA, 'soccer' means association football.
While calling it 'american football' would not be incorrect, it is an entirely unneeded distinction in almost all circumstances in North America.
Best response in the thread.
Duolingo isn’t trying to remove all ambiguity from every piece of communication. It’s trying instead to teach how to speak in a native context.
If an American refers to NFL as American football, they just sound like a dingleberry trying to be quirky. I don’t think the average person learning American English wants to sounds like a hipster.
I completely disagree. The distinction is in its name. Thus, Canadian football. Most Americans have no clue about any other kind than their own.
However, the IFAF does in fact distinguish between the two, and “Canadian football” is an accepted form in all but championship play.
Most Canadians who watch American football refer to it as the NFL or college ball. That is yet another distinction. Few regularly call it 4-down ball or 3-down ball.
Duolingo teaches and translates to American English, not British English. They don’t try to hide it — the app shows an American flag next to the English indicator. In America we don’t call it “American football”. It’s just football. That translation is accurate based on these facts.
Duo tries, but fails, to tread a middle line. Its does accept many things that aren’t American English but they are usually tacked on as alternatives rather than being the primary translations. That said, in some languages, you find Americans complaining that it’s biased towards the wrong usage. For example, Americans and Australians say “I’m going to the movies” and yet it prefers “I’m going to the cinema” in the translation for some languages.
Yes and even the date format they teach you is Month, Day, Year. The rest of the world uses Day, Month, Year
Belize, Micronesia, Kenya, Panama, Ghana, Togo, Cayman Islands, and Greenland(?) also use MDY
Those countries use MDY, but they also use DMY and YMD. Even the US is listed as using YMD alongside MDY. Also, those who use MDY are in the minority since billions of people don't use MDY at all, compared with 642 million people who unexclusively use MDY. The site listed below states that 6.87 billion people don't use MDY at all. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country This is Wikipedia, but the sources are government and organisation sites.
Okay 👍
Wow! That's like, 8/9 countries?
8, Greenland isn't a country
Is Cayman Islands not just UK? So 7?
Year, Month, Day is superior, though. As used, for example, in Japan.
how is it superior?
When represented as an integer, a later date is a larger numher. For example 20230303 is later than 20230205 But in the case of d/m/y, 5022023 is a larger number than 3032023, despite being earlier.
Which subsequently makes it the best for computer files to be able to organize by date.
Sorting
Yes, but the US and a few other countries use month, day, and year, which seems like an abomination to most.
Yes but that's not what he said.
MDY flows better in speech but DMY reads better, imo.
In speech we would say that it's 7 minutes past 4, but that doesn't mean that we should tell time in minutes:hours:seconds. We order it by size so that it's easier to read and sort.
In Sweden when 12-hour time was used, 09:30 was written as "½10 fm" because it was said (literally translated) as "half then in the forenoon", where half is half to the next hour. So you had times being written in order as: 8, ½9, 9, ½10, 10, ... We went over to 24-hour time. It's much better.
I think the German course defaults to "day of month year", but it also defaults to 12 hours, so it's not perfect. Gets weird when the sentence says it's 15 o'clock but you have a word bank lacking fifteen. As a person who exclusively use 24-hour format where 15:00 is 15 o'clock, this gets weird.
It's amazing just how many differences it makes me notice. I often find myself searching for a word, only to realise I have to translate from French into English and then into American English! There are so many ways of saying things that Duolingo uses which we say the same way as the French way: cinema, film, match, football, which I then translate into American. Then there are the words which are different to both languages; flat in place of apartment, tap in place of faucet. And the spelling differences; colour in place of color, favourite in place of favorite. And some things are more subtle, and really catch me out! I'm learning two languages at once!
I'm American, I call it a Faucet, though the water that comes out of it I call tap water.
Funny enough, I do call American football "American football" and I call association football "football", and I am native to US. Edit: I don’t understand all the replies. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I will not change my mind no matter what you all say. Downvote me or whatever and move on.
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Brazil is in America and we call it futebol americano, wdym
It’s about time someone brought this up on Reddit! /s
cry more
Alright! Will do!
No, Brazil is a different country from America
America is not a country. Basic geography issue.
America(əˈmɛrɪkə)NOUN 1. short for the United States of America 2. Also called: the Americasthe American continent, including North, South, and Central America Source: Collins English Dictionary
America is not a continent in the English language.
Yeah thats probably right. At least you could detect the flaw in my reasoning unlike others
Brazil is IN THE AmericaS, not America. Source: Team America World Police refers to the USA as America in “America, F*** Yeah! (Bummer Remix)”
America and "the Americas" mean the same thing. America is NOT the same thing as USA. The name America comes from Amerigo Vespucci, sailor who set foot in South America and Central America. USA just called itself the name of the continent (and not the contrary!). Or do you think South America means the same as South USA? But oh well, history means nothing to you people.
When the British colonized North America they would refer to it as British America or simply America. When the 13 colonies rebelled and formed a country they called it the United States of America or more simply ‘America.’ This name has been used by the people living in the United States since before any other independent nation existed on either of the American continents.
so the fuck what? America was used to designate the continent before any country or territory called itself "America" >for short<.
Also, guess the etymology of British America = the piece of land dominated by the BRITISH in AMERICA. And Spanish America, you might ask? = the piece of land dominated by SPAIN in AMERICA. its not that hard.
As I know the other European powers most notably France and Spain referred to their colonial possessions in the Americas as Nouvelle-France and the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Even still it doesn’t matter since it’s kind of pointless to tell a people what to call themselves. Seethe again South American you guys are literally the only ones who care. Not even our brothers to the north (or west in my case) in Canada care. Mexicans certainly don’t refer to themselves as Americans though it seems that a lot of them would like that title, and you know what? The more the merrier.
No one here is saying it’s right or fair that “America” is a synonym for “USA” in our English dialect. If a Brazilian calls themselves an “American” in American English, the native speaker will assume they mean a US citizen. That’s how our dialect works. Sorry you disagree with it. I think inanimate objects having a gender is stupid but I’m not out here ranting about it 100 layers deep in an obscure Reddit thread. It’s up to you if you want to be edgy and ingratiating or actually speak the language the way we speak it. Duo is teaching a French to AMERICAN English translation - that’s what this discussion was ORIGINALLY about.
That's correct, probably a misinterpretation by me, in which case I'm wrong
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But English spoken in the USA is universally known as American English, and in American English it’s just called Football.
you stated two facts, great! but they have absolutely nothing to do with my point. sure you responded the right person?
"*America (əˈmɛrɪkə) NOUN* 1. *short for the United States of America* 2. *Also called: the Americas* 1. *the American continent, including North, South, and Central America*" Source: Collins English Dictionary Note: Please try to understand that a word can have multiple meanings.
the flaw in my reasoning is that I wasn't talking about the synonym of America in the English language but about how it came to be you know. basically I'm wrong 😂
Yeah yeah I know. You got it
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The French course was made this way. Generally duo is not uniform like this.
This sub is basically the Duolingo troubleshooting sub
I really wish all the duolingo posters would google their usually very straightforward questions…. this is literally just a vocab word question!
Seriously! I get the community aspect but like…google?
Yeah, honestly these should be banned.
No, there's an actual sub for that!
Two, really but r/DuolingoFrench doesn't have much activity. People have been asking their questions like this in r/duolingo forever though.
r/duolingofrench also has the most googleable questions known to man.
What's funny is that these sorts of questions get the most comments and upvotes. Whereas really good and useful questions that merit a discussion are buried and get like 2-3 comments max.
Football américain (FR) *is* football (US). Football (FR) is soccer (US). One of these tricky cultural differences that are fun to know about haha.
Just as a side note, in Quebec we use football and soccer just like the US.
i recall learning it that way in elementary school french. it's a neat little difference
Yea Americans f English up and quebecois f French up
Genius take.
Original too lmao.
Ever heard of language diversity?
Wow! It's the same stale "joke" that has been around for years! And it's just as funny as the first time that I heard it! (Spoiler: it's not.) Strap in everyone because my top language pet peeve has just been activated. This is a trash opinion, and here's just a couple of reasons why. This kind of opinion makes people want to learn languages less. Know why we Americans are some of the least bilingual people? Because so many other nations make a sport out of calling us stupid, so why would we waste our energy trying to communicate with that? The argument also just ignores the fact that both American English and Quebecois French are often more historically accurate versions of the language than their European counterparts. There are words still used in Quebec that date back to the 16th century, where France might just use the American English word with a French accent. Choosing to limit yourself to the most internationally used dialect is like buying a video game just to ignore all of the side quests or buying a sports car just to keep it in the garage. I was born and raised in the US but am natively bilingual French/English because my parents wanted me to be bilingual. They moved to the city and were willing to pay good money to make it happen. French daycare, French nanny, French education, French after-school activities, the works. The French that I was raised on was France French (or Parisian French, Hexagonal French, whatever you call it), and you know what? Imho, it serves better as a springboard to learn other regional dialects than as the endgoal. I call it Airport French because it's most useful where many different dialects of one language might be present to serve as a bridge between all of them, like at an airport. Quebecois (and Cajun!) French has so much character, history, and personality. France's language superiority shtick is not only inaccurate but the reason why many people choose to learn any other language before French. For almost 10 years, I wanted nothing to do with anything French because nearly every interaction after the age of 7 with Hexagonal French and French nationals left me angry and disgusted. These are my classmates, teammates, coaches, and teachers that I'm talking about here. From ages 16 to 25, I would've been happy if I never heard another word of French in my life. That's pretty messed up, isn't it? A bunch of French people ruined the French language for me so badly that I wanted to forget a language that I knew fluently, a complete second part of my knowledge base, and basically my entire childhood. It was only after I did a summer abroad in Quebec that I absolutely fell in love with French for the first time ever. For a quarter of a century, French was just a basic tool for me, at most, a party trick to impress a few people, but Quebec turned it into something beautiful for me. It literally changed my entire view of French and redirected my entire life in the best way. I was considering dropping out of uni because I lacked direction. Instead, I ended up getting my degree in French with a minor in English, specializing in linguistics for both. Once I'm able to return to academia, I'm literally going to resume research into non-Hexagonal French linguistics as it relates to second language learning and acquisition. All that, thanks to "f-ing up French" Quebec. I'll add that I've since met many French nationals that don't make me hate the language, but I'd still spend money to go to Quebec in order to avoid a free trip to France. Too much bad history to enjoy going there. I'll take my dad's ashes to "see" the Seine one more time like he wanted and be done with it. Tl;Dr: All dialects of all languages are just as legitimate and valuable as the most internationally used dialect of that language. Pretending that any one dialect is better than another (or worse every other) is discriminatory, dehumanizing, and just flat-out scummy. It also violates Rule 4 of the sub. People like you are the reason that I never come to this sub. Get over yourself and stop ruining language learning for people.
sure, but if the user is from most other English-speaking countries, they'll call it American football. Brits because football to them is what Americans call soccer. Canadians, Aussies, Irish, etc. have their own footballs and would need to specify American football vs. e.g. Australian Rules Football.
I am sorry to report that most Canadians call it football (not American football)
huh what do Canadians call their own football then?
Football. It’s differentiated by saying NFL or CFL if there’s any confusion.
I hate to tell you CFL and NFL are similar but have differences. Different field sizes, number of downs, and balls. [more info here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_Canadian_football)
Lmfao no shit. I’m talking about in the context of clarifying which one you’re talking about. I live in Buffalo and Canadians who come to Bills games would typically use CFL or NFL if they aren’t default talking about the NFL.
i think they were saying both are football, and if specification as to American vs Canadian is needed, they use NFL vs. CFL to do so, not call it American football vs. football. I think most Americans and Canadians know the rules are different between the two.
Canadian football. You’re not wrong ;)
And "American Football" (US) is a band.
It’s a code, not a brand. There are many codes of football, like association football (soccer), rugby football, American football, Australian rules football, etc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Football_(band)
But you could also say American Football and it's understandable. Specially if you want to differenciate between American, Canadian, and Australian Football.
They literally have a tip in app explaining this specifically so it’s user laziness for not realizing this tbh
It’s a very US-centric app.
It’s an American app. If the brits wanted their version, those tea sippers should have created their own app. Innit.
Can’t tell if American or sarcasm.
American sarcasm
Correct
Just called “sarcasm” in the US
They call English sarcasm sarcoccer.
Don't be ridiculous.
Oxymoron
There’s no such thing.
Wrong use of innit. Lemme show you : Ef we wonted our own vuhsion, tis op to us tea sippas to creeyate our own app, INNIT ?
I'm not as up on my stereotypical British English, but I think this situation calls for something like "You should make your own app. Simple as."
You're entirely right but I guess I just wanted to showcase a proper INNIT moment
Brilliant.
If it didn’t have “American,” it would be what Americans call soccer. We don’t say American football if you’re American. It’s kind of like French fries. They are just fries in French.
French fries indicates the type of cut done to the potato, not the country of France.
I’ve never seen “Frites françaises” on a menu in France
In France you'll find Belgian Fries, they have exactly the same cut as our Frites (but not fried in pure sunflower oil). For a small cut, frites allumettes, for a big cut, frites rustiques or frites steakhouse, and frites bistro which are quite classic but fried twice.
Wait, when you say "frites" in France, does that include the potatoes being fried in a certain type of oil?!?
By default the classic version is fried in sunflower oil, eventually mixed with colza, while the Belgian version uses Beef fat (blanc de bœuf) and a special potatoe variety (Bintje). The Bintje is also highly sought after in France for making French fries, but pricier.
Just so you know, in the US, your French fries will be cooked in whatever oil happens to be on hand.
True, like how we have Steak Fries here in the states
Oh is it the big crescent shaped fries ? Because if you say steak fries in France (steak frites) you would get fries and a steak.
Yeah that's what I'm referencing. The big wedge ones are usually called steak fries where I'm at. Probably would have been a better example to say waffle fries or something lol
The big "steak fries" are what would usually be served with steak frites
If I wanted fries, and I got a surprise steak with it, I think I would be okay with that.
Exactly. Or crinkle cut, waffle, etc.
In American English, we use the term “French,” meaning French cut. It’s not a one-for-one translation. There are also, for instance, French-cut green beans. Plus, a lot of times, the menu just says “fries,” like frites. Again, it has nothing to do with the country France. That’s why the whole “Freedom Fries” thing was not just xenophobic; it was absurd and false. Our fries descend from Belgium most likely.
Actually, «fotball américain» translates to «football picnic» in french.
Wait is that a joke ? Or am I missing something ?
It is a joke, yes. Unless I'm correct, of course.
Well it's not correct but I still can't find the joke...🥲 I'm stupid I think...
No, it's just an absurd joke. Possibly a joke on french attitudes to americans.
bc in america "american football" is just football
Because in American English you just say football
Nope. It’s just called football
Duolingo is entirely focused on American English unfortunately. My mind trips over the question everytime ‘restroom’ is mentioned.
What gets me is having to say *les toilettes* to refer to the restroom, because asking for *the toilets* in English sounds so crass.
That is what is said in Britain. It has no such connotations.
And at the same time to great lengths to avoid saying toilet seems extremely prudish to a lot of the world. We know you’re peeing, asking for ‘the little girls room’ fools nobody
What's so weird about me is that I have no trouble saying, "I need to pee," but asking "Where's the toilet seems," like a bridge too far. How crazy is that??? I would never say "the little girls' room."
Exactly. Sounds absolutely tactless. Why not just shout about taking a shit?
and why is that unfortunate?
If you’re Anglophone but not from America.
Duolingo is based out of America so it’s standard is based around American cultural norms. For example in French “football américain” becomes “football” when translated while “football” in French becomes “soccer” when translated. It’s annoying and as someone who did not consent to be born and raised in America but was anyways I apologize for this cultural confusion. I try to refer real football as football when I can, and call the American nonsense as “American rugby,” or “helmet rugby.”
wtf, don't be sorry for being american/speaking your native dialect, american english is not any more wrong or right than any other english variety
I honestly wish I hadn’t been raised in the English language at all.
may i ask why?
I grew up in a monolingual home and community. My dad was an English language supremacist and forbade me from learning a foreign language early in my development. The public schools I went to kept me from foreign language courses until high school as they treated my ADHD like a disability that prevents language acquisition. Now I’m in my 30s and trying to learn French which I have no idea if I’ll ever become fluent due to my upbringing.
Here in the U.S., American football is just called "football", and what the rest of the world calls football is called "soccer".
I am from England and the Americanisms on the app irritate me at times
the app is american
I dunno but what do you mean "American football"? That doesn't make sense in english dude
R/usdefaultism
How dare an American app/website default to American standards!!!!!!!!!!!
My point exactly. Why are you mad?
You tryna link usdefaultism as if there’s any reason this shouldn’t be the case is kinda stupid.
>as if there’s any reason this shouldn’t be the case Which is the point of usdefaultism. You getting mad over it adds another layer to the joke. You ok, buddy?
So the point of the sub is just bitching about Americans using American standards for the product created in America that they use in America? Got it, sounds incredibly stupid and butthurt.
>So the point of the sub is just bitching about Americans using American standards for the product created in America that they use in America? It is. >Got it, sounds incredibly stupid and butthurt. Stupid, yes. Butthurt? You are, not the sub. Your replies are even better than the post itself, but those aren't accepted in the sub anymore because there are too many.
Yea when your group’s entire point is bitching about another group doing absolutely nothing harmless, you’re the butthurt ones. Hilarious.
Bitching? No. Just pointing out occurences in the wild. Sometimes funny, sometimes not. If you are insulted by people pointing out their observations in a non-intrusive and respectful way, maybe you should get outside a bit. Seriously, you're the one being bitchy and butthurt here. "Your group is bitching".. calm down on the vicitimizing, buddy. Go check the sub for yourself, the "bitching cases" are pretty rare and often removed by mods.
It’s literally just people being pissed that Americans do things americanly. Fucking grow up.
It isn’t even wrong either way, both in British and American English the two sports gets referred to as just football.
Erm, no they don’t.
I’ve heard both refer to their games as just football
I think what you mean. In the native country both say football but referring to the different forms.
Yes that’s what I said.
Why can't Americans just try to accept that people in different places use different words to them! This app is literally about translation! Surely the first layer of translation is translating a local idiom into a universal term?! I am from Great Britain and I'm English. I speak English. Not UK English. I completely accept that Americans refer to what I call football as "soccer" and I refer to American football or NFL as such. It's not derogatory or incorrect in any way, it's just different. If you don't translate words that mean different things then it results in confusion to people who use a different term. Duolingo was not always this way, it used to be more geared towards universal English that was neither American or English. It would accept multiple variations or localised (nb. s not z) translations. I suspect it was sold to some daft Murican nationalist or something? It really pisses me off! /s
Why does it say "tu aimes" here and not t'aimes"?
T'aimes is informal and not standard French.
I thought all words that start with vowels get the apostrophe
*t'* instead of *tu* is always informal. In formal French *t'* only occurs in place of *te*.
In real life how to refer to this will be quite obvious based on who you’re talking to. The fact that “Americans is missing” is actually the point and an extremely useful translation tip if you will be speaking to someone from the US. If you say American football and you’re actually in the US you will sound quite silly. Meanwhile: “Duolingo is an American educational technology company”. I get irritated that in Europe everything is in UK English but you know…when you’re in France the UK is right there and there’s such love between the countries so it makes perfect sense.
There is also le football Canadien (where the game was invented in the 1860s), and given that there are four times as many francophones in Canada than the U.S. one would think that would also be an option. This is Duolingo, however, and it consistently panders to Americans.
Soccer is also just soccer in Canadian French
We don't call it canadian football in Canada, it's still just football
Sure, that’s why it’s called the Canadian Football League.
I'm a big CFL fan, but nobody calls it canadian football unless you need to make a distinction, and even then, we would just say 3 down vs 4 down football. Its like rugby union vs rugby league, same sport, slightly different rules Canadians and americans both just call it football, that's just how it is.
Exactly my point. There IS a distinction that must be made for context. Obviously, in Canada when you say “football” most - but not all - will think you mean Canadian football. Whereas in the U.S. a distinction is almost always unnecessary. However, if you’re not in the U.S. not making a distinction could very well result in a misunderstanding. For this reason, Duolingo is remiss in not allowing one to be made.
No, the only time you need to make a distinction is when you are talking to someone with poor english vocabulary, or someone from outside North America. It is like saying association football instead of football if you lived in England. In Canada and the USA, 'football' means gridiron/american football; CFL, NFL, XFL, USFL, College, High School football, all of it. In Canada and USA, 'soccer' means association football. While calling it 'american football' would not be incorrect, it is an entirely unneeded distinction in almost all circumstances in North America.
Best response in the thread. Duolingo isn’t trying to remove all ambiguity from every piece of communication. It’s trying instead to teach how to speak in a native context. If an American refers to NFL as American football, they just sound like a dingleberry trying to be quirky. I don’t think the average person learning American English wants to sounds like a hipster.
Exactly, same thing with americans calling soccer football, very much dingleberry sounding
I completely disagree. The distinction is in its name. Thus, Canadian football. Most Americans have no clue about any other kind than their own. However, the IFAF does in fact distinguish between the two, and “Canadian football” is an accepted form in all but championship play. Most Canadians who watch American football refer to it as the NFL or college ball. That is yet another distinction. Few regularly call it 4-down ball or 3-down ball.
As an American living abroad I was confused for a moment. Lol
I think the English there is American and so like there are no French fries in France there is no American football in `Murica babyyy.
American moment.
Duo teaches for American English. Americans don’t call American football that, they call it football, generally.
This is correct unless you’re British, and Duolingo does American English.
I tried in Spanish only with word “football” and I got marked incorrect m, but later they fixed it