The Olympic road race,why so dissapointing?

[Cyclezee]

French is also the language of diplomacy......Sacré bleu

 

[Kudoscycles]

Standard trivial pursuit type question. I looked up who speaks what language.
It appears the number of countries is as follows
English......57
French.......28
Arabic.......25
Spanish.....24
Russian.....12
Portuguse..10

But the number of people is as follows,in millions
Chinese......1,213
Spanish......329
English.......328
Arabic........221
Hindi.........182
Bengali......181
Portuguese.178
Russian......144
Japanese....122
German......90

French does not seem to be in the top ten,very interesting.
English is the language of the air and sea.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Apologies,got distracted....be interesting if the ladies in the bike road race, on now, have a more flexible game plan.

 

[muckymits]

French does not seem to be in the top ten,very interesting.
English is the language of the air and sea.

Wasint there some nasty air crash a few years ago, because the French air traffic control refused to speak in English?

 

[flecc]

French does not seem to be in the top ten,very interesting.
English is the language of the air and sea.

But it's when having a second language is considered that makes all the difference Dave. Second languages being taught and learned has been very much the province of the western world, and for the century or so that's been true it's been French that's been the favoured one. Having French as the intermediate language of translation at such places as the UN and in many international conferences is a very imporytant factor too, since it means every country has to produce a number of translators fluent in translating their language into French.

 

[funkylyn]

Standard trivial pursuit type question. I looked up who speaks what language.
It appears the number of countries is as follows
English......57
French.......28
Arabic.......25
Spanish.....24
Russian.....12
Portuguse..10

But the number of people is as follows,in millions
Chinese......1,213
Spanish......329
English.......328
Arabic........221
Hindi.........182
Bengali......181
Portuguese.178
Russian......144
Japanese....122
German......90

French does not seem to be in the top ten,very interesting.
English is the language of the air and sea.

Interesting, and I have to say that although I am happy to accept French being used as an alternative language during the Olympics, I was a bit miffed that it was said in bloody french FIRST .....the games are being held in ENGLAND after all is said and done... and as for diplomacy..... we Brits can be very diplomatic when need be too......at least I can lol

Lynda

 

[mike killay]

Interesting, and I have to say that although I am happy to accept French being used as an alternative language during the Olympics, I was a bit miffed that it was said in bloody french FIRST .....the games are being held in ENGLAND after all is said and done... and as for diplomacy..... we Brits can be very diplomatic when need be too......at least I can lol

Lynda

No you can't
The games are being held in Britain.
Diolch yn fawr.

 

[Mussels]

Standard trivial pursuit type question. I looked up who speaks what language.
It appears the number of countries is as follows
English......57
French.......28
Arabic.......25
Spanish.....24
Russian.....12
Portuguse..10

But the number of people is as follows,in millions
Chinese......1,213
Spanish......329
English.......328
Arabic........221
Hindi.........182
Bengali......181
Portuguese.178
Russian......144
Japanese....122
German......90

French does not seem to be in the top ten,very interesting.
English is the language of the air and sea.

I think there is a little figure massaging going on there to get a particular point across. Chinese is not a language but a collection of languages, if we're going to compare apples with apples then it's probably better to compare Chinese to Romance, Germanic, Baltic etc.

 

[eddieo]

In answer to Daves question "why are they so disapointing?" I think its becaue the teams are limited to 4 and some teams consist of one rider!

nothing like the sight of a mass of cyclists sweeping over the brow of a hill.....

watching the womens race at the moment, and the weather is awful..still have not managed to catch any of mens race yesterday due to the f'ing BBC but will have a look on IPlayer after this

edit: well a silverat least! and still time trials..and velodrome to go..... So chin's up!lol

 

[flecc]

No you can't
The games are being held in Britain.
Diolch yn fawr.

It's the London Games, not the British games!

The Olympics are city events in which countries participate. Anyway, Britain isn't really a country as such, it's a collective of three countries, rather like the UK is a collective of four countries. Other competitions are at least more honest, in those it's the countries of England, Wales and Scotland usually competing internationally, and that's how it should be in the Olympics.
.

 

[funkylyn]

No you can't
The games are being held in Britain.
Diolch yn fawr.

I know Mike, I wasnt being rude to people from wales, scotland or N.I. but deliberatedly said England as that is the country in Great Britain where all the events are being held......at least as far as I know .....and the language we were talking about

Lynda

 

[funkylyn]

It's the London Games, not the British games!

The Olympics are city events in which countries participate. Anyway, Britain isn't really a country as such, it's a collective of three countries, rather like the UK is a collective of four countries. Other competitions are at least more honest, in those it's the countries of England, Wales and Scotland usually competing internationally, and that's how it should be in the Olympics.
.

Well ...yeh but no but yeh but.......not quite strictly true Flecc....remember the sailing stuff is based in Weymouth

Lynda

 

[flecc]

Yes, strictly true, this happens at every Olympics Lynda, and it's what comes of introducing non-Olympic sports that need special facilities. All the true Olympic events are being held in London though, and it's still London that won the games, not Britain, a win conceived and motivated by Londoner Ken Livingstone who was Mayor of London at the time, not Mayor of Britain.
.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Almost an overkill on the telly at the moment....having spent 40 years involved in motorsport,got to watch the Hungarian Grand Prix.....30 years in sailboat racing,got to watch Ainslie at Weymouth and since my recent interest in bicycles really got involved in the exciting ladies road race today. I have to say that the BBC are doing a good job of covering all these events....cycling and sailing are difficult sports to cover but they seem to get close in on the action and get the atmosphere.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[funkylyn]

Yes, strictly true, this happens at every Olympics Lynda, and it's what comes of introducing non-Olympic sports that need special facilities. All the true Olympic events are being held in London though, and it's still London that won the games, not Britain, a win conceived and motivated by Ken Livingstone who was Mayor of London at the time, not Mayor of Britain.

Im happy for them to be called the London Olympics. Flecc.....just wish it had been Boris as mayor then not red ken

lynda

 

[bode]

Sidetracking again, why is it called "Team GB" rather than "Team UK"? Great Britain is, after all only the name of the largest island of our group, comprising England, Wales, and Scotland.

Interesting that in the opening ceremony, the first contribution came from a choir in Northern Ireland, as in "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

Presumably the positive asscociations of the word "great"!

 

[flecc]

Im happy for them to be called the London Olympics. Flecc.....just wish it had been Boris as mayor then not red ken

lynda

No way! Ken Livingstone is a born and bred Londoner so wholly appropriate, not an imported self-seeking upper class twit like Boris Johnson who was voted in by his cronies in the leafy outer suburbs. They were added to London in the creation of Greater London by his fellow tories in an act of blatant gerrymandering to help them have such faked electoral wins in London.

In over four years of his mayoralty, Johnson's sole contributions have been a £20 millions cut in the cycling budget, removal of part of the very successful congestion charge area (for the upper class area of course) and a crony deal with the unsavoury characters who ran Barclays Bank at the time. Four of the pals he appointed to the major posts for running London have had to be thrown out after exposures of illegality or malpractice, giving a good idea of the company he keeps.

Remember, he's a senior newspaper man, and we know from the Levinson Inquiry what that means!

 

[Mussels]

No way! Ken Livingstone is a born and bred Londoner so wholly appropriate, not an imported self-seeking upper class twit like Boris Johnson who was voted in by his cronies in the leafy outer suburbs. They were added to London in the creation of Greater London by his fellow tories in an act of blatant gerrymandering to help them have such faked electoral wins in London.

In over four years of his mayoralty, Johnson's sole contributions have been a £20 millions cut in the cycling budget to fund Livingstone's white elephant Olympics, removal of part of the very successful congestion charge area (said to be for the benefit of residents but strangely the ungrateful residents didn't want the extra tax) and a crony deal with the unsavoury characters who ran Barclays Bank at the time. Four of the pals he appointed to the major posts for running London have had to be thrown out after exposures of illegality or malpractice, giving a good idea of the company he keeps.

Remember, he's a senior newspaper man, and we know from the Levinson Inquiry what that means!

Corrected some of it for you, can't be bothered with the corruption parts as Livingstone's time reeked of corruption.

 

[funkylyn]

Sorry Flecc......but are you seriously defending Ken Livingstone ??
Or is this just an example of your well known wit and sense of humour ??

Lynda

 

[Ajax]

Another point to consider is the demands of the course. From what i've seen of the road course, its nothing like the hill climbs one sees in France and Spain. This must have a baring on the advantages the riders bring to the race.