If I were the one taking four years to respond to someone’s message it wouldn’t be to criticize them for “laziness”. :rolleyes:
I could see how a zombie would be upset at a lack of quality brains. 
For what it’s worth, many American high schools require or strongly encourage four years of on foreign language, but the graduates of said high schools almost never reach a point where they’d describe themselves as speaking that language.
I spent four years in high school studying Spanish, plus another year in college. My Spanish stinks. And quite a few of my relatives on my mother’s side are Spanish speakers to begin with.
In addition, I’ve studied Chinese and Korean, but never got very proficient at either one. So I like to say that I can speak three languages badly. I’m Try-Lingual.
That’s because she’s German.
Huh. I didn’t know Mayfair was in Germany.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess they’re speaking German while arguing and French while kissing.
That’s because it’s very hard to attain real fluency without immersion in the language. Books and tapes will only take you so far.
In college I studied Biblical Hebrew under a professor who was fluent in the language, as well as a half-dozen other ancient Semitic languages - Akkadian, Canaanite, Hittite, Aramaic, Ugaritic - the man specialized in ancient Middle Eastern literature. (Though oddly enough, he was neither Middle Eastern nor even Jewish himself - he was a Presbyterian from Wisconsin.)
He told a story of taking his first sabbatical in Israel. When he was arranging the move, he took a test to determine his level of Hebrew fluency. Apparently, the Israeli university was going to put him in a language class when he arrived. Naturally, being a scholar of Old Testament Hebrew, he tested well enough to be put the very highest level class. Where he failed to understand a single word his classmates were saying. All of his knowledge of was of written Hebrew, and Hebrew written 2000 years ago, at that. He was completely lost at speaking and understanding it as a daily, ordering-a-falafel-at-the-café, telling-a-dirty-joke-to-Ari-from-accounting language. Had to go to the beginner’s level class.
So it’s not surprising that four years of Spanish or French in high school does not give students the ability to actually comprehend the language. You gotta use it, every day and all day.
Isn’t it true that Modern Hebrew and the Hebrew of the Tanach are essentially distinct languages, especially the vocabulary?
I’m assuming that very few people are fluent (i. e. in spoken conversation) in a dead language.
No, not really.
Modern Hebrew is about as similar to Biblical Hebrew as modern English is to Shakespearean English.
Ok. But if that is so, somebody with a near-perfect knowledge of Biblical Hebrew at least shouldn’t have that much trouble communicating with speakers of Modern Hebrew?
“I say, my stout yeoman, mayest I beseech thee to proffer a burger, fries and diet cola?” 
Actually, a scholar of Biblical Hebrew should have no problem at all with simple sentences in modern Hebrew. He would be able to understand everything he hears, and he would be able to make himself understood, although he’d draw a lot of funny looks.
You not but !!
AND if YOU ALL could see the risk of tolerating so easily that someone ask YOU who are… people of such an importance instead to take the time to ‘google’ and fill an ENORMOUS hole of ignorance (evidently tolerated by this handicapped), you’re tolerating an INFECTION (and he too, ignoring even to be both ignorant, lazy and impolite!).
Yes, I came here ‘googling’ while evaluating the importance of mastering languages by prominent politicians to master without bombs complicated world tensions, as Frau Angela Merkel is doing now keeping open a dialogue with Putin (another huge ‘ignorance problem’ like the other ‘ignorance champion’ George W. Bush!), so I could discover this CRIME against your community just now, not reason enough to NOT denounce it for what it is, trying to stimulate a healthy reaction against this kind of person who have even the right to VOTE (probably Republican, not because they are wealthy exploiters but just easy to be manipulate, having weak and for sure not well informed opinions).
Tolerating ignorance, bad and impolite manners, intellectual laziness, keeps self calling pretending ‘democracies’ a such a shallow level, poisoning them, to put on risk the whole world peace and the health of our planet, ‘tolerating’ avid politicians, exploiting companies, ill behaviours like using guns more than pencils.
Over three years ago, when that “Who are these people?” post was first made, it took less than ten minutes (and it was the very next post in the thread) for someone to post with a.) the answer to the question and b.) some sarcastic mocking of the questioner.
What?
I’m not entirely certain, but I think the gist is that we have finally received our long-awaited savior, who is going to teach us all how to use the internet properly.
As crazy as that post was, it’s still better than a link to LMGTFY.
They turn down the lights, put on some candles, Barry White, get out the wine and converse in the language of love.
Yeah, gotta love LMGTFY, where you can do the exact same amount of work that you would do just answering the question, but you manage to make yourself look like a jackass at the same time.
what’s LMGTFY ?