"I've fried things you would never believe..."

Ding ding, dingly ding. Speaking of which, there was an interesting In
Our Time last Thursday about the Arab[1] translation movement. Available
as a podcast here <http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/
inourtime.shtml>. Well worth a listen for those interested in
'civilisation'.

[1] Mesopotamian branch.

 

Indeed. And it will come from an Arab.

I recently made an official complaint about the **** below us, who
frequently not only keeps us awake with his 'Raï' music (probably the
second worst musical 'style' after rap) at all hours of the night, but
who also sometimes _wakens_ us with it. The condition _sine qua non_
was that he not know our identity, as we were almost guaranteed a knife
in the ribs, or a molatov cocktail through the window.

Don't ask me why, don't ask me how, don't ask me to explain it, but for
some reason, the word 'respect' seems to be absent from the Arab
mentality.

D.

 

My employer a non UK company has a policy of the official company
language being English. When I worked briefly in france my local
colleagues who needed it were taking English classes. Myself and
another contractor used to help those who were our drinking buddies
with their homework - to leave more time for boozing.

I wandered into a tourist information place in the vendee some years
back just as an elderly English woman tourist had almost driven the
local assistant to tears by speaking in very fast English and then
being rude and storming out when the assistant didn't understand. I
asked my question in my admittedly appalling french, only to be
answered in pretty good English. The girl behind the counter spoke
good English but couldn't follow the exited rant from the elderly
tourist.

Enjoying 15 weeks holiday a year.

 

Indeed ...

http://minilien.fr/a0k8xe

When have I ever used this expression?

It shows how keen you are to lie, by plucking out of thin air an
expression that I have never used, and then claiming, 'this expression
shows ...'

If 'this expression' shows anything, it's that you're a liar.

D.

 

I humbly accept my mistake and omission.

 

`If I want to buy from you I must learn English; if you want to buy
from me mussen Sie Deutsch sprachen.'

You speak more truth than you know.

 

The way I see it, with English being the worldwide linqua franca of
business, there's almost an automatic default choice for non-native
English-speakers when deciding what to learn as a second language. I'm
not saying they do, or even should, but it's a logical choice. Whereas
if you're a native English speaker, you have several hundred second
languages to choose from. French? German? Spanish? Chinese? Russian?
Arabic? Italian? That's just considering the big ones. The chances of
learning the language that you're most likely to need at any given
point in time abroad are, frankly, pretty slim.

There's also an inherent laziness that stems from knowing that, as a
native English-speaker, if you go abroad, at least in the developed
world, you stand at least some chance of finding someone who speaks
your native tongue. That simply isn't the case with French or indeed
any other language.

At my school it was compulsory to take a foreign language as far as
GCSE level (hence my rusty schoolboy French) but I doubt that's the
case in most schools. It should be. But, as mentioned above, what are
the odds of picking the "right" one?

 

(M J Carley) wrote in message

Hmm, other way around surely?

 

Yes. Bugger. Curse you Willy Brandt.

 

Breadmakers are cheap and easy to use.

Phil

 

nice

 

In our office, we find the second language that is of most use is
Spanish. We need it for (obviously) Spain, most of Latin America, and
it's surprisingly useful even for the US.

 

I don't think we have any Arabs, unless they lurk. I'm 100% sure that
Yehudi has managed to convert a sizeable percentage of ukrm-ers into
the 'sympathiser' category, though.

 

I met plenty in Dubai when I was out there. Aside from cultural
differences[1] they were the same as any other group of people.

Phil.

[1] Which the ex-pat I was working with out there was pretty good at
pointing out to me and making sure I didn't do anything that would
offend his customers..

 

I doubt anyone takes him seriously enough to be converted to anything.

 

I gave it a go but fell asleep after five minutes.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

 

Well quite. I was already in the 'anti-idiot' camp anyway.

 

You seem to, Colin.

D.

 

A 'bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?' does me. It's the minimum. I'll
often respond immediately in English, 'yes ...'
[/QUOTE]

A quick "Sprecht u Engels?" (sp?) certainly works here though,
admittedly, any language based hostility seems to be aimed at the
francophones.

"But in recent months, the linguistic obstacles have accumulated beyond
the merely niggling. New regulations stipulate that public land in
Delval's municipality [Zaventem] can be sold only to people who speak
Dutch or demonstrate a willingness to learn it. Teachers in his
granddaughter's kindergarten are now forbidden to speak French on school
premises."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/29/AR2008012903286_pf.html
but I can't be arsed to find an official reference.

 

Sounds reasonable to me.

D.