[PLUG-TALK] Re: [PLUG] Sounds good to me ;)

Russell Senior seniorr at aracnet.com
Tue Jun 18 00:14:48 UTC 2002


>>>>> "Scot" == Craighead, Scot D <craighead.scot at vectorscm.com> writes:

Russell> Should you have to learn French before you can drive on
Russell> French roads?  I've successfully driven in France, Italy and
Russell> Spain, I can't speak French, Italian or Spanish worth a lick,
Russell> though I do drag around an excellent French/English
Russell> dictionary ... I have to, I married her!

Scot> True, but did the French issue you a French driver's license?

I didn't want one, so I don't know.

Scot> Did they translate their books on driving into English for you?

I suspect they might have, but that's just my speculation.  I don't
know.  I did get driving advice from somewhere, I just don't remember
where.

Russell> If you want to and can't communicate with some one because
Russell> you don't share with them fluency in a particular language,
Russell> then that is as much your fault as theirs, and you are
Russell> deprived of the value of that communication as much as they
Russell> are.  The "official english" people, IMHO, are trying to
Russell> leverage "power" (from being a member of the "dominant
Russell> culture") into making such failures "the other guy's fault".
Russell> To me, that is just a mark of personal laziness.  And I say
Russell> that as a monoglot.

Scot> So I guess that the immigrants that we speak of do not consider
Scot> us worth comminucating with.

And that, if we don't speak their language, that we don't consider
them worth communicating with.  It is symmetric.  Or it might just be
that acquiring a new language as an adult is _hard_.  But that is
symmetric too.


-- 
Russell Senior         ``The two chiefs turned to each other.        
seniorr at aracnet.com      Bellison uncorked a flood of horrible       
                         profanity, which, translated meant, `This is
                         extremely unusual.' ''                      




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