Klarinet Archive - Posting 000109.txt from 2004/09

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Language (was Klezmer info)
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 13:27:59 -0400

Lelia Loban posted:

<<<Unlike the French, we speakers of English can't afford to be purists,
because we've mixed up a regular word salad in the centuries since
Shakespeare. We've assimilated native speakers of hundreds of languages
and adopted vocabulary from all over the world. . . .

. . I hope it doesn't mislead anyone to assume that people here will
be contemptuous if it's obvious that a Klarinet list member learned
English as a second (or fifth!) language. Genuine disrespect for
foreigners is rare on this list (though not so rare in
everyday life). >>>

Lelia - well written indeed.

I work with a gal in Singapore, diaspora Chinese, grew up in Malaysia,
schooled in Europe and the US and is married to a German guy. Her
English is broken/mangled, but charming. (So is her German, French,
Japanese and who knows what else.) She states that she's functionally
illiterate in maybe ten languages, but can travel most anywhere in the
world and get by.

She also has the tax code of about 14 countries committed to memory, and
is without a doubt one of the most brilliant people I have ever met.
People who negotiate deals against her assume that she's not smart
because her English is broken. She takes them to the cleaners, every
time.

One quibble - I'm not sure that the French can afford to be purists
either. This is the 21st century, and the world is getting much smaller
very, very fast.

OTOH, reading well-written English can be a joy. Like your posts.

Admiringly,

kjf

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