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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center">=====================================================<br>
<b>L O W L A N D S - L - 25 June 2010 - Volume 01<br>
</b><a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="FR">lowlands.list@gmail.com</span></a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="FR">http://lowlands-l.net/</span></a><br>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><br>
From: <span class="fontdarkgray">Obiter Dictum</span><span class="cgselectable">
<<a href="mailto:obiterdictum@mail.ru">obiterdictum@mail.ru</a>></span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Subject: Language
Proficiency</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Hello
Lowlanders,<br>
<br>
I would like to revisit one old subject, specifically Language Proficiency, and
more specifically, consummate proficiency, sometimes resulting in small but
memorable funny incidents, such as confusing languages, or being unaware of
this or that language one speaks. <br>
<br>
We discussed this four years ago. <br>
<br>
Roger Thijs wrote on 2006.07.19:<br>
“I don't know whether it is beginning senility, but I often cannot remember in
what language a conversation has been held or what the original language of a
program was.”<br>
<br>
Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong wrote on 2006.07.19:<br>
“[Roger] I do believe you, but I do not think it has anything to do with
senility. When you are comfortable with a language it does not demand your
attention, it does not take any effort to decode it and so it becomes like
background music. That does not happen with a language that you experience as
foreign. I remember driving with a Dutch friend from Philadelphia
to Montreal. We
were both going to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania
and were therefore used to speaking English all the time. The car radio was on,
but we were in deep conversation until all of a sudden the announcer gave the
address of a store in French and we became both aware that we had been "listening"
to a Dutch language program. That was a real odd awareness. Also, I dream in
both Dutch and English, but become only aware what language it is when a
character in the dream uses other than those two.” <br>
<br>
Paul Finlow-Bates on 2006.07.24: <br>
“Someone might say "there's an article about Swaziland granites in...."
Then they'd pause trying to narrow it down by remembering which language
[English or Afrikaans] it was written in. They often had to give up, because
they could visualise it in either, and it seemed "right".<br>
The phenomenon was restricted to the absolutely bilingual, not just fluent in their
second language.” <br>
<br>
But most impressive (to me) was Leslie Decker's story posted on 2006.07.20: <br>
“... Fluency-wise, I have had a similar experience. I was once flying on KLM
from Amsterdam
to somewhere in the states, and the flight attendant starts all of her normal
announcements in Dutch. I listen to them half-heartedly. About five minutes
later, more announcements come on. I remember thinking, "Didn't they just
say this?" It took me about ten seconds to realize that this was the
English version of what had just been said in Dutch! The delay added to the
confusion.” <br>
<br>
Dear friends, I would really appreciate if others Lowlander share their similar
experiences. I am writing a paper on translation and interpretation and arguing
against the conventional wisdom that ‘speaking/“knowing” another language
doesn't make you a translator/interpreter yet.’ I am doing a little research
for the purpose. <br>
I am positive that many of you have had similar experiences as quoted above,
and can help me to make my point. (Ron ... I put my money on you, especially ; )
Mark, jy ook, noudat ons daaroor praat, oukei, jong?)<br>
<br>
And I also ask Leslie’s, Jacqueline’s, Paul’s and Roger’s permission to quote
them in my paper. <br>
<br>
Thank you all in advance.<br>
Vlad Lee</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>> </p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject:
Language proficiency<br>
<br>
Hi, Vlad!<br>
<br>
First of all:</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br>
<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">(Ron ... I put my money on you, especially ; )</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br>
How much are we talking about, and will I get a cut?<br>
<br>
Knowing more than one language is one thing; being able to switch between them
is an entirely different thing.<br>
<br>
These days, my switch is squeaky. If I get woken up by the phone ringing, and
the call is in a language other than my everyday one (English), then I need a
few minutes to find my groove and cancel out English interference.<br>
<br>
When I lived in Israel,
my language switch was so well oiled that the appropriate language (usually
English, German, Yiddish and Hebrew, and a little Spanish) came out if I as
much as saw a “matching” face. And I worked in a multilingual team serving people
in a kibbutz dining hall where all sorts of languages were flying about. Also,
I noticed that my verbal interpretation proficiency was much better then than
it is now, which leads me to believe that there’s a link. I remember acting as
assistant tour guide for mixed English- and German-speaking tourist groups. The
tour guide/driver knew a lot about history, historic sites and archeology but had
only the most rudimentary of English proficiency. He would ramble on in Hebrew and
I would translate it into both English and German. I had hardly any problem doing
so.<br>
<br>
However, mistakes <i>do</i> happen. Once I had to explain to a small group of rather
posh elderly English ladies that eating at a certain hole-in-the-wall establishment
might not be a good idea because several people had come away from it with ... “gonorrhea”!
I remember their shocked faces and their “Oh, did they? Rrreally?!” No, not really.
The correct word was “diarrhea” ... some sort of -rrhea anyway.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </p>
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