LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.29 (01) [EN]

Tue Jun 29 18:24:32 UTC 2010

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 29 June 2010 - Volume 02*

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From: Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>

Subject: LL-L "Language proficiency" 2010.06.28 (03) [EN]

Beste Vlad.

Subject: LL-L "Language Proficiency"

Pleased to help, though I might confess I doubt if you will actually need
the best I can contribute.

Well, I shall refrain from that cognomon among Russians (blushing). I
suppose you suspect an old cadre with frolicsome wit & a gift of tongues
parked it on me for a joke... I won't say it can't be, but that we have been
augering in on Afrikaans-speaking staff for some time now, which limits our
exposure to old Umkhindo we Shiswe blokes. Our clients are to an increasing
degree Afrikaans speaking, English-speakers are moving out of the country.
Apart from that there are many old sweats from both sides in the Bush War in
the security industry. We have more to do with each other than the new
Administration wants to have to do with either of us. This is not a good
sign. One staffer deployed at my Ruth's shul went to Russia, East Germany &
Cuba, which puts him on good communications footing with local Jews (Polim,
Litvakim & Ladinos) & those in the diplimatic corps in our capital city. His
hero is Garibaldi, strangely enough, none of these modern icons.

Bear in mind, Vlad, I'm a naive 'tolk'. You are right. What I end up doing
is consecutive. There must be a special skill for simultaneous translation
of UN gobbeldygook - or you could switch your brain off..

I know someone who can do simultaneous, & that with medical terminology, in
five-odd languages. His father was a Polish Jew, His mother Hungarian, they
were both academics & taught for some years in Nederland, then in the USA,
then to South Africa. He just fixes you with a level look & follows you word
for word, excepting when he must drag a little to fish out sequence with
verb-subject-object & so on. He can give you a spot-answer to questions
like, "Whats this in Xxxx?" Mind you, in response to your point, his answer
inevitably features a list of possibilities. Bloody polyglottal thesaurus...
Ja, I reckon I have a drawer for each language, But this Gideon Yavin has
all his tongues in one drawer, words & concepts tagged for retreival by
language. Does it explain matters somewhat, that he is a wizard of a
programmer, besides being a medical trauma management teamster? At the
moment he is in in Israel, schooling Haredim (a certain sector of Orthodox
Jewry) in effective communication with the rest of us. I think his sort
don't *do* nationality, but tenure. So much for comments.

"Toda *h*abibi” means "Thanks, mate." Ron's point about my biting his ankles
is a propos, but only bearing on my reach & his stature, hey, Ron!

Yes, late in the first half of last year I was away from the computer for
long, intermittant stretches. This system of ours stores only so much.
Sorry. If you think it pertinant, by all means send it.

Groete,

Mark

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