Writer's Block: Multilingual

[saltdawg]

[Error: unknown template qotd] I'm only doing this because honorata  did it.

Fluent: English, Pidgin
Conversational: Czech, French, Swahili, Patois, Cajun
Only know How to order a drink, Curse someone out and say please & thank you: Portuguese, German, Italian, Greek, Afrikaan, Dutch, Egyptian, Chinese, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Tygrinya, Redneck, And, hell I know how to swear in almost every language...I'm a Sailor after all.

Comments

[saltdawg.livejournal.com]

Aw jeeze...I think I can only actually read English and Czech. I suppose I can read a little Swahili as well. Pidgin has no written form.

[justmealex.livejournal.com]

Pidgin = fun.

Sadly I'm French-Canadian, but understand zero French since I grew up in Seattle and the mom never bothered to teach any of us. True story: I was up in a remote part of Alberta and pop into this coffee shop, the gal behind the counter starts speaking rapid fire French to me and all I can do is stare blankly and say, "uh we speak ENGLISH in this part of Canadia."

Fuck Esperanto, we've got Pidgin!

[saltdawg.livejournal.com]

I'm a little confused here. Is there some sort of visual clue that identifies you as FC, or was she just randomly spouting off in french because she felt like it?

Depending upon where I am in Europe, I'm generally approached in German, but the Czechs would address me in Czech, and mostly when I indicate I don't speak germanese, their second try is usually Russian. The Africans and Asians all know I'm American though.

Oh, there was this time I was at Foufonnes Electrique in Montreal, I think it was a My Bloody Valentine show...Anyway I got to talking with this group of kids. Finally, they asked me where I was from, and when I said "the States" they said "no you aren't! You are from PEI! and we know it." Apparently I have a Scotian/PEI accent for some reason.

Re: Fuck Esperanto, we've got Pidgin!

[justmealex.livejournal.com]

Negatory on the visual clue, most people usually guess that I'm Russian above anything else (we have a sizeable Russian population here and I'm often addressed in Russian by foreigners). I think she might've been new and a recent transplant to AB from French Canadia.

Esperanto = fail. A shame.

Haha at the Scottish fail.