[PRCo] Re: Answer to Fred III's post on bilingual drivers

[Fred Schneider]

Do you feel you are fluent, Herb?   Can you use it the same as  
English?   Can you read a Spanish newspaper at the same speed as an  
English paper and understand it?   I am not trying to be  
insulting ... I just recognize certain things where you have arrived  
with a language ... and I never have.   One of those is the ability  
to make puns in a second language or to rapidly understand them.

I appreciate the need for languages but for me they have always been  
a struggle.   I have profound admiration for those who can speak more  
than one tongue.

Perhaps if I were to be placed in a situation where I had to learn  
one such as being forced to live in a remote Mexican or Puerto Rican  
or German town for a year, where it would be impossible to use English.

By the way, I recognized a strong resemblance between "Si, la pluma  
es con Enrique", and French as well as Latin which I have studied.    
I could easily fill in the blanks when I see it.   But hearing it is  
totally different.   I find it intriguing how languages evolve over  
time as man migrates over the land.   Si in Spanish and Oui in French  
for yes have strong similarities.   Even closer, la pluma in Spanish  
and la plume (also feminine) in French.   With is con in Spanish, con  
in Italian, wasn't it cum in Latin but how in the dickens did it  
become avec in French????

It makes sense to me that I open a window here, and in Germany I can  
point to the same object and call it "das Fenster" or in French "la  
fenêtre.    It makes sense because it is something tangible that I  
can point to and point a tag on it with a name.

With some of our last or surnames, I can even understand the  
connections.   Mine is Schneider.   The German verb "schneiden"  
translates "to cut".   A Schneider in Germany is a tailor.   Often  
the British anglicized the German Schneider to Taylor or Tailor.    
That makes a lot of sense to me ... or at least I can follow a line  
of logic.   More so than the other Irish side of my family with the  
British tended to Anglicize from McGowan to Smith simply because it  
was so common.  Maybe that in itself is logical?

But I truly become confused by who decided that Henry and Enrico and  
Enrique are the same.    Is it simply that there is no H sound in  
certain languages and there is in others?   In French, Henry is  
spelled that way but pronounced something like On-ray.   And why does  
my middle name William become Guillermo or something similar thereto  
in Romance languages ... what the heck is the connection.    Are  
Frederick, Frederich, and Fredrico that similar in all languages or  
did I just get lucky enough to pick the right ones.   And how about  
Herbert?  What is it in other languages and does it make sense?  And  
Richard?   And Kenneth?  And James?  And does Boris translate into  
English?

Of course this all leads to why do we translate someone's name?    
Isn't it a little rude?   Like translating or Anglicizing a city  
because we don't want to pronounce it correctly?

How many people did I stir up this time?

Ah, time to go for the Indian lunch.  You're all saved by the bell.

On Dec 8, 2007, at 8:26 PM, Herb Brannon wrote:

> I was able to really send "shock waves", albeit good shock waves,  
> through some Hispanic drivers a few years ago when I lived in  
> Austin, TX and worked for Capital Metro. We were all sitting in the  
> operators lounge, playing some silly game which required that  
> scores be kept for each player. I was the only "Anglo" in the  
> group. Bear in mind, however, all these guys were my good work  
> buddies. They would switch from English to Spanish, and back and  
> forth. At one point, one guy told a joke, in Spanish. When the  
> punch line came I laughed along with them. (The punch line was,  
> "And look, Henry has the pen.") So, thinking quickly, I figured I  
> better say the punch line to prove that I understood what was said,  
> and not just laughing along with them. So I said, "Si, la pluma es  
> con Enrique", or Yes, the pen is with Henry. I never saw four chins  
> drop to the floor so fast and such a look of surprise come over  
> four people at the same time. It was really priceless...........I  
> wish I would  have had a camera to record the moment. At that time  
> I then knew that those years of taking Spanish were really worth  
> it.  ;-)
>
>
> Herb Brannon
>
>