I'm Talkin'...
The discussion at our house began, as many of them do, over something funny that happened on TV. We were watching part of the Little League World Series and trying to figure out why most of the kids on the Saudi Arabian team were blond-haired, blue-eyed boys with American accents. They were playing the kids from Japan, and during a timeout the Saudi pitcher asked his coach if he could (pause to put his glove beside his mouth when he remembered he was miked and the other team might have a spy watching the coverage somewhere else in the park), "Throw a curve ball inside." Yeah, he didn't whisper it quite low enough, so the whole world caught it anyway.
My son (age 17) said, "Why did the kid bother whispering? The other team's from Japan. It's not like they can understand him."
I gave him my you-know-better-than-that face and said, "Dude. Every kid in every developed country in the world learns English fluently. You know that. Why American kids aren't learning a second language at that age I have no idea. It's so stupid not to."
He did his pseudo-offended look and said, "Hey, what are you talking about? I know Canadian."
Oh. My. God. I damn near rolled off the couch I was laughing so hard.
So let's say you had to learn a third language besides, for instance, English and Canadian, so you could tell your batter to bunt. You know, in words. No bizarre hand signals that make you look like you've been overrun by those beetles that kept eating everybody alive in The Mummy. What language would you pick?
My son (age 17) said, "Why did the kid bother whispering? The other team's from Japan. It's not like they can understand him."
I gave him my you-know-better-than-that face and said, "Dude. Every kid in every developed country in the world learns English fluently. You know that. Why American kids aren't learning a second language at that age I have no idea. It's so stupid not to."
He did his pseudo-offended look and said, "Hey, what are you talking about? I know Canadian."
Oh. My. God. I damn near rolled off the couch I was laughing so hard.
So let's say you had to learn a third language besides, for instance, English and Canadian, so you could tell your batter to bunt. You know, in words. No bizarre hand signals that make you look like you've been overrun by those beetles that kept eating everybody alive in The Mummy. What language would you pick?
Comments
Not only is it obscure and hard to learn, but it would be damned funny to hear a bunch of ten year-olds grunting and snarling like Klingons on a ballfield.
Seriously though I speak French (well enough to get by so that covers Canada, France and other french speaking area's of the world.)
Other than that I think that I'd like to perhaps learn Latin, seeing as thats the root for a number of lanuages so I might be able to pick up a good number in a short time.
Of course the other obvious joke would involve something about a tiny garden gnome being stuffed into your pants, since that could be described as a little German
As an added bonus, who else speaks it enough to know that you're going to toss a 12-6 and paint the corner while you're at it?
He, he, Falcata Times. I always thought I'd like to learn Latin. But when your high school has a grand total of 240 students--it's not gonna happen.
Good point, lale.
LOL, Thom! (As a side note, my kids, who will be going to the same college next year, have already agreed to take German together. Which means they will be plotting together, in front of me, in a different language. Luckily my Mom-radar is still intact and I believe I'll be able to head them off before they do anything too extreme!)
Hey, I might be able to master that one, silveradept, since my brain is already bent!
Now there's a practical solution, Barbara. Are you sure you're not from the Midwest?
You didn't miss much, Imzadi Dragonfly. It was all just bad knock knock jokes.
latin and gaelic