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?

Comments

Klingon. Definitely Klingon.

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.
Falcata Times said…
Errm, I'll take American, I might have a shot at that. LOL

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.
Lale said…
Seeing as I've got English, Turkish, French and a little German under my belt, I'd like to try something funky... like Basque. If you speak, say, Portugese and the other guys speak Spanish, they're going to catch on. With Basque? No chance. :D
Thom said…
I've got a whole lot of German under my belt. Oh yeah, baby. Hubba hubba.

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
Anonymous said…
Esperanto, clearly. It's a conlang, so everyone is equally disadvantaged to learning it, but at the same time, it doesn't matter where your players come from, they're all goign to have to bend their brains to wrap around it.

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?
Barbara E. said…
I think I'd like to learn something I could actually use - so Spanish would be the most appropriate for me. And since I've lived in California and Florida, I already know some words so that might help.
I always wanted to learn Latin. I was even signed up to take it the first year it was offered in my high school. Then we moved over the summer and of course the new school didn't offer it. Stupid big city school. Hell, then I could read the left had side of Inferno too.
Jennifer Rardin said…
I'm totally hearing it, Kelly! And that may be exactly what baseball needs to make it (more) interesting!

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.
Tanya said…
2 for me:

latin and gaelic
Jennifer Rardin said…
Amar, Amas, Amuck (my rendition of what I think Latin oughtta sound like, Kiyote!)
Tanya said…
yep...i know neither would help in my job but would love to be able to read and speak in both.

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