Talking about Communication

[Marie2020]

I've had two rather confusing conversations today, which honestly made me laugh plus got me thinking, so just sharingmy thoughts. one example...

I really enjoy a good chat with my friend who is scotish, we rarely agree on most subjects but often learn from each other as we share our colourful experiences.
Coming from opposite ends of the country we tend to express our selves differently her pronunciation is totally different from my own. She had to spell four times the spelling of a site she wanted me to look at 1 of the letters the "s" I took it as being a f. it took ages

When I visited the big apple many years ago I got this communication problem in peculiar ways and on several occasion's, at one time it could have turned out pretty nasty had it not been for my American friend being there to explain what was really meant.

The reason I'm writing this is to ask for patience in all of us, especially if the person you are interacting with is in another part of the country

Secondly. We cannot always assume the phycoligy of a person we chat with online, a well qualified psychologist will admit too occasionally finding they have got it wrong. So how can we assume online.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

The SO had to hand me his cell phone yesterday as he was chatting with a rep from our insurance company. She was of India nationality and he has no patience with any accent. I talked to her and it wasn't a big deal. I can talk/listen to just about any accent, as long as they don't speak too quickly for my aging brain to take it in. Yes....Patience is a virtue.

 

[digitS']

And, George Bernard Shaw said: "We are separated entirely by a common language."

To an extent, that is each and all of us. Our personal thoughts and choice of words are strongly related inside our individual minds. However, they aren't identical. Shared with another, it's X2. That would be the best case scenario.

There's a story that when the English first showed up in China, they didn't think that even the Chinese understood each other. It led to a game called Chinese Whispers. Americans called it Telephone. A bunch of children share some whispered information, one at a time. Then, the final child shares what they learned with the group. The first child relates the original information and everyone tries to understand what in Heaven's Name happened to it!

Lynne Murphy is a Professor of Linguistics. Here's a book that I recently had fun reading, The Prodigal Tongue: The Love–Hate Relationship Between British and American English

Steve

 

[so lucky]

We love to watch some of the British TV shows, but we sure have a hard time understanding what they are saying. Doc Martin wasn't too bad, but Last Tango in Halifax is really difficult. That one blond lady barely moves her mouth, so lip reading and then translating in your brain in the millisecond before the other person speaks...nearly impossble.

 

[Marie2020]

And, George Bernard Shaw said: "We are separated entirely by a common language."

To an extent, that is each and all of us. Our personal thoughts and choice of words are strongly related inside our individual minds. However, they aren't identical. Shared with another, it's X2. That would be the best case scenario.

There's a story that when the English first showed up in China, they didn't think that even the Chinese understood each other. It led to a game called Chinese Whispers. Americans called it Telephone. A bunch of children share some whispered information, one at a time. Then, the final child shares what they learned with the group. The first child relates the original information and everyone tries to understand what in Heaven's Name happened to it!

Lynne Murphy is a Professor of Linguistics. Here's a book that I recently had fun reading, The Prodigal Tongue: The Love–Hate Relationship Between British and American English

Steve

Hating someone because of a country. I find that really sad. Every single human is different.

Thank you for the title.

 

[Marie2020]

We love to watch some of the British TV shows, but we sure have a hard time understanding what they are saying. Doc Martin wasn't too bad, but Last Tango in Halifax is really difficult. That one blond lady barely moves her mouth, so lip reading and then translating in your brain in the millisecond before the other person speaks...nearly impossble.

Who couldn't resist the odd Doc Martin . I've never watched 'Last Tango in Halifax"

Yes I think our humor can vary but not always on occasions I've found American comedy's really funny . Not many comedians get a chuckle out of me.

 

[Zeedman]

Having visited many countries during my time in the Navy, I learned to listen past the accent for anyone who was ESL (English as Second Language). IMO someone who makes the effort to learn a language outside their own culture deserves the highest respect. I'm sure my stumbling attempts at Thai or Portuguese sounded much worse to them, than their English did to me. It was always enjoyable when I could communicate with someone in another country, and see it through their eyes... and to see how we look through their eyes. I hope I always left a positive impression.

 

[897tgigvib]

I personally feel the second prettiest accent is a woman speaking kentish or cambridgian English. In fact, I have my google assistant speaking british. It's sort of a derived kentish. for example, "Shua, Ele k trik light oakastrah on yuutchyube". They don't have that exquisitely sexy, somewhere south of nee yahlyanzz, female gentry chivalry accent. Now that just melts my heart!

I love accents. Some tell me I have a bit of an italian accent...here's one for ya...Ever hear spanish with an italian accent? "Ah mi amigacina uhdonde va"...and montanans pronounce their R's real hard. Californians really waaah their a's, almost cayaalifornia, well that exagerrates it a teency bit.

 

[digitS']

... lip reading and then translating ...

Imagine, any drama on a screen having entertainment value if a person relies on captions.

Imagine a situation comedy.

I can appreciate stand-up comedians, in the time that is given for the audience to react. Yes, b'Golly - I can read! Facial expressions may be noticed.

I've little patience for those who do not choose to gain anything from another culture. Oh, and Marie, Prof Murphy lives and works in England. Her interest is in how the 2 populations use the language in different ways, what is adopted, and what the resistance to adopting elements by each group amounts to.

Steve

 

[Pulsegleaner]

We love to watch some of the British TV shows, but we sure have a hard time understanding what they are saying. Doc Martin wasn't too bad, but Last Tango in Halifax is really difficult. That one blond lady barely moves her mouth, so lip reading and then translating in your brain in the millisecond before the other person speaks...nearly impossble.

We watch a lot of British TV so we are pretty used to the accents and the lingo, to the point where I can use it when I have to (say selling something to someone in England on eBay. ) A lot of my favored authors are British as well, so that helps. In fact my only real problem according to those who I have dealt with, is that, having learned so much from period pieces (like Jeeves and Wooster) I've been told my colloquialisms are a bit dated.

Two other notes
When I learned Spanish (it was a long time ago, don't test me now) I had the rather odd problem that, while I was learning Latin American Spanish, all of my Spanish teachers were from actual Spain, so I wound up with a bit of a Castilian accent. This can be a problem, as some South American Spanish people react to someone speaking Spanish Spanish the way we in this country would react to someone with an affected British accent (they think it makes you sound snobby).

And then there was my college botany professor, who spoke perfectly well, EXCEPT for her odd tendency to pronounce "measure" with a hard "a", which always caught me up.

Or the stamp dealer who had the odd tendency to say the phrase "in other words" at the end of every clause, the way some people say "um" or just take a pause to breathe.