I said half Koaxx (my little joke, work it out) for French; I don't
consider my French to be good enough - I can't translate litrachur into
it, for instance, and I'm lost when they gabble. Funnily enough, I seem
to understand Swiss German (Schwyzerdütsch) better than Germans, who get
it subtitled on TV even when a clearspoken academic is talking - while I
can understand very little spoken by drunken maudlin roughs from
Glasgow; I lived next to one once in council housing (municipal lowrent
slums for the benefit of our Yankee friends) & he would beat up his wife
all night when he got back from the pub. 'Twas no human tongue that
issued forth from that benighted hovel.
mj
Anny Ballardini wrote:
> Thank you very much for everything and happy I did not create any damage.
> And now let me raise some _Cain_
>
> For the sake of ... (?)
> how can you two possibly say you can't speak any other languages.
> Martin, you should be ashamed of yourself, with all those German books
> you have read and those French books and English books, and ...
>
> And Lawrence, you can speak visual, acoustic, written and spoken
> fluently and intermittently, poetic and politics (better no with the
> latter on lists), and listen to him, Greek Swedish Polish German___
>
>
> ah there is no seriousness nowadays, no seriousness, no
> no seriousness,
> serious
>
>
> From: "Lawrence Upton" <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 6:06 PM
>
>
> yes, pardon me, i have no languages; i got caught up in my own rhetoric
>
> bit a swedish, quite a lot once, which can emerge - once, tired,
> trying to speak greek; recently on a train the people next to me were
> Swedes and I was listening in half asleep - and found myself answering
> them at one point when a question went seemingly unanswered
>
> bit a school french comes out occasionally
>
> i found in the depths of rural germany that speaking simple swedish
> slurred works quite well for basic foods, river ferries etc
>
> i used to be able to buy beer and cigarettes in polish - i had even
> sort of grasped a plural system that behaves differently from 5, but
> having no vocab i couldnt use the understanding
>
> and now i dont smoke and hardly drink
>
> so my only language is a second language
>
> L
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MJ Walker <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 5:00 PM
> Subject: Re: Lawrence Upton's Letters and Postcards
>
>
> Anny is what one might call a very able enabler, who (almost) never
> raises Cain, even when confusion is caused. Happy s/he who can say "all
> my languages". I can only count two & a half (Koaxx), plus a dribble of
> Eyetie.
> mj
>
> Lawrence Upton wrote:
>
> >I am astonished at your energy and the breadth of the work you
> publish; and I am happy to be back there
> >
> >I am sorry to have caused confusion - all my languages are second
> languages including english
> >
> >all best
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
--
Flow My Tears is a novel of nonstop intrigue set sometime in the future of an alternate reality. It has a great ending and really makes you think about life and similar things. - Online review by Keith.
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