| blueerica |
05-08-2007 06:53 PM |
So much mojo to give in the last handful of threads! You guys slay me!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Stroup
(Post 134908)
Similar thing yesterday for me. Over the years working in tech I have become very proficient at Indian and East European accents (Malaysian accents, however, continue to kick my ass).
But yesterday we were in a meeting with a vendor developer discussing a project that will be both Web and WAP. It didn't help that she pronounced both as homophones of each other.
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One of my teammates from the aforementioned presentation is an international student. His English isn't perfect, but there's very little accent, and his weaknesses don't show until he's nervous - surprising, to me, since he's only been here a little less than three years. I hardly notice it, also probably because my grandma's been speaking broken English my entire life.
Poor Danny, I'm going to abuse him some more... During the practice sessions, our dear international student was having trouble figuring out what to say. Danny kept suggesting these huge words, and that's when Danny made a comment about big words making you appear smarter. The international student got nervous, and could barely make it through the speech. I told him he'd be better off using simple language - and it would be fine if it didn't come out perfectly. It's better to finish his portion, than to be stuck on one artery-clogging word.
I also had Chinese finance professor who always referred to "capital budgeting" as "capito bargeting." A few students actually weren't sure if that was a real word. It pays to be versed in broken English! |
