Re: Broo language?

From: Andrew Dawson <asmpd01_at_4RNFusG_zKOjyyuPHuKzdps9JwrKvnP06_3kXTHUCY27dFvNN92QH-nObjR4OpbSzQa6>
Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 22:05:06 +0800

On 5/22/07, Goihl & Fahey <goihlk_at_oaZGMPa-ZcsGbbUmPxmDVQoyZ-__f9LuZMUF4cZXyMAlzmetlrBx3WV6sGtXa1VAzxc5xRsTDl7hk7_oIpii3A.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
> >No doubt a broo spends a lot of time hiding/spying on and stalking members
> >of the local culture.
>
> I worked with Turks for a couple years and learned nothing of Turkish. You
> can listen to people talk all day, but you have to have some grasp of a
> language to learn from hearing it.

Counter-example: In China, I picked up the basic greetings and polite phrases in a couple of days. Mandarin has nothing in common with European languages as far as I can tell (except the word for mother, but that could be a coincidence - and if you miss the tone, you are saying horse, hemp, or curse instead). As far as I can tell, my pronunciation is not good, but I can still tell a taxi driver a couple of destinations successfully, so rudimentary communication is possible. I think there is room for both cases (broo learning nothing, broo picking up some phrases).

Thanks,
Andy