|
View Poll Results: What second language do you speak? | |
French
|     | 16 | 34.04% | |
Spanish
|    | 17 | 36.17% | |
German
|    | 18 | 38.30% | |
Sweedish
|    | 4 | 8.51% | |
Italian
|    | 1 | 2.13% | |
Chinese
|    | 1 | 2.13% | |
Rusian
| | 4 | 8.51% | |
Some dead language like Latin
| | 5 | 10.64% | |
Hebrew
| | 0 | 0% | |
Other
| | 9 | 19.15% | 
06-03-2004, 09:45 AM
|
#21 | | Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003 Location: UK
Posts: 1,565
| I have a degree in French, Russian and Spanish. I can speak just a few words of German/Italian, enough to be polite anyway, and can understand enough not to be completely bewildered by signs etc as a tourist.
I can understand some Latin and have a thing about knowing the fullphrase for abbreviations such as N.B. and i.e., plus I can reel off lots of liturgical settings due to lots of choral singing, not that it's particularly useful, (I don't meet many Romans; certainly not ones whom I wish to inform that my spirit rejoiceth in God my saviour or that mine eyes have seen thy salvation...) Come to think of it, a lot of the German I know is as a result of singing Bach's St. John Passion, and when one meets a German, the usefulness of phrases such as "but now is my kingdom not from hence" or "Crucify him! We have no king but Caesar!" is certainly debatable.
I can also understand the odd word of Hungarian after a trip to Budapest last year, though the only phrase I can currently recall means "one-day travel card" for Budapest public transport...
__________________
Louweasel
"I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from" [Eddie Izzard]
"she might not look like much, kid, but she's got it where it counts"
| 
|  | | And now for this message... |
| |
06-03-2004, 10:43 AM
|
#22 | | The Judge
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,306
| ASL (american sign language) and a little bit of spanish
(you know you're a computer engineer when you see a "languages" poll and start listing things in your head like c, c++, java, perl, php, jsp, et al). | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 08:54 PM
|
#23 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Tip of your blade..
Posts: 687
| O yeah! I also know Sign Language. I used to know the alphabet by heart. I think I know most of it though 
__________________
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
- Muhammad Ali
| |
| | |
06-03-2004, 09:19 PM
|
#24 | | The Judge
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,306
| Quote: |
Originally Posted by Phoenix O yeah! I also know Sign Language. I used to know the alphabet by heart. I think I know most of it though | there's a lot more to ASL than just the alphabet  | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 09:22 PM
|
#25 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Tip of your blade..
Posts: 687
| Yeah, i know. I had one of these kid sign language books, but now I can't find it.  Do you know a lot?
P.S. Can deaf people fence regularly or do they have to fence in the paralimpics? Probably do because they need to hear when a ref calls halt...
__________________
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
- Muhammad Ali
| |
| | |
06-03-2004, 09:30 PM
|
#26 | | The Judge
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,306
| Quote: |
Originally Posted by Phoenix Yeah, i know. I had one of these kid sign language books, but now I can't find it. Do you know a lot?
P.S. Can deaf people fence regularly or do they have to fence in the paralimpics? Probably do because they need to hear when a ref calls halt... | i know a bit, my grandmother is deaf. i know enough to hold conversations and whatnot, but i'm not good with foreign languages, so i have a kind of short vocab.
they "could" fence if they were reasonably aware. i mean, i, as a fencer, generally know when there should be a hault in the action better than the director. i also knew a martial artist who was deaf and he sparred in the tournament circuit. he got along pretty well. | |
| | |
06-03-2004, 10:52 PM
|
#27 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Tip of your blade..
Posts: 687
| that's a good skill to have.
For deaf fencers, they could have like a vibrator in their mask to tell them when to halt. The director could have like a wireless buzzer button. That would be cool 
__________________
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
- Muhammad Ali
| |
| | |
06-03-2004, 11:03 PM
|
#28 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: MA
Posts: 7,456
| WARNING NON PC POST ALL LIBERALS DONT EVEN READ THIS FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH
That WOULD be great! Whenever one of the deaf fencers gets a point, the ref sends an electrical shock through their temples!
No, but really, I've always thought it would make fencing much more realistic if in epee, when the other fencer gets a touch, the aluminum strip automatically sends 100 volts of electricity through your body for a short period of time.
Or, the director could have the buzzers in foil or saber! It would stop those fencers who argue EVERY call that doesn't go their way, whether they had right of way or not. ("Attack left, touch." "But Sir, when the first fencer attacked without extension, and I AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I see your point, Sir.")
This is my bad side, signing off.  | |
| | |
06-04-2004, 12:20 AM
|
#29 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 4,794
| What part of "shortest path to ground" and "path of least resistance" do you *not* understand. I hope you're never an EE  | |
| | |
06-04-2004, 02:41 AM
|
#30 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: USA
Posts: 858
| There's a deaf fencer in a club nearby us, and she seems to do fine.
__________________
-Sabresque
"Those whippernsapper Be-Bop Bohemians!"
| |
| | |
06-04-2004, 05:15 PM
|
#31 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 5,064
| It's the blind refs you have to watch out for, not deaf fencers!
__________________
"In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice, theory and practice are different."
| |
| | |
06-05-2004, 12:39 AM
|
#32 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: MA
Posts: 7,456
| Quote: |
Originally Posted by telkanuru What part of "shortest path to ground" and "path of least resistance" do you *not* understand. I hope you're never an EE | I'm sure the people like you who know how to use elec..elect...elesomething...whatever it is will figure it out. 
Last edited by mrbiggs; 06-06-2004 at 02:02 PM.
| |
| | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:13 AM. |
