| The exact same dynamic of inter-language jealousy goes on in a lot of places ..... the other day i typed a bit of one here - #reply-18717792 .... there is a lot more to the story - the place is removed from, but not far from, a fairly active tourist area to which come people speaking dozens of tongues ... my good friend the publican is right now building a house right beside an italian speaking swiss who speaks english with an irish accent because of where he learned it, strange man in some ways but so is my friend so they get along fine, they're sharing a water system now, which takes mutual trust .... the man who introduced me to my current wife speaks eight languages fairly well, when the president of Japan or Russia or France comes to visit, he is the head guide ... many more like this, quite a cosmopolitan area, then less than an hour's drive away you have only spanish and the mayan dialects, and people who feel threatened by introduction of any other .... especially english, as they see it becoming dominant as the lingua franca, and with all the ancient associations to aggression ..... but this is stupid, language is a tool not a policy, best to keep it sharp, use it or lose the opportunity, imho |
