On Polyglotism And Those Who Can't Claim It
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Democrats | Featured Stories — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
One of my heroes is Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton. While Captain Burton was best known as the most famous author of The Arabian Nights--and I promise you, his translation of the work is nothing short of dazzling--I admire Burton as well for the sense of adventurism he carried throughout his life, a sense of adventurism that was aided by the fact that mastering languages for Burton was as easy as breathing. From Wikipedia:
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (March 19, 1821 - October 20, 1890) was an English explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine European, Asian, and African languages.
Burton's knowledge of languages allowed him to make the pilgrimage to Mecca while ensuring that he was undetected as a European. Had others found out that Burton was a Christian, he could have been put to death. Instead, thanks to his intricate command of languages and his familiarity with foreign customs, Burton successfully carried off his pilgrimage, one of the very few non-Muslims to be able to do so.
Why do I bring all of this up? Well, for one, I wish to awe you, Dear Reader. For another, and to paraphrase a now famous political quote, I want to remark on the fact that while I didn't know Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, while I didn't serve with him and while he is only a friend of mine in spirit, I can safely say that Hillary Rodham Clinton is no Richard Francis Burton.
Read on . . .
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she sees her sometimes Southern accent as a virtue.
"I think America is ready for a multilingual president," Clinton said during a campaign stop at a charter school in Greenville, S.C.
The New York senator--who said she's been thinking about critics who've suggested that she tried to put on a fake Southern accent in Selma, Ala.--noted that she's split her life between Arkansas, Illinois and the East Coast.
[. . .]
Clinton is a linguistic polyglot--a Chicago native turned New York resident who works in Washington and spent two decades living in Arkansas when her husband, Bill Clinton, was governor.
A few points:
- Attempting to laugh this off is lame.
- America currently has "a multilingual President." George W. Bush speaks Spanish, after all.
- Even if George W. Bush's Spanish isn't muy bueno, it is a heck of a lot better and more respectable than the linguisitic skills of someone who goes to different regions of the country and tries (badly) to fake regional accents.
- A polyglot is one who knows multiple languages. Faking (badly) multiple accents does not a polyglot make. Additionally, calling someone "a linguistic polyglot" is nothing short of ridiculous since polyglots only exist in the linguistic variety. Did the Redundance Department of Redundancy write and edit this story?
- People can spot a fake.
- Easily.
- I can speak French and Farsi relatively fluently. I am no longer fluent in Hebrew since I stopped speaking it a few years after my Bar Mitzvah, but I still read it, I still know many of the words and I could probably revive it if I wanted to. Same with Spanish. Where's my Senate seat and plausible White House bid?
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On Polyglotism And Those Who Can't Claim It 11 Comments (0 topical, 11 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
President Bush gets slammed by the press for the way he talks. But then again he is of the wrong "type" of multilinguist. Hilary is obviously of the "right" type. But in either case she is hardly the first.
They are trying to portray that woman, Ms. Rodham, as something she is not. She is not a polyglot and she is not the smartest woman in America.
I wonder if Mary Landrieu speaks French?
I watch a lot of Univision programming and I never see anyone lampooning Bush much at all. If he were guilty of mangling the Spanish language then any Spanish-speaking editor or comedian would have a well of source material that never runs dry.
or Univision has been very kind.
Dios Mio! He sounds like someone with no more skill than a first year high school student. For someone with a lot of contact with the Spanish speaking community for much of his life, and obvious professional needs to speak Spanish adequately, it's a shock to hear his poor delivery.
OTOH, Gov. Jeb speaks Spanish pretty well.
Newt was recently forced to speak Spanish after he made a misinterpreted comment about immigrants needing to learn English. I watched his 6-minute YouTube apology. EXCELLENT pronunciation and fluid delivery; he's done his homework.
the one who displays all her linguistic talents in one language.
This is almost hilarious, the ignorant media covering for an ignorant woman who thinks herself multilingual because she affects accents.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
As one who has resided in many regions around this country and has developed (a hobby) the ability to recognize dialectic nuances, I can, with utter confidence, pronounce she is from Chicago. You can hear the broad syllables (Wisconson-ish) as she says words like "can" and "way". Listen to here 'Southern Black' speech where she says 'no ways'. Pure Chicago pronounciation. Even the really cheesy attempt at southern drawl was so poorly done that it can't even be identified as to whee in the South it came from AR, MS or NC - there is a big difference. I'm sure she is as tone deaf and she is callous.
In other words, she who was named for Sir Edmund Hillary (before he actually accomlished anything), she who knew nothing about the Rose billing records, she who 'got lucky' by turning $1000 in $100000 with cattle futures, she who had no idea her pervert husband was seducing interns - is either self delusional or a liar of epic proportions. Or both.
But y'all knew that already. :)
I CAN-O SPEAK-O EUROPEAN-O AND MEXICAN-O.
And if you didn't understand that-o, How about this-o!
Where do I get MY Senate seat-o? Y'all.
____
Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
What's REALLY lame is that the PRESS lets her get away pulling the accent, and then worse, says nothing when she comes up with the ridiculous explanation that it should be accepted as a
multilingual asset.
Don Cheney