XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: peter@pmoylan.org   
      
   On 09/06/24 07:19, Christian Weisgerber wrote:   
   > On 2024-06-08, Peter Moylan  wrote:   
      
   >> (Special case: I have worked out how to say "I don't speak X" for a   
   >> number of different values of X.)   
   >   
   > I once replied "no hablo español" when addressed in Spanish in the   
   > street in Miami, but it's pragmatically weird, since it seems to be a   
   > self-contradictory statement.  Also, if you don't speak the language,   
   > your utterance may well come out unintelligible.   
      
   Once, when I was a child, I was left to wait in the local priest's   
   living room while my parents had business with him. I saw that he had a   
   "Learn Italian" record, so I played it. The record immediately went into   
   teaching you, by frequent repetition, to say "Io parlo Italiano". Even at   
   that young age I could see the flaw in that approach. The first lesson   
   should have been "Non parlo italiano".   
      
   "Buongiorno. Mi puoi indicare la fermata dell'autobus?"   
   "Io Parlo italiano."   
   "Bene. Dov'è la fermata dell'autobus?"   
   "Io Parlo italiano."   
      
   The only time I was in Italy I had a more practical approach. I had   
   purchased a bus ticket at the railway station, but when I came out of   
   the station I couldn't see any sign for a bus. So I approached a small   
   group of men, held out my ticket, and said "Dov'è?". One of them pointed   
   to the ground and said "Qui." Perfect communication!   
      
   --   
   Peter Moylan       peter@pmoylan.org    http://www.pmoylan.org   
   Newcastle, NSW   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)