I think I mentioned this before in an earlier thread... I once overheard the head of International Outreach (a J*** R*******) say that the reason Japanese people couldn't say the letter "r" was because their mouths were made differently than everyone else's. He almost implied it was a defect. I kept thinking - this guy is in charge of INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH? And he doesn't understand that certain languages don't have certain sounds in them? And he actually thinks it is a PHYSICAL difference that causes this? I bet he can't roll his rrrrrrrrrs or pronounce an umlaut. Most people cannot pronounce sounds that are outside of the languages they have been exposed to during early childhood because our brains are wired for language at young age. To be ignorant of this AND be in charge of anything to do with International Outreach is just plain... ignorant.
Living in a cornfield in Ohio probably didn't help. More International Harvester than international relations. I could bring up education as a great way to fix that problem but I know where that would have gone. Sigh....
Back to Sky's original point, these were the folks who were supposed to give US guidance? I keep going back to "what was I thinking?!"
Recommended Posts
JavaJane
I think I mentioned this before in an earlier thread... I once overheard the head of International Outreach (a J*** R*******) say that the reason Japanese people couldn't say the letter "r" was because their mouths were made differently than everyone else's. He almost implied it was a defect. I kept thinking - this guy is in charge of INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH? And he doesn't understand that certain languages don't have certain sounds in them? And he actually thinks it is a PHYSICAL difference that causes this? I bet he can't roll his rrrrrrrrrs or pronounce an umlaut. Most people cannot pronounce sounds that are outside of the languages they have been exposed to during early childhood because our brains are wired for language at young age. To be ignorant of this AND be in charge of anything to do with International Outreach is just plain... ignorant.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JustThinking
Living in a cornfield in Ohio probably didn't help. More International Harvester than international relations. I could bring up education as a great way to fix that problem but I know where that would have gone. Sigh....
Back to Sky's original point, these were the folks who were supposed to give US guidance? I keep going back to "what was I thinking?!"
JT
Link to comment
Share on other sites
OldSkool
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.