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Ziad Fazah - does he exist? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| morphy Bilingual Triglot Groupie France modernerasmus.com Joined 6396 days ago 68 posts - 71 votes  Speaks: French*, Arabic (Written)*, English Studies: Spanish, German | Message 289 of 377 01 October 2007 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't know about the website, but this is probably the TV show where Ziad Fazah didn't do well at all: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8FXzkwZhE Looks like he thought in advance all the questions were going to be same. Weird... I thought Farsi was one of the languages he spoke best...?! Anyone ever saw the TV show where he did well? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6915 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 290 of 377 01 October 2007 at 4:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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I watched the clip and although I didn't understand everything of the Spanish to begin with, my main thought was that the sound in general was very bad synchronized - almost as if somebody had dubbed it.
So I don't really know what to say about the clip. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lloydkirk Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6419 days ago 429 posts - 452 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 291 of 377 01 October 2007 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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He looked like he was about to sweat blood...
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| translator2 Senior Member United States Joined 6925 days ago 848 posts - 1862 votes Speaks: English* | Message 292 of 377 01 October 2007 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you so much for that link. It totally proves everything we have been saying all along!
He was asked VERY VERY BASIC questions (of the What did you do today? type) in Finnish, Russian, Farsi, Chinese, Greek, etc.) and then asked not to respond, but simply to repeat what they asked him (albeit in Spanish - which was also pretty bad). He is asked to read a text written in Farsi (whose alphabet is very similar to his native Arabic), but the speaker was not satisfied with his accent and when he asked Ziad a question, Ziad made up a response and the Farsi speaker responded, no, I'm sorry, that is not what I said. He was only able to understand one word of the simple Russian question that any first year Russian student would know (and could not even repeat the question back to the speaker). He told the panel that the Chinese guy asked him "Where did you learn Chinese? Where did you learn to speak Chinese so fluently." to which the Chinese speaker shakes his head NO! He did not even understand the Greek speaker who asked him THE SAME QUESTION as a previous speaker. Earlier, Dave M claimed that he was "taken by surprise" and unprepared for this program (where did he think he was going - to the circus?). I can understand this, but sorry, anyone who claims to speak these languages (fluently or otherwise) should be able to understand such basic sentences and phrases as these without the need for any "preparation". True, these languages are difficult, but he has more difficult ones (with less available resources) on his "list". The sad part is that he seems to genuinely believe that he can speak these languages (as I explained in a previous post on December 13, 2005 - he probably read an introductory grammar, learned a few phrases, and believes or believed that was all he needed). It is also great that this clip shows that the program was recorded in 1997. The Emperor has no clothes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8FXzkwZhE
Edited by translator2 on 02 October 2007 at 1:45am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FSI Senior Member United States Joined 6365 days ago 550 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English* | Message 293 of 377 01 October 2007 at 10:24pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, that definitely didn't look good. On the other hand, it felt pretty cool being able to understand the Spanish. I'd be interested in seeing any other videos of him that pop up. Edited by FSI on 01 October 2007 at 10:25pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| edwin Triglot Senior Member Canada towerofconfusi&Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6470 days ago 160 posts - 183 votes 9 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, Spanish, Portuguese | Message 294 of 377 01 October 2007 at 11:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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The Chinese guy simply asked him what man-made object was visible from the moon.
Anyone contacted the guy lately? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| translator2 Senior Member United States Joined 6925 days ago 848 posts - 1862 votes Speaks: English* | Message 295 of 377 02 October 2007 at 1:44am | IP Logged | ||
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AND - Instead of just saying - I don't know, he tried several times to make up some crazy answer (as if no one would know). Did he just hear one or two words and try to guess or did he really believe he could understand them?
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Walshy Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6948 days ago 335 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German | Message 296 of 377 02 October 2007 at 1:51am | IP Logged | ||
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His case certainly looks weak now, you can see the hosts double-checking the Guinness Book of Records.
Also, what did the Persian guy say at 1:52? It really seemed to upset him. For that matter, would anyone fluent in Spanish be so kind as to translate the Spanish in that video for us (or Portuguese, whatever it is)? I'm dying of curiosity here.
Apparently, his Persian, Russian, and Mandarin are actually quite poor. I'm sorry, but the evidence this video provides is far more solid than your word. Edited by Walshy on 02 October 2007 at 2:45am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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