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Languages used for ending communications | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5352 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 25 of 35 23 May 2012 at 10:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Klingon! ;)
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 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6499 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 26 of 35 24 May 2012 at 1:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's also the point I tried to make. If you actually go to the extreme of inventing elaborate phrases or try to convince those types that they are wasting their time then YOU are wasting your time, and they take it as a sign of interest. Maybe even ignoring a persistent salesperson or beggar isn't enough, but then nothing is (short of shooting them with a machine gun). I remember once in Agra in India where my mother and I walked along some street to the center. A rickshaw driver wanted to get us up in his rickshaw, and we (or rather I) told him that we wanted to walk, and he was wasting his time. Then we walked for some kilometers while he was driving along us, babbling and trying to convince us - even though we didn't answer. When we had reached our destination I turned to the man and said "See, I told you you would be wasting your time", and then he finally gave up. But this is an extreme case. Mostly displaying (and feeling!) a complete lack of interest and making sure not to commit yourself in any way is enough. Another case from India: I passed through Connaught place in Delhi twice. First with my mother, the second time alone. With her around the sellers and beggars were very active - maybe because they assumed that she had a soft spot for handicapped persons writhing in the dust or merchants peddling junk jewelery. Or maybe they calculated that two persons couldn't make up their mind to flee as fast as one. When I passed through the same area alone a few days later they just looked up at me and that was it - probably they sensed that I really didn't care. Taking up any discussion at that point would have shown that I did care. Third example: Egyptian felucca people can be extremely persistent. In Luxor my hotel was outside the centre so I had to pass the whole gaggle at least twice daily. The first time I met one I told him that I might consider to take a felucca trip in my next life, but certainly not in this one. And then we elaborated on that concept each time I passed them the next days, and they turned out to have quite a lot of humour - among other things we discussed how feluccas would look like in the next world (including room for 77 virgins etc.). I don't remember the details any more, but it became something like a recurring joke. Did I ever take a tour? Of course not, and at the end of the week they knew it. Edited by Iversen on 24 May 2012 at 1:14pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| QiuJP Triglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 5651 days ago 428 posts - 597 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Czech, GermanB1, Russian, Japanese | Message 27 of 35 24 May 2012 at 6:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
It does help speaking a foreign language to the salesman, because most of them do not know how to handle the language and back off. In Singapore, one gets increasing number of such nuisance phone call that begin like this in Mandarin: "Sir, do you speak Chinese? I am calling from XXX company...." By replying anything but Chinese, they give up. These calls are mainly from China or Malaysia and often claimed that you have won a lucky draw or something. In my case, if I just hang up, they will just call and call. Maybe the person calling me is different, but the same exact phrase was used over again. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6455 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 28 of 35 24 May 2012 at 7:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I wonder how'd people react if I started yelling in Akkadian.
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| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5352 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 29 of 35 25 May 2012 at 10:41am | IP Logged | |||||
I dare say...they'd probably turn in their graves. ;) 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ymapazagain Senior Member Australia myspace.com/amywiles Joined 6755 days ago 504 posts - 538 votes Speaks: English* Studies: SpanishB2 | Message 30 of 35 25 May 2012 at 1:51pm | IP Logged | |||||
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When I was on holiday in Egypt a few years ago a young boy no older than 8 came up to me and tried to sell me some souvenirs. He tried English first, then Spanish, then French...I thought "I'll get him" and told him in Russian that I didn't understand. To which he grinned and began his sales pitch again in Russian. Clever little bugger!
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| QiuJP Triglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 5651 days ago 428 posts - 597 votes Speaks: Mandarin*, EnglishC2, French Studies: Czech, GermanB1, Russian, Japanese | Message 31 of 35 26 May 2012 at 7:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
Don't worry, my Singlish will get him..... 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| strikingstar Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4969 days ago 292 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Cantonese, Swahili Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written) | Message 32 of 35 26 May 2012 at 7:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In Africa, I default to Chinese if I don't speak the local (non-English) language (e.g.
Uganda). In Tanzania and Kenya, Swahili is actually the fastest way to get rid of hecklers and touts. It instantly sends them the message that you're not some silly tourist ripe for getting ripped off. I was really proud of myself last week in Nairobi when I snarled a really curt "Hatuhitaji chochote, usitusumbue" (We don't need anything, don't bother us) to a guy who was trying to sell me and my friend a safari package. He walked away without even glancing back after that exchange. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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