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Claypool | ||
Tags: Vietnamese | Literature | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6084 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes  Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 1 of 3 27 October 2007 at 4:45pm | IP Logged |
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Not a polyglot, but an interesting example of a failed linguist in fiction. Claypool is a character in Stephen Wright's Meditations In Green. He is a US soldier in the Vietnam War who has had Vietnamese-language training in the USA but finds his Vietnamese inadequate when he arrives in the country. He is present when a Viet Cong suspect is being tortured, and is disturbed by this. Later he is sent on patrol and throws his Vietnamese dictionary into the bush in disgust. He ends up having a nervous breakdown.
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| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6680 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 2 of 3 28 October 2007 at 1:58am | IP Logged |
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When I went to Mexico as an exchange student, my high school Spanish (plus whatever I had been taught before it) was quite limited. I would estimate maybe a 50 or 100 word vocabulary upon my arrival in Veracruz.
There were times I thought that it was probably a good thing that I was completely immersed in the language with friends and a couple of host families, that for the most part spoke little to no English, otherwise I'd never have learned the language. That's how frustrated I got with it sometimes. When I got home, a year later, I discovered I was much better than I thought I was! :-) But indeed, I can imagine how this character would have felt regarding his limited language skills. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6084 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 3 of 3 28 October 2007 at 2:20am | IP Logged |
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Even with the languages I am fluent in, I can be thrown by an unexpected word or an unencountered accent or pronunciation. Then it is a case of "Could you repeat that, please?"
Claypool is put to work in the base kitchen so he can listen to the conversations of the Vietnamese working there - there is a suspicion they might be Viet Cong. All he discovers is that they think American hot dogs are boiled dog penises and that they love making jokes about the size of another American's nose. He is translating a North Vietnamese marching song, with considerable difficulty, when he is sent on a patrol as interpreter, which upsets him as he thought being a linguist would keep him in the base. Earlier, he is scared at how little Vietnamese he understands, because if he can't make it as a linguist he might be sent to a combat unit. He survives the patrol, throwing away his dictionary, but has a breakdown and is sent back to the USA. I believe the author had Vietnamese-language training like Claypool, and served in Vietnam. Claypool is a minor though interesting character in the novel, and his linguistic struggles were so vividly described that they seemed autobiographical. Edited by William Camden on 01 November 2007 at 3:36am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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