- Joined
- Aug 26, 2005
- Messages
- 4,106
Perhaps it should read " The Basics of Language"
Why start at the beginning when it is a moot point as to what is important here.
I struggled for years with language . It was my poorest subject. Rhyme nor reason did not exist . It was in a sense, nonsensical to me. I could speak , It sufficed.
That others could not comprehend was theirs to ponder over. Go ponder over yonder,said I.
Then I discovered girls. I guess they were there all the time. It just was of little consequence to me. Eleven years old can be very trying for a young man when the girls Papa does not understand you. Sure I could woo. The language of love is universal.He didn,t seem to get that. He must of been from out of town.In fact I am sure of it. He always wanted me to come for a visit. "Get out of Town" were the only words I understood that he said. It was actually nonverbal communication. Sign language,of a sort . It mostly involved his foot and my backside. He was adept at language.
Forlorn and forgotten I wandered the wasteland of miscommunication.
Apparently learning the question "Have you good humour?" does not go over well with fathers of the protective sort.Rather humourless they are I am here to report.
Thank goodness daughters are more tolerant of language frivolities or the ages twelve and thirteen may have been another moot point for me.
Fourteen comes around and a young man must work. A whole new World of delight. New language skills to gather unto myself . It was with some angst I learned the words necessary for what passed as communication in a factory where my hands blistered so badly they had to be cut off.(The blisters, not the hands.) They did have a six bit drill press that argued the point though.
Onward and upward. An office job at fifteen. Yet again the language I learned in the factory did not suffice. Too colorful by far. They were of good cheer about it. An understanding bunch. It was suggested that I should have the opportunity to express myself without restraint. Elsewhere. That out of town place was sure popular with me. I visited there often enough.
What can I tell you? the years passed. One political upheaval after another. Soon I was told I needed another stab at the old language thing. Apparently digging a hole had to be accomplished in two official languages. There sure was a lot more in that hole than meets the eye.
Back to school for me. Six foot two of thirty six year old Irishman sitting beside teenagers. The teacher hated me. The language I spoke was between us like a red flag to his bull. Fortunately for me amid the political rhetoric I learned more in two months than I had been taught in two years. The man could teach. He couldn,t get away from it . While he despised what I stood for he taught me comparison.
Up till then I had been taught manners(Except in the factory.) Please , thank you and the now infamous "Have you good humour?" This man taught me how to compare sizes,before and after. All the little things necessary to get along.
He said "Bedamned with manners". Well at least he said "Bedamned." (Hey I was being offered another ride out of town on the old Bedamned express.)
If bedamned I was I,d bedamned sure I wasn,t going to stay there any longer than I had to.
Now I come to the point of this jabberfest . I,m going to learn another language . Maybe two. Gaelic for me and Latin for my Intellect. It may be the Irish in me. The Gaelic sounds so right to my ears. From a Sirens song to a guttural rasp it hits me right where I live.
Latin is another affair. A dead language they say. Sounds perfect. There is a precision to it in a scholarly way. There seems to be a wit to it.
I don,t know how much of either I will learn. Gaelic will be first in importance and the easier to acquire. In truth I may travel to the poorer parts of town to hear a language that is rich to me.
Latin may be more of a stretch. I may have to travel a bit. (Here I go out of town again.) No doubt some of you think it would be better to travel back in time to learn it. I think it will be less far than that. If I just get the feeling for it I may be pleased.
Why start at the beginning when it is a moot point as to what is important here.
I struggled for years with language . It was my poorest subject. Rhyme nor reason did not exist . It was in a sense, nonsensical to me. I could speak , It sufficed.
That others could not comprehend was theirs to ponder over. Go ponder over yonder,said I.
Then I discovered girls. I guess they were there all the time. It just was of little consequence to me. Eleven years old can be very trying for a young man when the girls Papa does not understand you. Sure I could woo. The language of love is universal.He didn,t seem to get that. He must of been from out of town.In fact I am sure of it. He always wanted me to come for a visit. "Get out of Town" were the only words I understood that he said. It was actually nonverbal communication. Sign language,of a sort . It mostly involved his foot and my backside. He was adept at language.
Forlorn and forgotten I wandered the wasteland of miscommunication.
Apparently learning the question "Have you good humour?" does not go over well with fathers of the protective sort.Rather humourless they are I am here to report.
Thank goodness daughters are more tolerant of language frivolities or the ages twelve and thirteen may have been another moot point for me.
Fourteen comes around and a young man must work. A whole new World of delight. New language skills to gather unto myself . It was with some angst I learned the words necessary for what passed as communication in a factory where my hands blistered so badly they had to be cut off.(The blisters, not the hands.) They did have a six bit drill press that argued the point though.
Onward and upward. An office job at fifteen. Yet again the language I learned in the factory did not suffice. Too colorful by far. They were of good cheer about it. An understanding bunch. It was suggested that I should have the opportunity to express myself without restraint. Elsewhere. That out of town place was sure popular with me. I visited there often enough.
What can I tell you? the years passed. One political upheaval after another. Soon I was told I needed another stab at the old language thing. Apparently digging a hole had to be accomplished in two official languages. There sure was a lot more in that hole than meets the eye.
Back to school for me. Six foot two of thirty six year old Irishman sitting beside teenagers. The teacher hated me. The language I spoke was between us like a red flag to his bull. Fortunately for me amid the political rhetoric I learned more in two months than I had been taught in two years. The man could teach. He couldn,t get away from it . While he despised what I stood for he taught me comparison.
Up till then I had been taught manners(Except in the factory.) Please , thank you and the now infamous "Have you good humour?" This man taught me how to compare sizes,before and after. All the little things necessary to get along.
He said "Bedamned with manners". Well at least he said "Bedamned." (Hey I was being offered another ride out of town on the old Bedamned express.)
If bedamned I was I,d bedamned sure I wasn,t going to stay there any longer than I had to.
Now I come to the point of this jabberfest . I,m going to learn another language . Maybe two. Gaelic for me and Latin for my Intellect. It may be the Irish in me. The Gaelic sounds so right to my ears. From a Sirens song to a guttural rasp it hits me right where I live.
Latin is another affair. A dead language they say. Sounds perfect. There is a precision to it in a scholarly way. There seems to be a wit to it.
I don,t know how much of either I will learn. Gaelic will be first in importance and the easier to acquire. In truth I may travel to the poorer parts of town to hear a language that is rich to me.
Latin may be more of a stretch. I may have to travel a bit. (Here I go out of town again.) No doubt some of you think it would be better to travel back in time to learn it. I think it will be less far than that. If I just get the feeling for it I may be pleased.
)