Posted by:
T-Bone
(
)
Date: July 17, 2012 10:47PM
I grew up being good at languages, and very lucky. We had introductory Spanish in elementary school and Spanish class from junior high school, all through high school when I was growing up. By the time I got to college, I was dating a Spanish-speaking girl, working in restaurants with many Spanish-speaking co-workers, and shopping at stores where the shop-keepers spoke Spanish.
After meeting my wife, I followed her to Japan where we lived 10 years. I got really good at Japanese.
In my job, I get paid a premium because I have these languages. My clients dig it, and I love the thrill of catching an unsuspecting Japanese tourist off-guard. They just never expect it. Spanish-speakers aren't as surprised, but just as appreciative.
Here comes my pet peeve. When I was visiting Utah, some relatives were putting together a birthday sign. One of my cousin's kids had been to Japan as a missionary. If you go to Japan as a missionary, they really discourage studying the writing system. But they asked the wonderboy RM to write something in Japanese. First of all, he had been back a few years and had pretty much lost all his Japanese (some people just aren't good at languages). And he had never studied the writing system.
I offered to help out. I can write about 2000 characters from memory. Everybody recoiled as if I had offered to share my coffee. "Cousin Wingnut went to Japan on his mission. We want him to do it."
Another time was with a nephew who had been on a Spanish-speaking mission. He was trying to talk to a young Latina. Not to embarrass him, but to say hello, I introduced myself. She asked me a few questions, and explained that she wanted to get into the same profession. We had a great conversation, but my poor nephew got left behind. He could discuss Mormonism, but his own one-dimensional focus on using Spanish at church had left him completely unable to discus anything else.
He must have wanted to get me back or something because later he told me in front of a group of family members, "I didn't know you spoke Spanish." I explained that I had taken classes for years, taught Spanish, and used it a lot at work.
His brainless answer? "What I mean is, you didn't go on a Spanish-speaking mission, so I didn't think you spoke Spanish."
I guess he wanted to make a point that he is an RM and I am not.
Have any other linguists on the board encountered this? It just sounds like another way Mormons use to remind others that their brainwashing rituals make them better than others. Or is it a way to make themselves feel better that they wasted 2 years of their lives, gaining a skill that I gained while chasing girls and drinking beer?
T-Bone
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2012 10:50PM by T-Bone.