Cycling Forums - View Single Post

01-19-2007, 12:08 PM

jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org wrote:
>
>
> That article doesn't answer my question or say that these people are
> otherwise linguistically skilled. I wonder how many of them spoke
> more than one language. One who masters English and French, for
> instance, must have a keen ear for pronunciation. A monolingual
> person can get by without ever questioning form or sound and could be
> imitating his closest peers. I related the story of the young
> engineering officer who described an impact area as being strewn with
> "derbis" and had in all his life gotten away with it, possibly talking
> to people who knew neither what debris or derbis was.

One of my best friends in engineering school couldn't correctly
pronounce "aluminum." No matter how he tried, it came out "alunimum."
Amazingly, he got a job with Alcoa. I hope he eventually got it right
there!

> I found that so elegant a faux pas that ever since I usually say
> "derbis" among friends and family. I've mentioned that those who were
> among the highest GPA's in college were on occasion not gifted with
> great intelligence but rather good short term memory, persons I would
> not ask to explain a complex concept.

The guy I mentioned was definitely intelligent, and an excellent
problem solver.

Personally, I think memory (whether short or long term), logic, problem
solving, analysis, design or synthesis, artistic skills, auditory
skills etc. are all different aspects of intelligence. A person can
excel at many of them and definitely be considered "intelligent," but
still have deficits in others.

But regarding pronunciation, I think lots of Americans get by simply
because the country is mostly monolingual. As you say, they never need
to develop as much skill with their ears or their voice.

> Just because some great people
> have great leadership skills...

.... or, alternately, skill at standing in front of a microphone and
saying what they're told to say... ;-)

>... we should not expect them to be equally
> skilled in other areas.

Exactly. But that doesn't prevent "nucyooler" from sounding dumb!

- Frank Krygowski

01-19-2007, 12:08 PM	#47 (permalink)
frkrygow@gmail.com Guest Posts: n/a	Re: OT Interesting video jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org wrote: > > > That article doesn't answer my question or say that these people are > otherwise linguistically skilled. I wonder how many of them spoke > more than one language. One who masters English and French, for > instance, must have a keen ear for pronunciation. A monolingual > person can get by without ever questioning form or sound and could be > imitating his closest peers. I related the story of the young > engineering officer who described an impact area as being strewn with > "derbis" and had in all his life gotten away with it, possibly talking > to people who knew neither what debris or derbis was. One of my best friends in engineering school couldn't correctly pronounce "aluminum." No matter how he tried, it came out "alunimum." Amazingly, he got a job with Alcoa. I hope he eventually got it right there! > I found that so elegant a faux pas that ever since I usually say > "derbis" among friends and family. I've mentioned that those who were > among the highest GPA's in college were on occasion not gifted with > great intelligence but rather good short term memory, persons I would > not ask to explain a complex concept. The guy I mentioned was definitely intelligent, and an excellent problem solver. Personally, I think memory (whether short or long term), logic, problem solving, analysis, design or synthesis, artistic skills, auditory skills etc. are all different aspects of intelligence. A person can excel at many of them and definitely be considered "intelligent," but still have deficits in others. But regarding pronunciation, I think lots of Americans get by simply because the country is mostly monolingual. As you say, they never need to develop as much skill with their ears or their voice. > Just because some great people > have great leadership skills... .... or, alternately, skill at standing in front of a microphone and saying what they're told to say... ;-) >... we should not expect them to be equally > skilled in other areas. Exactly. But that doesn't prevent "nucyooler" from sounding dumb! - Frank Krygowski