Mike Jones's blog

Is English your first language? – This is an ILLEGAL interview question!

Here is the link to an article that I saw just now, offered through Yahoo! News, that points out that the interview question “Is English your first language?” would be illegal:

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/secrets-toyour-success/9-common-interview...

For the other illegal questions in the article, exceptions are sometimes listed, in which the question directly relates to job performance. No exceptions were listed for this question, but it is not hard to think of exceptions, such as for an English teacher, or an actor for a certain movie role requiring absolute native command of English, etc. Yahoo seems to default its intended audience to office drones, however.

(27.Mar.2012, Taiyuan, China)

Wanted: a mouse for fast food restaurants

One of the specific encounters with the language barrier that could be overcome with a bit (no pun intended) of technology is the experience of ordering your grub at a fast-food restaurant. For example, in China there are now a lot of my fav eating establishment: KFC. So, here I am in China, at KFC, wanting to order, but the staff are all Chinese teenagers. The time when I encounter the language barrier there is in the morning when I am wanting to order breakfast. The language barrier is not so bad at other times, because at other times (i.e., later in the day), they put a menu in front of me there on the counter, and I simply point to want I want. However, in the morning, as I guess everyone knows, most of the menu selections are not on the meager breakfast menu that they would put in front of you on the counter, but are displayed up above in the rear: big, crowded back-lit pictures.

Spritaĵo/Vortludo: Esperanto estas nepreta!

En la moderna RETA mondo, la Esperantistoj povas interkonsenti kun la malamikoj de Esperanto, ke Esperanto estas nepreta. La diferenco kuŝas en tio, kie ĉiu partio subkomprenas esti la loko de l’ streketo: “ne-preta” aŭ “nep-reta”.

Rilata citaĵo el la Fundamento: “La nepoj vin benos, se vi pacience eltenos.”

(ombroj de “neobeo”!)

(27.Mar.2012, Taiyuan, Ĉinio)

self-contradictory claim: "I have experience of translator since 4 years".

What is a native speaker of English? This question is discussed / debated on the “English Language & Usage” Stack Exchange website, where the above priceless quote can be found. Here is the link:

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/14582/meaning-of-native-speak...

(17.Mar.2012, Taiyuan, China)

Spritaĵo pri baril-grimpantoj

Demando: Se vi drinkas, sakras, kaj fumas, kaj aspektas taŭze, kiel ni nomumu vin?

Respondo: Taŭga rolul-modelo por ĉinaj junuloj, kondiĉe nur, ke vi parolas angle.

Klarigo pri la termino “baril-grimpanto”: Oni fermas (ŝlosas) la porgedon de la lerneja tereno (kie troviĝas ankaŭ la loĝejoj de la fremdaj instruistoj) je certa horo (ekzemple, la 11-a horo vespere). Do, se vi restis longe en la drinkejo, aŭ pli probable, vizitis tro multe da drinkejoj, kiam vi revenas al la lerneja tereno, vi trovas la pordegon fermita kaj ŝlosita kaj do devas supergrimpi la barilon (muron aŭ kion ajn) por eniri. Do, vi estas baril-grimpanto.

(14.Mar.2012, Taiyuan, Ĉinio)

What’s the word for the condition when you need to defecate?

This is a question at the “English Language & Usage” Stack Exchange website. Apparently there is no such word in English, but someone was careless enough to ask whether any other languages have such a word, opening the door to a reference to Esperanto with “fekavida”. Here is the link:

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/60601/whats-the-word-for-the-...

(Saturday, 10.Mar.2012, Taiyuan, China)

There was nothing she could do.

During ESL speaking practice yesterday, a student, reporting on an item of Chinese history, said of a certain woman, “She had nothing to do.”, when what the student evidently meant to say was, “There was nothing she could do.”, which is a very different thing. I pointed this out to the student, and then this morning sent out an email message about this (very bad) error to all the students in the class. The text of the email message is given below. Within it, I casually and naturally make use of Esperanto to go, so to speak, that additional mile to explain the difference to the students. This is a good example of how I use Esperanto, and what I advocate: simply hit the ground running using Esperanto.

email message:

Kunveno de gepatroj de internaciaj studentoj

Foje en Ĉinio (same kiel en aliaj landoj, kompreneble) furoras spritaĵo inter la popolo pri iuj altranguloj, aparte pri membroj de la registaro.

Mia edzino, kiu estas ĉinino, informas min, ke aktuale certa spritaĵo estas fluganta inter la popolo de Ĉinio. Por kompreni la spritaĵon, necesas kompreni la jenajn 3 punktojn:

#1. Junulo kiu iras eksterlanden por studi estas nomata “internacia studento”.

#2. Altranguloj / riĉuloj en Ĉinio, tute ne escepte de la membroj de la registaro, sendas siajn infanojn eksterlanden (aparte, al Usono), por studi.

#3. Ĉiun duan aŭ trian jaron, la registaro de Ĉinio havas grandan gravan kunvenon, kaj jen en ĉi tiu jaro, nun, dum ni estas parolantaj, tia kunveno estas okazanta.

Nun vi estas en pozicio por kompreni la spritaĵon: La ordinaraj homoj de Ĉinio “flustras” (per QQ, ktp), ke la ĝusta titolo por tiu kunveno estas, “Kunveno de gepatroj de internaciaj studentoj”…:)

(5.Mar.2012, Taiyuan, Ĉinio)

Sorites Paradox

Since the word “soros” has significance in two ways within Esperanto, namely, as a word (“will soar”) and as the name of a famous person connected with Esperanto, it might be a good idea to point out that this word, with a completely different etymology, is also used as the basis for a famous paradox in Philosophy, namely, the “Sorites” paradox.

According to the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Phililophy (SEP), “soros” in this sense comes from Greek, meaning “heap”.

More fractionalization of English, and our funny bone

From, “Advice for Yankees Moving South”:

“Don't be worried that you don't understand anyone. They don't understand you either.”

Here’s the link:

http://www.c4vct.com/kym/humor/yms.htm

(16.Feb.2012, Taiyuan, China)