Yes, a word if I can in whatever language you have to offer. I stand all amazed by people who can speak multiple languages with ease. I do not understand how they can keep them apart, or how they can even remember all the vocabulary, grammar, conjugations and accents. I speak a bit of Spanish and even less French and that is the most my little brain can handle. I recall a teacher I had in high school who was a linguist. He taught English and French, but he was fluent in dozens of languages; not only fluent in grammar and vocabulary, but fluent in their accents. What he was doing teaching high school I don‘t know. He had a PHD in something or other, I just recall he went by the title Dr. He was a very likable guy, but it seemed to me he belonged in a university setting and other teachers, as I recall, felt the same way. Perhaps they had other motives for him changing venues, but I digress.

We had arranged a trip across Canada so parents, teachers and students had gathered for a planning meeting. A good friend of mine was Italian and his father was speaking with the good doctor in his native language. My friend’s father was certain the doctor was from Venice because of his distinct accent, so the teacher changed his accent to match that of my friend’s father who was from Sicily. The latter was stunned. The doctor could speak German, Russian, Spanish, Serbian, and so much more; if put on the spot, I could not even name all of the Japanese car manufacturers, never mind pronounce their names properly. (more…)