tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post5086383511767731732..comments2024-03-26T05:56:59.938+11:00Comments on THE PSYCHOLOGIST : Language cuts risk Australia's regional relationships -- or do they?JRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829082699850674281noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post-48204997738151426382020-12-18T01:59:48.358+11:002020-12-18T01:59:48.358+11:00Hehe, you are right, was pleased when we parted wa...Hehe, you are right, was pleased when we parted ways. In hindsight I see that the traveling forced me to change focus from self loathing to be more aware of the world around me and enjoyed meeting some friendly people from the UK. I also found out that a suit jacket is no good when going to New Delhi to Rishikesh by bus in the middle part of January. It was comfortable for the Indians on board though in their down jackets, warm gloves and hats.Norsenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post-22679544839779167952020-12-17T12:24:23.180+11:002020-12-17T12:24:23.180+11:00That sounds like an adventure I would not desire; ...That sounds like an adventure I would not desire; not even for a young Swedish lady. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post-54510641076882923662020-12-17T02:04:01.173+11:002020-12-17T02:04:01.173+11:00I occasionally go camping but I do not usually ven...I occasionally go camping but I do not usually venture for long journeys. I traveled to India once to meet a young Swedish lady in my early 20s and was supposed to meet a friend of hers in Mumbai. The guide to be had a change of plans so I arrived there 4 o'clock in the morning in my comfortable suit jacket and a pocketful of little experience in the world. The cab driver insisted that he carry my backpack though I insisted he should not, but appreciated the little man being helpful. I sat in the backseat and instantly a lot of begging hands came through the window. My reaction was to hand out money but soon realised there were too many hands and not enough money so I rolled down the window and gave the driver an address which he did not recognize. He stopped several times during the trip and asked other people for directions, which I did not find to be reassuring. Next he started asking for money and I pretended not to understand using impromptu sign language though I was pretty sure what baksheesh meant. He continued to beg so I told him to stop and I took my backpack and wandered off not really knowing where to go except to look for a some place to stay. I tried to stay away from all the strangers in the night after passing a mumbling man who spat a red fluid on the ground. There were many places to stay but they were all full, except for one to my relief. I asked for a price, made an approximation of the cost in my head and pretty much thought I was going to be ruined if that was the general rate to expect. I had three months to go but going out into the night again was not an option. Went up to the room and sat on the bed and stared into thin air for about an hour. I came to my senses, very tired, so I dozed off. The next morning I ventured out for about 50 meters from the hotel before there was a change of plans; Mumbai was simply too overwhelming. On the way back to the hotel an asian fellow stopped me, we started chatting and he offered to be my guide for what was reasonable price and I was very pleased. He told me I was staying a place where rich Arabs used to frequent and he offered to show me other and more reasonable priced places to stay. Well, days passed and I got lost several times in Mumbai but noticed the top of some familiar buildings and found my way back, except for once. I decided that asking one or more people for direction was useless since I did not remember the name of the place or how to describe it, so I grabbed a cab. He drove the cab about 50 meters and I was good to go.Norsenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post-67360851120322084802020-12-16T20:03:29.820+11:002020-12-16T20:03:29.820+11:00I occasionally meet back-packing Viking tourists i...I occasionally meet back-packing Viking tourists in a national park near where I live, and I notice that most can speak English quite well. On one occasion though, last summer, I was driving with a friend through a state forest, exploring the bush tracks. The forest is vast and used mostly by local deer hunters, not tourists. Some colour caught my eye and upon investigation we found an empty camp of several tents. I took mental note of the inds or articles in the camp and deduced they were five foreign back-packers, not Australian bushies. They were on foot as there were no vehicular tyre tracks in the camp. I presumed they had been driven to the location by someone else, possibly hunters, as they were too far into the bush to have walked there. And I presumed the same someone would come to pick them up in several days time. A little further on at a crossed intersection of tracks we found five lost and distressed Vikings with no idea where their camp is. One of the women in the group could speak a little English and she tried hard to tell me they were lost and had a camp somewhere in the forest. But her English was not good enough to explain their predicament and she knew she was not making herself clear. She need not had worried though, for I knew who they were and where their camp is. I had even expected to find them. I smiled and pointed in the direction of their camp and gestured reassuringly for them to go in that direction. It was only a smile and a point, but it changed their faces from distress to relief and thankfulness. I hope their holiday in Australia was an enjoyable and memorable one. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post-87993066580594393482020-12-16T01:46:41.594+11:002020-12-16T01:46:41.594+11:00My interest for the English language started as a ...My interest for the English language started as a kid when learning to use a computer, the Commodore 64. Specifically I had a drive to learn English so that I could better play computer games and especially text-based ones. Music also kindled the interest in order to understand the lyrics of many songs on the radio. In my experience English is the key to be able to communicate with most foreigners and one does not have to posess the abilities of Shakespear to make good use of it. Where there is a will there is often a way.Norsenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9487055.post-69242899354707090772020-12-16T00:13:26.873+11:002020-12-16T00:13:26.873+11:00I occasionally require a translator in my work, wh...I occasionally require a translator in my work, which involves discussion of personal, subtle and psychological matters. Most foreigners know at least a little English, and it is surprising to what extent and subtlety one can communicate if patient and if making use of gestures and drawings, and if controlling the pace of exchanges of points and progressing one small point at a time and establishing certainty on the understanding of that point before moving to the next point. A pen and large notepad are handy for such situations. I have often surprised myself at how relieved and satisfied my clients are that mutual understanding has been acquired despite poor understanding of each other's language. And if required there are state and federal gov funded translation services such as TIS https://www.tisnational.gov.au and other services. Knowing other languages would be interesting and handy, but I doubt I could have ever learned any. I have enough difficulties with English. I notice that I can "zero" in to various degrees on the foreign language conversations of others... Is the conversation religious? political? personal? family? work related? intellectual? emotion? and from there pursue further dividing questions, getting finer and finer with the questioning intellectually and "intuitively", so as to zero in on the exact subject of the conversation. I have tested this method by then asking the foreigners what they were discussing, and I have often been exactly right, even when they were quacking away in Chinese. So although knowing another language would be fun and interesting, I have not needed one. And I do a job that requires conversing on all sorts of subjects. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com