Non-motoring > Work Fun & Games. Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bromptonaut Replies: 8
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 13:42 
 Work Fun & Games. - Bromptonaut
One of my colleagues is from Poland. She has a slight accent but otherwise speaks English as well as I do.

Was on a call today with a client and a Slovak interpreter. Slovak and Polish are apparently, while not identical, mutually comprehensible.

Client was complaining to the interpreter that my colleague was asking far too many questions. She says she needed to as too many of the clients answers were prefixed by 'maybe' but were translated without that qualifier.

She gets to the end of the call and says in Slovak how nice it was to chat with them!

To say the client was embarrassed would be an understatement.

I has a colleague in my previous career who was hard of hearing and had a desk mike and earpieces with amplified sound for use in meetings. During a loo break they could hear exactly what the other parties were saying about their tactics for ongoing negotiation....
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 11 Sep 25 at 13:44
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 15:21 
 Work Fun & Games. - bathtub tom
Had a colleague who enjoyed holidaying in Pembrokeshire. He'd go into a shop and notice if the conversation stopped, it would often re-start in Welsh after he spoke in English. He'd learnt Welsh, so as he was about to leave we'd thank the staff and wish them a happy day in Welsh just to see the faces of those present.
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 16:19 
 Work Fun & Games. - Dog
>> the conversation stopped, it would often re-start in Welsh after he spoke in English

Does that still go on? We experienced that BIG time when we went there in the 70s, not been back since!
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 16:30 
 Work Fun & Games. - Bromptonaut
>> Does that still go on? We experienced that BIG time when we went there in
>> the 70s, not been back since!

I don't know if it still does but I remember walking into a pub in, I think, Bethesda in the mid eighties and everybody switched to Welsh.

In contrast on the Western Isles, where Scots Gaelic is the 'language of hearth and home', people speak English when with non Gaelic speakers. B&B landlady upbraided her primary age daughter for speaking Gaelic while there were non speakers in the group.
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 19:44 
 Work Fun & Games. - Dog
>> don't know if it still does but I remember walking into a pub in, I think, Bethesda in the mid eighties and everybody switched to Welsh

I can't say for certain they were speaking English when we walked in the pub, but we both remember that it all went quiet and the landlady ushered us in to a private room (snug)

I think it was up in the Brecon area. We couldn't get B&b anywhere and ended up sleeping in our mark 2 Cortina :)

A better experience was had in Aberystwyth.
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 17:26 
 Work Fun & Games. - Robin O'Reliant
Hmmm, are you sure they were talking English before you went in? Because in my experience, having been down here for 24 years, when Welsh speakers are talking (And they are a minority among the Welsh, particularly in Pembrokeshire) they use their own language all the time.
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 19:46 
 Work Fun & Games. - Dog
>>are you sure they were talking English before you went in

See above :)
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 22:08 
 Work Fun & Games. - Ted

When we were in Portree in the late 60s, not language, but on the Sunday the shops all had blinds down or the displays covered in paper to hide them. We had some difficulty getting petrol for the Morris Landcrab and ended up at a busy cafe in Uig where there was a single pump. Obviously a non-believer !

Ted
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 Thu 11 Sep 25 22:14 
 Work Fun & Games. - bathtub tom
I recall doing the Shropshire union/Llangollan canal in the '70s. Try getting a pub lunch or pint!
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