I was at work, talking to this girl who works with me.
This girl went on, one time, asking if,
"Ciao"
was Egyptian for over 5 minutes, in front of an Italian customer. I repeated LOUD into her ear that it is indeed Italian, and that is why people say,
"Ciao bella!"
and so on, just to shut her up. (Perhaps not the best way to describe the authenticity, but somewhat the phrase was stuck in my brain as "the standard phrase used by English speakers.")
Anyway, today she was asking me what languages I learned before, so I told her I tried to learn Welsh. I omitted Esperanto from the answer, as I was pretty sure she doesn't know what that is.
"Yeah, it's really hard to learn Welsh. I wasn't clever enough."
"Oh? What are you talking about, Welsh is REALLY easy. Even I can learn that."
She was DEAD serious. I couldn't dare ask her if she was anyway, as this might insult her ability of learning a language.
"Yeah? So you learnt it then?"
As I was asking her so my mind was amused with random thoughts;
and she just did this REALLY bad Welsh accent.
My mind, face, and pain in my knee all went BLANK.
"Wh...what the f...., um, NO, no, that's not Welsh. Welsh is completely different language came from Gaelic, and it really is hard language to learn, but is essntial in some part of Wales if you want to get a job."
I went on for a bit, explaining more on Welsh, but I don't think she was quite buying it. She was looking at me like this whole thing was totally alien idea and unnecessary.
This girl went on, one time, asking if,
"Ciao"
was Egyptian for over 5 minutes, in front of an Italian customer. I repeated LOUD into her ear that it is indeed Italian, and that is why people say,
"Ciao bella!"
and so on, just to shut her up. (Perhaps not the best way to describe the authenticity, but somewhat the phrase was stuck in my brain as "the standard phrase used by English speakers.")
Anyway, today she was asking me what languages I learned before, so I told her I tried to learn Welsh. I omitted Esperanto from the answer, as I was pretty sure she doesn't know what that is.
"Yeah, it's really hard to learn Welsh. I wasn't clever enough."
"Oh? What are you talking about, Welsh is REALLY easy. Even I can learn that."
She was DEAD serious. I couldn't dare ask her if she was anyway, as this might insult her ability of learning a language.
"Yeah? So you learnt it then?"
As I was asking her so my mind was amused with random thoughts;
Oh, in the middle of Berkshire, in the middle of NO WHERE, people are learning Welsh, for the reason I can't even begin to imagine. Viva! Cymraeg. Indeed Welsh is one of the fastest growing languages in the world...
"Yeah! It's same spelling and alphabet, with just like..."and she just did this REALLY bad Welsh accent.
My mind, face, and pain in my knee all went BLANK.
"Wh...what the f...., um, NO, no, that's not Welsh. Welsh is completely different language came from Gaelic, and it really is hard language to learn, but is essntial in some part of Wales if you want to get a job."
I went on for a bit, explaining more on Welsh, but I don't think she was quite buying it. She was looking at me like this whole thing was totally alien idea and unnecessary.
I do come across some naive youngsters who are about to go into college education, OR already in early stage of it. I just NEVER met an English girl who didn't know what us Welsh stand for. I say it again,
Viva! Cymraeg!
