What I find interesting about this news is not that there are cultural problems in communication, but that there are now people other than me who are insightful enough and erudite enough about such nuances and are able to explain them. I had a rant about this in an college alumnus column a decade or so ago.
Now I find a beautifully constructed sentence that sums up the issue: >It's a question of cultural semantics, adds the Toronto-born Konanur. "In >some parts of India it's quite common to speak that way. ... I can't speak >for all Indian people, but in my family in India they use that kind of >language all the time, `Get the milk or I'm going to kill you.'" shiv On Wednesday 02 Apr 2008 3:17:05 am VaibhaV Sharma wrote: > Another victim of the literal translation habit us Indians more than > often have to deal with - > > http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/306896 > > Quote - > One of the trickiest things when you move into a new society is > understanding what's colloquially appropriate communication. It's almost > impossible for new immigrants to navigate. I think she realizes now it > was a mistake, but really, how would she have known? There's no > settlement agency that teaches you how to be politically correct in Canada. > > I feel bad for the lady. > > -- > VaibhaV Sharma > http://vsharma.net
