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From: jerry.friedman99@gmail.com (jerryfriedman)
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Subject: Re: French proverb : =?UTF-8?B?4oCcQSBtYW4gd2hvIGtub3dzIHR3byBsYW5ndWFn?=
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Date: Sun, 9 Jun 2024 01:56:32 +0000
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Peter Moylan wrote:

> On 09/06/24 07:19, Christian Weisgerber wrote:
>> On 2024-06-08, Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org> wrote:

>>> (Special case: I have worked out how to say "I don't speak X" for a
>>> number of different values of X.)
>>
>> I once replied "no hablo español" when addressed in Spanish in the
>> street in Miami, but it's pragmatically weird, since it seems to be a
>> self-contradictory statement.  Also, if you don't speak the language,
>> your utterance may well come out unintelligible.

> Once, when I was a child, I was left to wait in the local priest's
> living room while my parents had business with him. I saw that he had a
> "Learn Italian" record,

Was he expecting a significant promotion?

> so I played it. The record immediately went into
> teaching you, by frequent repetition, to say "Io parlo Italiano". Even
> at
> that young age I could see the flaw in that approach. The first lesson
> should have been "Non parlo italiano".

> "Buongiorno. Mi puoi indicare la fermata dell'autobus?"
> "Io Parlo italiano."
> "Bene. Dov'è la fermata dell'autobus?"
> "Io Parlo italiano."
>
> The only time I was in Italy I had a more practical approach. I had 
> purchased a bus ticket at the railway station, but when I came out of 
> the station I couldn't see any sign for a bus. So I approached a small 
> group of men, held out my ticket, and said "Dov'è?". One of them
> pointed
> to the ground and said "Qui." Perfect communication!

And without any risk of your Italian being overestimated.  But are
you sure you didn't say "Dove"?

-- 
Jerry Friedman