[TheForge] [OT][YAK] Re: Computer question
Mike Spencer
[email protected]
Wed Nov 12 15:27:01 2003
> In Mumbai (Bombay) they speak the queens english. Better than me,
> with a distinguished oxford accent for the most part.
The educated Indians I've met -- MDs, school teachers and university
profs -- speak gramatically correct English and have a good
vocabulary. (English was often their first and native language.) The
problem is that the inflection, cadence and word usage vary from
somewhat unlike North American standard to wildly and incomprehensibly
divergent.
Word on the grapevine over in the virtual techie lunchroom is that
young Indian call center employees watch hours and hours of US TV and
movies and practice with each other in an attempt to get their accents
indistinguishable from native US speakers.
On the other hand, there are people over in Blue Rocks, NS whose English
neither you nor I would understand without several repetitions and
intese concentration.
If blacksmithing support were like computer support...
Support: Big Steel Co. How my I help you?
You: I have a batch of your A36 hot rolled 1" by 6" flat bar
that has a 4' long cold shut in each piece and three
pieces have stainless bearing balls embedded in them.
Support: Okayyyy. First I want you to re-install your anvil.
----
Support: Snartweasel Coal Co. How may I help you?
You: The last gondola carload of coal you sent was 50% rocks
and averaged 6% carbon. I need a replacement shipment.
Support: What version of Anvil are you using?
You: Er, um, well, mostly I use a Peter Wright or sometimes a
Kohl....
Support: (Interrupting) I'm sorry. We don't support Peter
Wright. We only support SumDung-ASO(tm).
- Mike
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Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada .~.
/V\
[email protected] /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/ ^^-^^
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