Saab Viggen, pt 4 - Saab Viggen 35.jpg (1/1)

"Morgans" wrote in message
news

"Andrew Chaplin" wrote

Subcontinental English, i.e. that of India and Pakistan, takes some getting
used to because of subtle differences in diction, but it's not
impenetrable.
You must have a much better ear than me.

If I get an India or Pakistan Tec help line, I ask if they can switch me to
a native English speaker, and if not, I thank them and hang up. I simply
can not understand what they are saying, with my hearing deficit as a large
part of the problem.

I had a whole battery of test in something like the 6th grade, because I was
not doing as well in school as my parents thought I should. I tested out
with a high IQ, and my parents were told that I needed better study habits,
and that I was bored and needed more challenge.

A few years later, after I was out of HS, my parents saw the person who gave
the test, and commented that I had done pretty well in school, except for
foreign languages, the person said, "Oh, he should have never taken them. He
does not hear some of the hard letter sounds well enough to pick up a
foreign language."

Oh, thanks. It would have been nice to tell the parents that, before the
problems.

And get this. I have an excellent music ear, and ended up majoring in
music! Whatever problem I have does not prohibit me from hearing
instrumental music.

I was artillery, working on the gunline, in the CP and at the OP for the first
decade of my service, then in AD units thereafter. I was caught only once on
the gunline without hearing protection. The greater hazard than the guns was
actually the radios, especially when one had to operate without squelch. Most
of my time as AD was as an officer in missile batteries, and we rarely got
close enough to things going "BOOM" and "WHOOSH" to be in any more danger than
a REMF. I transferred from the regs to the reserve after 23 years with pretty
much the same hearing as I came in with: H1.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Andrew Chaplin" wrote

Two military cultures divided by a common language: "recce" for
REConaissanCE (pronounced to rhyme with "breckie") has been the short
form used in Britain, Canada and most other Commonwealth forces since
early in the Great War, and perhaps even earlier.

Interesting. I did not know about that other naming, of planes that
take
pictures and stuff from the air. g

It is interesting, how the English (and I use that term loosely g)
languages have taken on little twists and turns. It is not surprising
that slang is different, and I suppose acronyms are really no
different.

Do you have a hard time listening to an American (I hate that term,
since there are a lot of people that live in North, Central, and South
America that are also Americans) speak, and understand exactly what he
or she is saying?

I have pretty bad hearing loss, and am about to take the plunge into
the land of hearing aids. If I watch a movie that has British people
speaking, I almost always have to turn the volume way up to understand
the dialogue. Same problem with listening and understanding in person,
also, but not as bad if I can do a bit of lip reading. I seem to have
picked that skill up without knowing I did.

I know it depends on where the Brit is from, and such, but I just
wondered if you had as hard of a time listening to people on the other
side of the pond as I do.

My sister has a Scottish friend that pops across the pond (and the
continent) every now and then for a visit. On a good day, I can catch
about every fifth word, and spend the rest of the time wishing he came
with subtitles...

But then, I can't pull the lyrics out of most songs, and usually do have
the subtitles on for 'Dr Who'.

Bloody 'ell.

Bob ^,,^

On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:52:19 GMT, Bob Harrington
wrote:

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Andrew Chaplin" wrote

Two military cultures divided by a common language: "recce" for
REConaissanCE (pronounced to rhyme with "breckie") has been the short
form used in Britain, Canada and most other Commonwealth forces since
early in the Great War, and perhaps even earlier.

Interesting. I did not know about that other naming, of planes that
take
pictures and stuff from the air. g

It is interesting, how the English (and I use that term loosely g)
languages have taken on little twists and turns. It is not surprising
that slang is different, and I suppose acronyms are really no
different.

Do you have a hard time listening to an American (I hate that term,
since there are a lot of people that live in North, Central, and South
America that are also Americans) speak, and understand exactly what he
or she is saying?

I have pretty bad hearing loss, and am about to take the plunge into
the land of hearing aids. If I watch a movie that has British people
speaking, I almost always have to turn the volume way up to understand
the dialogue. Same problem with listening and understanding in person,
also, but not as bad if I can do a bit of lip reading. I seem to have
picked that skill up without knowing I did.

I know it depends on where the Brit is from, and such, but I just
wondered if you had as hard of a time listening to people on the other
side of the pond as I do.

My sister has a Scottish friend that pops across the pond (and the
continent) every now and then for a visit. On a good day, I can catch
about every fifth word, and spend the rest of the time wishing he came
with subtitles...

But then, I can't pull the lyrics out of most songs, and usually do have
the subtitles on for 'Dr Who'.

http://hucker.plus.com/videos/People/138.wmv
--
http://www.petersparrots.com http://www.insanevideoclips.com http://www.petersphotos.com

"My god! What happened to you?" the bartender asked Kelly as he hobbled in on a crutch, one arm in a cast.
"I got in a tiff with Riley."
"Riley? He's just a wee fellow," the barkeep said, surprised.
"He must have had something in his hand."
"That he did," Kelly said. "A shovel it was."
"Dear Lord. Didn't you have anything in your hand?"
"Aye, that I did -- Mrs. Riley's tit." Kelly said. "And a beautiful thing it was, but not much use in a fight."

Peter Hucker wrote in
:

On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:52:19 GMT, Bob Harrington
wrote:

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Andrew Chaplin" wrote

Two military cultures divided by a common language: "recce" for
REConaissanCE (pronounced to rhyme with "breckie") has been the short
form used in Britain, Canada and most other Commonwealth forces since
early in the Great War, and perhaps even earlier.

Interesting. I did not know about that other naming, of planes that
take
pictures and stuff from the air. g

It is interesting, how the English (and I use that term loosely g)
languages have taken on little twists and turns. It is not surprising
that slang is different, and I suppose acronyms are really no
different.

Do you have a hard time listening to an American (I hate that term,
since there are a lot of people that live in North, Central, and South
America that are also Americans) speak, and understand exactly what he
or she is saying?

I have pretty bad hearing loss, and am about to take the plunge into
the land of hearing aids. If I watch a movie that has British people
speaking, I almost always have to turn the volume way up to understand
the dialogue. Same problem with listening and understanding in person,
also, but not as bad if I can do a bit of lip reading. I seem to have
picked that skill up without knowing I did.

I know it depends on where the Brit is from, and such, but I just
wondered if you had as hard of a time listening to people on the other
side of the pond as I do.

My sister has a Scottish friend that pops across the pond (and the
continent) every now and then for a visit. On a good day, I can catch
about every fifth word, and spend the rest of the time wishing he came
with subtitles...

But then, I can't pull the lyrics out of most songs, and usually do have
the subtitles on for 'Dr Who'.

http://hucker.plus.com/videos/People/138.wmv

Doorrgghh!

That's a keeper! =}

"Bob Harrington" wrote

But then, I can't pull the lyrics out of most songs, and usually do have
the subtitles on for 'Dr Who'.

LOL !

Damn, that's funny!

But those subtitles are a great idea that I never thought of!

For me, it's in the ear headphones. (really good high frequency really
helps)

For those who have never tried them, Phillips makes a set of active noise
canceling in the ear headsets, reasonably priced.

They have good passive noise protection, and the active portion kicks the
bass and treble up, noticeably.

They have 3 different rubber tip sizes, and are the most comfortable in the
ear headset short of custom molded sets on the market, IMHO.

Try 'em, you'll like "em.

yada - yada, not affiliated with Phillips, ect, ect.
--
Jim in NC