Friday, May 02, 2008

rephrase that dyslexic czech boy.





I would make youtube videos in Europe for everyone back home so I would feel less forgotten. I didn't particularly love making them because I saw myself as, for lack of a better word, silly (I already seem awkward enough as is when out of the public eye of video). I became more sullenly introverted in Prague over time and it showed through the course of passing months as well as in the chronological order of these videos. Even my speech began to suffer. For instance, notice below in the last video of my walking into work; I used the wrong preposition - "this is the business office to the school I work at". As a result of frequently listening to Czechs broken English then combined with my own neurotic disarraying thoughts, I had succumbed to casual gibberish without even my realising. I couldn't use too large of a vocabulary around clients because it would go beyond their intellect of English - which could be humiliating for them and myself. The typical conversations I had on most days other than work was going into one of the 300 bakeries/sandwich shops throughout Prague, and making my order with carefully enunciated speech followed by gawky hand gestures.

1."Dobry den.... (good day)

2. I... want...two(point up two fingers with one hand and the other hand signals the item of choice) of these... please....

3. Yes (nod).. Take away.

4. Na shledanou (thank you)."


Day in and day out I often felt functionally impaired.
It's more perturbing than it may seem.


















0 comments: