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From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: RE: English-only Speakers as Unclutured Slobs
Message-ID: <723@ihuxq.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Feb-84 17:50:20 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxq.723
Posted: Wed Feb 29 17:50:20 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Mar-84 06:22:19 EST
References: <349@hogpc.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 17

Another reason for learning another language than one's native
tongue is that there are times when it can actually be useful.  

I was working for a company some time ago when news of an important
discovery in its field came through.  Some of the engineers wanted
to get the original paper describing it, but when it came from
Paris, it turned out to be in French.  It turned out that I was the
only person at the plant with the necessary proficiency in French to
read it.  (I was placed on loan from the programming department to
the engineering department for a day to do the translation.)

It was another 2 weeks until an English language version filtered
down to us, but I had managed to give them a jump on it.

				John Hobson
				AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL
				ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2