No body does goodly as English as us do

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  1. #11

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    Another Macaulay classic:

    "It is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect."

    Judging by what I've seen of the Indian middle class, this is exactly what was created (though perhaps less specifically English now, and more international).

    And, unrelated:

    "Nine-tenths the calamities of the human race are due to the union of high intelligence with low desires."


  2. #12

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    Ha!
    I got away with posting a fake

    Robert Lindsay: Lord MacAulay's Speech to British Parliament 1835

    It seems the goodly lord was nowhere near parliment in 1835 as he was tooling around i India

    ---
    sort of unrelated stuff from about 180 years ago

    52% of the World's GDP in 1830's was China & India (34% & 18%);

    England was 11%; USA was 2%!


  3. #13

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    Chandrasekhar's first day at school

    It was the first day of a school in USA and a new Indian student named Chandrasekhar Subramanian entered the fourth grade.

    The teacher said, 'Let's begin by reviewing some American History.
    Who said 'Give me Liberty, or give me Death'?

    She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrasekhar, who had his hand up:

    'Patrick Henry, 1775' he said.

    'Very good!'

    Who said 'Government of the People, by the People, for the People,
    shall not perish from the Earth?'

    Again, no response except from Chandrasekhar.

    'Abraham Lincoln, 1863' said Chandrasekhar.

    The teacher snapped at the class, 'Class, you should be ashamed.
    Chandrasekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do.'
    She heard a loud whisper: 'F**k the Indians,'

    'Who said that?' she demanded.
    Chandrasekhar put his hand up. 'General Custer, 1862.'

    At that point, a student in the back said,
    'I'm gonna puke.'
    The teacher glares around and asks 'All right! Now, who said that?'

    Again, Chandrasekhar says, 'Al Gore to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991.'

    Now furious, another student yells, 'Oh yeah? Suck this!'
    Chandrasekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher ,

    'Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!'

    Now with almost mob hysteria someone said 'You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you.'

    Chandrasekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, 'Michael Jackson to the child witnesses
    testifying against him- 2004.'

    The teacher fainted. And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor,
    someone said, 'Oh sh*t, we're f**ked!'

    And Chandrasekhar said quietly, I think it was George Bush, Iraq , 2007.'


  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by kombuchakid:
    It was the first day of a school in USA and a new Indian student named Chandrasekhar Subramanian entered the fourth grade.

    The teacher said, 'Let's begin by reviewing some American History.
    Who said 'Give me Liberty, or give me Death'?

    She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrasekhar, who had his hand up:

    'Patrick Henry, 1775' he said.

    'Very good!'

    Who said 'Government of the People, by the People, for the People,
    shall not perish from the Earth?'

    Again, no response except from Chandrasekhar.

    'Abraham Lincoln, 1863' said Chandrasekhar.

    The teacher snapped at the class, 'Class, you should be ashamed.
    Chandrasekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do.'
    She heard a loud whisper: 'F**k the Indians,'

    'Who said that?' she demanded.
    Chandrasekhar put his hand up. 'General Custer, 1862.'

    At that point, a student in the back said,
    'I'm gonna puke.'
    The teacher glares around and asks 'All right! Now, who said that?'

    Again, Chandrasekhar says, 'Al Gore to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991.'

    Now furious, another student yells, 'Oh yeah? Suck this!'
    Chandrasekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher ,

    'Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!'

    Now with almost mob hysteria someone said 'You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you.'

    Chandrasekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, 'Michael Jackson to the child witnesses
    testifying against him- 2004.'

    The teacher fainted. And as the class gathered around the teacher on the floor,
    someone said, 'Oh sh*t, we're f**ked!'

    And Chandrasekhar said quietly, I think it was George Bush, Iraq , 2007.'
    ahahahahaha that was hilarious!

  5. #15

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    Aug 2006
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    wordsmith.org was started by Anu Garg, another Indian with a love for the English language. His "word a day" emails are well worth subscribing to.

    A.Word.A.Day


  6. #16

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    it seems english speakers are neither ethnic or a minority

    'Too few' know of telephone interpreters
    by Amy Nip SCMP 29-1-2009

    Members of ethnic minorities have been able to use over-the-phone interpreters when seeking health care at public health clinics and hospitals since June, but a concern group says the service is not well publicised.

    Telephone interpreters are available to help patients who speak Hindi, Nepali, Urdu and Punjabi.

    Medical staff can call the HKSKH Lady MacLehose Centre, which will either organise phone interpreters or send interpreters to do the job face-to-face. The centre handled 145 cases from June to September last year, the Hospital Authority said. Most of them involved interpreting for people who spoke Urdu.

    Interpreting over the telephone, which was available around the clock, improved the quality of health services, said Victor Choi Sze-kwong, a senior medical officer with the Hospital Authority. In the past, hospitals and clinics that needed interpreters had to request the services of court interpreters, Dr Choi said, but there were often delays of several days. With telephone interpreting services, the wait can be shortened to 30 minutes.

    To help people diagnose illnesses, the Hospital Authority has produced 12 booklets written in various languages that list the symptoms of common illnesses.

    "The books are for urgent cases," Dr Choi said. "We can do preliminary diagnoses and prescribe drugs without waiting for an interpreter."

    However, a spokesman for the Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club General Outpatient Clinic, where about 8 to 10 per cent of the patients are from ethnic minorities, said no one had yet asked for a telephone interpreter.

    Fermi Wong Wai-fun, campaign director with the ethnic minority concern group Unison Hong Kong, said: "Few doctors or patients know about telephone interpreting ... I don't know anyone who has used it."

    But some interpreters working for hospitals and clinics were not professional enough, said Ms Wong.

    They abbreviated what patients said, interpreted incorrectly or tried to sell their interpreting services for use outside hospital settings, she said. "If patients are not satisfied with the service, it is not clear who they should complain to," Ms Wong said. "Is it the Hospital Authority or SKH?"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_minorities