Very calm...very very quiet...deadly

[Robert]

I often need someones hellp when I'm talking with someone that has an accent.

[abecedarian]

Now, Tony and his wife Angie, I have very little trouble with.. it's Angie's mom..her dad and Tony's parents are no trouble either.. even their Scottish Godfather friend Fulton isn't too bad..he just talks at the speed of light...Angie's mom, on the otherhand, has a totally different speech pattern, and I find myself nodding my head and smiling. A lot. She's a wonderful lady, though.

[steffee]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

he just talks at the speed of light

Woah, that's fast!

I feel better now, about trying to understand spoken Spanish. They speak so fast.

My gran has hearing aids. She just keeps them in their little box in the pouch of her armchair, though, and still can't hear anything anyone says.

[abecedarian]

Originally Posted by steffee

Woah, that's fast!

I feel better now, about trying to understand spoken Spanish. They speak so fast.

My gran has hearing aids. She just keeps them in their little box in the pouch of her armchair, though, and still can't hear anything anyone says.

Of course she can't hear anything...the aids are in the box in the pouch of her chair...they belong in her ears!
Me, I'm deaf in one ear; can't hear in the other

[Robert]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

...and I find myself nodding my head and smiling. A lot. She's a wonderful lady, though.

I do that, too.


I have the most trouble with people that speak spanish as a first language. It seems that I need a translator, even if they're speaking english.

[abecedarian]

Originally Posted by Robert

I do that, too. ]

I've found that offerings of fresh homemade bread go over well too..doesn't hurt


[I have the most trouble with people that speak spanish as a first language. It seems that I need a translator, even if they're speaking english.

I don't have so much trouble with Spanish accents...possibly due to having heard them more often. There was a certain student teacher in my High School Spanish 2 class, on the other hand...Nice fella, but nobody understood him. We were asked to evaluate him and the whole class agreed he needed to work more on his English before he was turned loose on unsuspecting Spanish students.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

I've found that offerings of fresh homemade bread go over well too..doesn't hurt

What a great idea!!!


I took spanish in High School until I realized that I couldn't keep up. I didn't understand my hearing issues at the time so I though I was stupid.

I wish I understood my hearing problems much earlier in my life. It has caused a lot of embarrassment and made me feel bad about myself for a lot of year.

[abecedarian]

Originally Posted by Robert

I took spanish in High School until I realized that I couldn't keep up. I didn't understand my hearing issues at the time so I though I was stupid.

I wish I understood my hearing problems much earlier in my life. It has caused a lot of embarrassment and made me feel bad about myself for a lot of year.

Tell me about it. There was the flunked Typing class in the 9th grade..the room was huge, and we all had electric typewriters(remember how they hummed?) and the teacher stood at the front of the room with no microphone(those were for performers, remember!)...then there was drivers ed. My instructer sat on my bad side and spoke in a soft voice...until he slammed on his personal brake. Do you think I thought to inform him of my hearing issues? Not this girl. I still passed, but I might have done much better on the driving part of the course if I'd just spoken up and told the teacher why I seemed oblivious to some of his instructions. Live and learn.

PS..I still don't type very well

[Robert]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

Tell me about it. There was the flunked Typing class in the 9th grade..the room was huge, and we all had electric typewriters(remember how they hummed?) and the teacher stood at the front of the room with no microphone(those were for performers, remember!)...then there was drivers ed. My instructer sat on my bad side and spoke in a soft voice...until he slammed on his personal brake. Do you think I thought to inform him of my hearing issues? Not this girl. I still passed, but I might have done much better on the driving part of the course if I'd just spoken up and told the teacher why I seemed oblivious to some of his instructions. Live and learn.

PS..I still don't type very well

I know. There was Spanish of course, and spelling (can't sound it out if you can't hear all the sounds), and just about everything else.

me: I'm sorry, did you say abc?
other: no, I said efg; how did you get abc out of that?
me: just what I thought I heard.

By the way, a, b & c all sound alike to me, making grading papers in class a real pain in the butt.

[abecedarian]

Originally Posted by Robert

I know. There was Spanish of course, and spelling (can't sound it out if you can't hear all the sounds), and just about everything else.

me: I'm sorry, did you say abc?
other: no, I said efg; how did you get abc out of that?
me: just what I thought I heard.

By the way, a, b & c all sound alike to me, making grading papers in class a real pain in the butt.

Oh yeah..toss in a teacher with a different accent..say a Southern one..dont' get me wrong ya'll- I LOVE Southern accents! But, ya'll slant your vowels and pronounce some things a little differently than we refugees from the Great American Outback...Really, other accents do stuff like that too.. it's when you have a transplanted teacher trying to help kids spell or read, it can get confusing.

For the record, my mom was from Georgia, so I shoulda been better prepared

[Robert]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

Oh yeah..toss in a teacher with a different accent..say a Southern one..dont' get me wrong ya'll- I LOVE Southern accents! But, ya'll slant your vowels and pronounce some things a little differently than we refugees from the Great American Outback...Really, other accents do stuff like that too.. it's when you have a transplanted teacher trying to help kids spell or read, it can get confusing.

For the record, my mom was from Georgia, so I shoulda been better prepared

Southern accents don't seem any more difficult then most others. Of course there are those few whose words leave me clueless. I can remember getting on an elevator with a young black fellow and he said something I didn't understand. I asked what language he was speaking and he said english. The elevator arrived at my floor and opened about that time and I just said "oh? and walked off the elevator.

I think the worse is trying to keep up with a conversation in a noisy room.

[abecedarian]

Originally Posted by Robert

I think the worse is trying to keep up with a conversation in a noisy room.

Most definately. When there's lots of people talking AND loud background noise like music or tv..forget it. I zone out.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

Most definately. When there's lots of people talking AND loud background noise like music or tv..forget it. I zone out.

That's the way of it, I guess. It's funny that in a quiet room, I can hear and therefore interact well enough that people forget that I even have a hearing problem.

[abecedarian]

Originally Posted by Robert

That's the way of it, I guess. It's funny that in a quiet room, I can hear and therefore interact well enough that people forget that I even have a hearing problem.

Yup, if we look 'normal' and act mostly 'normal', people forget. They can't look at us and tell we don't hear so hot.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by abecedarian

Yup, if we look 'normal' and act mostly 'normal', people forget. They can't look at us and tell we don't hear so hot.

. . . and then we start all over again with the misunderstands.