Hi Jack -- Having attended EuroPython last year as a USA "English" speaker, I'd have to say Euros are quite good at English, used as a compromise, but that native speakers have this nasty habit of speaking as quickly as possible, especially during lightning talks, which is disrespectful and/or insensitive and/or unskillful.
I think geeks in general like to rattle off at high speed, part of how they built a reputation as geeks, a lot of 'em, i.e. "fast talk" is a tool of the trade, but in an international conference I'd say the number one rule of thumb would be to *slow down* -- especially if you're from the UK as I have a hard time understanding those heavy accents :-D As a former resident of Manatee County, FL, I confess not understanding your "Oh the huge Manatee" allusion, though I bet Google would help me out there, if it's a joke others know. Also, I wouldn't say "ESL" as that implies "second" whereas POV's Aistė Kesminaitė, a Lithuanian, speaks fluent Polish, German, French and I forget what else besides English, no idea in what order she learned them. It's mainly Americans who are mono-lingual, and so come across as semi-retarded in Europe, but we compensate in other ways, such as by being extra loud. ;-D Here're some blog posts re Vilnius from last year, if you want some tourism ideas (I recommend the TV tower, which I walked to, but don't expect to take pictures (no photos allowed from the rotating beer joint)): http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2007/07/europython-hqs.html http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2007/07/glass-ship.html http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2007/07/vilnius.html http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2007/07/sunday-in-vilnius.html http://worldgame.blogspot.com/2007/07/slow-food-nation.html You'll note in that last post how I went into culture shock, not having been outside the US for awhile: one forgets how we take obesity for granted in the USA. I gave up beer for a whole year as a result, not wanting to be as fat as that guy in the picture (me). Kirby Urner Portland, Oregon On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 10:55 AM, Jack diederich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Does anyone have good links or tips for language? The rule for > speakers in general, even when presenting to native speakers, is to > keep it simple. How much further should I take "keep it simple" for > the EuroPython audience? > > The US PyCon has many English as a second language (ESL) speakers but > they are all very fluent. It is a self-selecting group that goes to > the US, after all. How much of that can I assume for EuroPython? > > Maybe a concrete example would help. In my PyCon talk a couple years > ago the biggest laugh-line was a slide titled "Oh The Huge Manatee." > I'm guessing that is out of bounds. > > -Jack > > PS, I've listened to 20 hours of "Teach yourself Lithuanian" CDs. Not > too bad (because it is latinate), and much easier than my last attempt > (Icelandic). > _______________________________________________ > EuroPython mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/europython > _______________________________________________ EuroPython mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/europython
