> > One of my acquaintances went through the Foreign Intelligence Language > > Institute in Monterey during a past life and had to learn some *really* > > obscure Native American and Inuit dialects, most of which have less than > 100 > > living speakers. Wouldn't say what they were for, but some of the Inuit > ones > > are *really* hard to distinguish words, let alone catch meaning. > Sounds like Neale... And I thought he was working for you ;-)
Not this time, but I can see where you might pick up the idea. His accent has improved substantially over the years. Actually, I find Neale completely comprehensible. You tell Kate to give him everything he asks for, she does, and he goes happily back to making the world a better place. Repeat as often as necessary. Kate already speaks Pre-Coffee-Aussie-Mumble, so no translation is necessary. Easy. 8-) -- db (PS: For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting or talking to Kate yet, she's our supremely competent and organized intern wunderkind. She also happens to be Neale's oldest daughter, so she's used to managing Neale before coffee ... 8-)). Call us up on Thursdays when she's in -- it's worth it just to find out what kids can be like when they turn out really good. And I've got first dibs on her when she gets out of college...nyah, nyah, nyah...8-) But we digress greatly from SMAPI...8-)
