[B-Greek] "Crossing the Rubicon" (learning Greek NOT in English)

Jonathan Robie jwrobie at mindspring.com
Wed Jun 20 16:53:21 EDT 2007


OK, this is off topic, but ...

I had a Jewish friend who went into a Jewish deli in an Orthodox 
neighborhood in New York City, and his waiter was, of all things, 
Chinese. But the waiter apparently also spoke flawless idomatic Yiddish. 
On the way out, my friend asked the cashier how an obviously Chinese 
person had learned Yiddish so well, and the cashier replied, "Shhhh! He 
thinks we're teaching him English!"

Jonathan

P.S. This is, of course, a joke. I first saw it in The Joys of Yiddish, 
by Leo Rosten.

Arthur King wrote:
> On Jun 20, 2007, at 3:37 PM, Arthur King wrote:
>
> Then there's the story reported in the N.Y. Times last year about the  
> Spanish-speaking handyman who achieved fluency in Yiddish while  
> working in a Jewish deli, motivated by a strong desire to be able to  
> speak Yiddish with his coworkers and the customers.  No grammar  
> lessons or  discourse analysis - just a group of encouraging  
> coworkers.  For those so inclined, there's likely to be a Greek  
> restaurant near you.
>   




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