A Few Choice Words: The Fine Art of Talking to People Who Don't Speak Your Language
Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Foreign Languages, Biography & Memoir
| Author: | Barbara Brabec | ISBN: | 9781301037551 |
| Publisher: | Barbara Brabec | Publication: | February 14, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition | Language: | English |
| Author: | Barbara Brabec |
| ISBN: | 9781301037551 |
| Publisher: | Barbara Brabec |
| Publication: | February 14, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition |
| Language: | English |
This collection of humorous anecdotes and short stories has been adapted from journals the author kept in the late seventies when she was traveling abroad with her husband, Harry Brabec, a symphony musician by trade who had sold his ingenious idea of an International Crafts Exposition to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. This work involved travel to several countries and capital cities of the world in search of old world artisans who might participate in the Exposition along with an equal number of American artists and craftsmen -- a kind of crafts festival that had never been done before and has never been done since anywhere in the world.
Several anecdotes in this book illustrate how Harry broke language barriers through the simple use of gestures, smiles, humor, and a few choice words. Two short stories, “The French Connection,” and “You’re Goethe? I Thought He Was Dead,” offer amusing examples of the kind of miscommunication and amazement that can happen when both parties are speaking English, but one party just doesn't “get it.”
The book also features the story behind this book and the International Crafts Exposition, (“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Unemployment”), and some language-related excerpts from the author’s memoir, THE DRUMMER DRIVES! EVERYBODY ELSE RIDES: The Musical Life and Times of Harry Brabec, Legendary Chicago Symphony Percussionist and Humorist.
This collection of humorous anecdotes and short stories has been adapted from journals the author kept in the late seventies when she was traveling abroad with her husband, Harry Brabec, a symphony musician by trade who had sold his ingenious idea of an International Crafts Exposition to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. This work involved travel to several countries and capital cities of the world in search of old world artisans who might participate in the Exposition along with an equal number of American artists and craftsmen -- a kind of crafts festival that had never been done before and has never been done since anywhere in the world.
Several anecdotes in this book illustrate how Harry broke language barriers through the simple use of gestures, smiles, humor, and a few choice words. Two short stories, “The French Connection,” and “You’re Goethe? I Thought He Was Dead,” offer amusing examples of the kind of miscommunication and amazement that can happen when both parties are speaking English, but one party just doesn't “get it.”
The book also features the story behind this book and the International Crafts Exposition, (“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Unemployment”), and some language-related excerpts from the author’s memoir, THE DRUMMER DRIVES! EVERYBODY ELSE RIDES: The Musical Life and Times of Harry Brabec, Legendary Chicago Symphony Percussionist and Humorist.
