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niteo_logs2010-03-29 11:54 am
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Entry tags:
English is a funny language
Characters: Nori, Espedon
When: Backdated to March 24th
Where: Nori's room
Rating: PG
Summary: Nori becomes a language teacher
Nori looked over her papers she'd written up as she dressed. Just the basic stuff for now. She figured it'd be similar to how she was taught as a child, with bits and pieces of how she'd taught herself. The only added confusion would be that she didn't know his language. But this PDA seemed to navigate that problem pretty well. She nudged the papers to the side and started applying her make-up , wondering when Mr. What's-his-name was going to show up.
When: Backdated to March 24th
Where: Nori's room
Rating: PG
Summary: Nori becomes a language teacher
Nori looked over her papers she'd written up as she dressed. Just the basic stuff for now. She figured it'd be similar to how she was taught as a child, with bits and pieces of how she'd taught herself. The only added confusion would be that she didn't know his language. But this PDA seemed to navigate that problem pretty well. She nudged the papers to the side and started applying her make-up , wondering when Mr. What's-his-name was going to show up.
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Noon-ish, Espedon exited his room and made the trek up the stairs. He was still sore from the earlier expedition to Cronoss's remains, but he made it.
There were a few quick raps on Nori's door. She'd open it to find him holding a bag of... something... up.
"Untek... untek... uhhh... pigeon," he said, pointing at the bag. He'd at least had the presence of mind to look up the word for their lunch.
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She welcomed him inside with a wave of her hand. "Pigeon, cool, that was nice of you...oh, uh...sorry." She grabbed the PDA and repeated her words, giving a thumbs up.
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"No problem. It's not filet mignon, and the pigeons are skinny here, but it's edible. When we get the situation with Credinta figured out, maybe we can bargain for real food."
Finding the nearest flat surface, he set the bag on it (it was filled with boiled pigeon, some pigeon jerky, and a few edible mushrooms he'd found). He turned around and, with the PDA lowered, counting off on his fingers, he rattled off a couple of the other words he'd picked up.
"Hmm... 'hello'... sio 'goodbye'... sio... 'lunch'."
This was punctuated with a shrug. "That's all I have," the PDA translated for him.
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"That's a good start. So what language do you speak anyway?" she asked, gathering her papers and tucking a pen behind her ear, "I'm not sure which way easier to teach, just word for word or more like...how you learn when you're a kid from the start and building up."
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"Word for word... we could do that, but I think I can handle vocabulary on my own. The PDA helps with that. Conversational English would be most helpful. Commonly used phrases, pronunciation. Hearing it from a real person would help," he said with a smile.
Idly, he looked around the girl's room. Still dirty, but livable.
"You haven't been here long. Have you been able to get water?"
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She nodded, taking a seat, "Can do. You just tell me what you wanna hear then. And uh...I guess I'll try and cut back on the slang, you probably don't want that, you're not a teenager."
She followed his gaze. "From the river, yeah, probably not the safest but I haven't figured out if I'd stand out too much in the city or not."
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He followed her lead and took a seat himself. He spent a few moments thinking of where to start before shrugging and pointing to himself. No better place to start than in the deep end.
Lo vanet Espedon, he said. The student gave her a quizzical look and a nod, asking with his eyes. Introductions were always a good place to start.
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"Oh um-" she pointed to herself in turn, "I'm Noriko. Nori," she added with a shrug.
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He was mimicking her inflection exactly. Maybe a little embarassing, but it was funny. Espedon also nodded in response to the problem of buckets; while the city had been abandoned for ages, there were some spots, if you looked close enough, where some of the old manufactured good were still okay. If the pigeon didn't suffice, maybe he could repay her with a bucket.
The thought of repaying somebody for language lessons with a bucket put an amused expression on his face.
"Hello, Nori. I'm... Espedon."
Good. Got that one out of the way.
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"Awesome. You're good at this." She tucked her hair behind her ears. "Um...ok, what next...? What else is important to know. You got introductions and exits down...I guess...emergency stuff is good."
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"I've had to learn a few different languages. Once I understand the grammar, it shouldn't be hard," he said. His eyes followed her lips as he spoke, and he appeared to be trying to match up how she spoke and what she said with what came out on his side of the PDA.
He left her to figure out some phrases while he got up to get the lunch sack and bring it back over.
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Espedon mouthed the words she said, committing the sound to memory.
"Help... move... get down."
He meant to say 'I understand' into the PDA, but he changed his mind and began toying with it instead, trying to look up the English. Always better not to use it as a crutch.
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"What are those for?" asked the PDA.
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He drew out his PDA and pulled up the image of General Angar, then showed it to her.
"This man burned down a village a few days ago. And now he's trying to buy our help. If we had electricity, I think people would be less likely to help him."
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She sneered at the picture of Angar. "That jerk, ugh. Anything to piss him off. And...stop world domination...that too."
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"Is that what he's after?" he asked, frowning. "Then he's a threat. For certain. He'll be after us eventually."
He toyed on the PDA a little more and helped himself to a couple slices of pigeon jerky. There were about five pigeons' worth of meat in there, but they were skinny little bastards. Not much on them.
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"...Sorry...got all off topic there...I'm a horrible teacher. What else what it you were hoping to learn? I have like...the alphabet and simple words I wrote out last night."
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"The alphabet and a word list would be perfect. I don't mean to take up all of your time this afternoon. Perhaps a little self-study would be helpful," he said. And it was true; what he was aiming for, primarily, was somebody to talk to in English. Without a basic grasp of the language, conversation would be difficult. "Don't worry about your teaching ability. I just need somebody to converse with. Makes it easier to understand when you use it."
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She groped blindly for her gauntlets and fastened them back over her arms.
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"Lucky? I suppose I am. Inconvenient, though, to have to learn so many."
He made a thoughtful expression. "You know, there was a time when all I would have wanted was to have a home. Just a little cottage somewhere. One language, one place to stay. Don't even need a family, really. Just some roots would be nice."
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