More help needed, please

leaper1

leaper1

PQL Security Staff
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Sep 1, 2002
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Okay, I have every confidence this one will be easy for the clever fans here.

We all know that Sam speaks something like 9 modern languages and 7 dead ones [correct me on the numbers if I am wrong] but thinking about it for my current story, I think Al is quite a linguist too.

He speaks Italian, of course, from his father. [Double Identity]
He speaks Hebrew, learned one assumes from his third wife Ruthie [Thou Shalt Not]
He speaks at least a little Spanish [All Americans]
If I recall correctly, he speaks a little Russian. [LHO? The guide says his mother was of Russian ancestry]
Fanon if not canon [Leap Home pt 2?] has him speaking a fair bit of Vietnamese, which is logical since he was POW for six years.

Does Al speak any other languages, and if so, which?
And don't anyone say 'American English' or indeed 'the language of Love'! :p
 
If I'm remembering right, he understands some Hungarian as well. (Leaping In Without A Net).

I'm not sure there was an association made in LHO that Al could speak/understand Russian (I could be wrong, I haven't watched it recently). I think that was more on Sam's side of things (although he seemed surprised by his ability to speak and understand Russian so that might have been more of a residual of Oswald than Sam's actual ability).

The only Vietnamese I remember being spoken in Leap Home pt. 2 was between Tom and what's her name who was going to kill him (drawing a real blank on that one and again, I may be wrong). I do think it's fair to assume, even without his history as a POW, that he would have picked up a smattering of Vietnamese or at least a bastardized version of some of it. I believe that was common for most of the Americans who served there.

Of course, I wouldn't say Al's exactly fluent in all of these languages other than English and Italian. My guess would be more that he's picked up bits of these languages here and there from association with people who spoke them...unlike Sam who is fluent in however many languages it is.
 
leaper1 said:
He speaks Hebrew, learned one assumes from his third wife Ruthie [Thou Shalt Not]
Click to expand...

Does he actually say that he speaks Hebrew? Or that Ruthie spoke Hebrew? Most Jewish people that I know don't speak it.

leaper1 said:
If I recall correctly, he speaks a little Russian. [LHO? The guide says his mother was of Russian ancestry]
Click to expand...

I thought he said he was Ukrainian on his mother's side, in Mirror Image. But I wouldn't assume that he speaks the language. Most immigrant families lose their mother tongue within a generation or two. (For instance, my husband's father spoke Polish, but my husband doesn't know more than a couple words.) If you need it for your story, there's nothing wrong with using it, though.

leaper1 said:
Fanon if not canon [Leap Home pt 2?] has him speaking a fair bit of Vietnamese, which is logical since he was POW for six years.
Click to expand...

I'll buy that one even though it is fanon.

leaper1 said:
Does Al speak any other languages, and if so, which?
And don't anyone say <snip> 'the language of Love'! :p
Click to expand...

Oh... but it's so tempting! :p

So that gives Al at least three languages (English, Italian, Vietnamese), which is pretty impressive anyhow.
 
Snish said:
Does he actually say that he speaks Hebrew? Or that Ruthie spoke Hebrew? Most Jewish people that I know don't speak it.
Click to expand...

He tells Sam what to say when he is breaking the bread. Therefore, either he speaks Hebrew, or Ziggy is feeding him the lines.

Snish said:
I thought he said he was Ukrainian on his mother's side, in Mirror Image. But I wouldn't assume that he speaks the language. Most immigrant families lose their mother tongue within a generation or two. (For instance, my husband's father spoke Polish, but my husband doesn't know more than a couple words.) If you need it for your story, there's nothing wrong with using it, though.

Oh... but it's so tempting! :p
Click to expand...
I know, but it doesn't help my story!

Snish said:
So that gives Al at least three languages (English, Italian, Vietnamese), which is pretty impressive anyhow.
Click to expand...

Al is going to be talking to the leapee in the waiting room, who is totally unforthcoming. The idea is that he may try addressing him in other languages, thinking that English may not be the visitors native tongue.
So I just wanted to know which languages he would be comfortable trying.

I suppose Ziggy could feed him with phrases in almost any language if needed, but if the leapee suddenly replied and spouted off in something, it would be awkward for Al to have to get Zig to translate everything.
It isn't going to be a big issue, but I want it to read right.

Thanks guys.
 
leaper1 said:
He tells Sam what to say when he is breaking the bread. Therefore, either he speaks Hebrew, or Ziggy is feeding him the lines.
Click to expand...

Oh, right. He knows the prayers at least, which is quite plausible since he was married to a Jewish woman. (The man of the house is supposed to say the prayers for the Seder.)

He also has at least a little Hungarian, as Julia mentioned, so he does seem like the type who learns languages easily. That's why I think he would learn a good amount of Vietnamese in 6 years, even if it's not canon.
 
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