about Jindal's inflections....

[radfringe]

aside from the obvious resemblance to someone telling a bedtime story to a toddler.... there was something in the inflections that reminded me of Mr. Rogers...

check it out:

watch this one for a few minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xatZgEZ62fU

then watch "bobby" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFK8aTpYAmg&eurl=http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=&q=jindal&feature=player_embedded

[Vickers]

1. You can just hear his speech coach saying, "Use your hands more, Bobby!"

:spank:

[CTyankee]

2. Oh, god, Jindal is such an embarrassment!

Rogers was so wonderful. I couldn't watch too much of that video of him, I miss him too much :cry:

[Fovea]

3. Leni Riefenstahl meets Howdy Doody.

I sat there in slack jawed amazement, and if it is possible to orgasm from shadenfruede, I think I did.

[skooooo]

4. I think you can often tell first-generation ..

..speakers of American English. There's nothing wrong with Bobby's diction, but I still think you can tell he didn't hear "American" diction, cadence, tone like people who don't grow up with immigrant parents do.

[demodonkey]

6. My father grew up speaking Slovene, or "Granish" in his home, & he was a much better public speaker

...than little Governor Bobby.

Sorry, I don't buy this argument. Jindal just isn't ready for prime time and probably never will be.

[skooooo]

7. Not saying you can't be a good public speaker..

..I'm saying that there is often something about the speech of 1st generation Americans that sounds a little off to the common person. Often, not ALWAYS. And maybe that's not what's up with Jindal, but I stand by my original statement.

[RockaFowler]

12. I'm first gen American

My Dad is from Egypt - and by the way he has no accent. The problem with Jindal was that he was over-accenting everything. I felt like I was in 1st grade again.

[skooooo]

14. It's not just a matter of accent..

...it can be in the pronunciation of a certain sound or vowel. I've studied language all my life, studied abroad, and know that you don't just lose the qualities of your native language that easily. I'll take your word for what you say, but hearing is believing.

[CTyankee]

15. I tutor ESOL students and English pronunciation is by far the hardest to learn.

I have a native Chinese student now whose 8 year old daughter attends our tutoring sessions. The little girl shifts from Mandarin Chinese to English with a great deal of ease and I wonder if her Chinese is a bit "off" to a native Mandarin speaker because she was born here and has spent those early years of formative language in an English speaking community.

I think Jindal probably speaks American English just fine but adopted the "sing song" approach because he thinks we're idiots. If anything, most speakers of other languages have trouble adapting from their syllable-timed language (all syllables sounded) to our stress-timed language where all syllables are not given equal stress.

[Hepburn]

8. We spoke a foreign language at home. My mother who was born in the US...

...was taken to Romania as a child and when she returned to the US at age 7 spoke NO English. She was one of the most eloquent people you have ever met in your life and she had -0- accent. She also could read and write Romanian in addition to speaking it. She was an honors student in both high school and college and she obtained a college degree and a masters BEFORE 1950.

So, no, first generation speakers do not always speak differently. In fact, my East Indian friends who speak English do not all have an accent. My best East Indian pal was educated in English in India and went to "upper" school in England and has two Ph.D.s and was married to a Scottish lady. His only accent at times is that he has a bit of a Scottish burr.

Edit for typo

[skooooo]

9. Did I say ALWAYS??? No, I didn't ...

People, can you read?

[Hepburn]

10. Yes, even with my foreign background, I can read....

....:eyes:

[skooooo]

11. Then you can see I said "often"..

...and yes, I think you often can. Sorry if this hurts or offends your feelings for some reason.

[KharmaTrain]

5. He Was Oooo Sooooo Careful...We're Idiots You Know...

Listen to how a lot of repugnicans speak...they talk down at you, assuming you both stupid and simple...not able to comprehend all the "complicated" things. That's how the GOOP likes to operate...just become compliant and don't ask questions cause all things are too complicated for your pretty little head.

Yes...the GOOP thinks Americans are stupid...and the fact that they elected booooshie twice is proof.

[ShortnFiery]

13. A cross between Mr. Rogers and Captain Spaulding: I was totally CREEPED OUT!

[kskiska]

16. Jindal studied at Oxford

as a Rhodes Scholar. :shrug: