It's a Small World After All

I am proud to say that my clients originate from all parts of the globe.  I have a veritable United Nations coming into my office presenting me their civil litigation problems.  The beauty of this is that I have learnt many words and expressions from the diverse languages and before long I expect to become quite proficient in many of them.  And do you know what?  There really is not that much difference in the languages of the  world when you get right down to it.

For example I recently interviewed a Greek lady who had slipped and fallen at a supermarket.  Her son was translating into English.  Naturally it was all Greek to me but as the hour moved on I started picking up words and phrases here and there.  At one point I asked the mother how she had slipped.  She went on at length in Greek, ending her narrative with the words, "Just like that".

I asked her son for an interpretation into English and he related the graphic details of the unfortunate event concluding that down she went down "just like that".

Somehow I was able to figure this last phrase out. I was proud of myself.

To ensure that I would actually learn as much Greek as I could, I decided to write all these newly learnt words and phrases into a journal which I could review from time to time.

I asked the lady further questions about the injury and she pointed to her head and said a number of seemingly unintelligible Greek words. With diligent listening however I was able to understand one phrase she uttered: "A big headache, that's it".

I asked her son for a translation and he said that she had banged the back of her head and that she was suffering from a big headache. I told him proudly that I thought that I had picked up on that phrase as it sounded amazingly similar to English.

The son went on to say that much of the English language does originate from Greek.  We both agreed that indeed with a bit of effort anybody speaking English could readily pick up Greek in no time.  I jotted "A big headache, that's it" into my  journal.

A while later I settled a motor vehicle claim for an elderly Punjabi gentleman.  He did not speak one word of English and he was always accompanied by his grandson Jagdeep who did the translating.

Unfortunately it took a while to receive settlement funds from the insurance company and I told the grandson I would be in touch when they arrive.  A couple more weeks rolled by without sight of the money when I received a phone call from my client himself.  He uttered his name and in Punjabi he said the word, "Cheque?"

I did not know what to do as I do not speak a word of Punjabi.

But where there is a will there is a way.  I listened carefully as he repeated the word supplemented by yet a further couple of Punjabi words: "Cheque coming yet?"

I said to him: "Is your grandson home?"  I repeated, "Jagdeep home?"

My limited Punjabi worked.  A minute later his grandson took the line.  I told him about my predicament and he conferred with my client and translated, "Is the cheque here yet?"

Uh huh!  That's exactly what I suspected he might have been saying.  I told Jagdeep that there was definitely some similarity to English and Punjabi.  He agreed that perhaps the British presence all those decades in India may have forged this similarity.  Who knows?

I took out my journal and penned in the words, "In Punjabi, 'cheque coming yet'  means, 'Is the cheque here yet'."

I felt I could switch careers and go work for Berlitz.

Pretty soon I found no language whatsoever a barrier to my communicating with my clients.  I had a couple of Chinese speaking clients in not long ago.  We were not too successful in a real estate litigation case and they were not too happy with my account. A third gentleman acted as translator. When I suggested to them what I thought was a reasonable compromise for my bill, the two of them conferred and one of them rattled off his response in Mandarin, ending with the words, "No way Jose".

I sensed I was on to something.  Maybe I picked up on the intonation.  I took out my journal. I looked at the interpreter and asked for a translation.  He told me my offer was not acceptable.  Bingo!  I had now learned a phrase in Mandarin as well.

We did go on to readily resolve the issue of my account and the clients agreed to send me more money next week.  During the course of this relationship I learnt yet another Mandarin phrase.

After 4 four weeks had rolled by without seeing their money, I called one of them for an explanation.  The gentleman uttered a few words in Mandarin ending with the words, "Cheque in mail, goodbye".

Unfortunately there was nobody around to translate that one for me.  I bit my pencil as I was about to make a journal entry.  Could it mean what I thought it meant?  I think it did.  As another month has gone by without receiving payment, I can only presume that indeed he was telling me that the cheque was in the mail.

I have since spoken to that interpreter who confirmed that indeed that's what my client had told me.

And isn't it amazing that there is even some common link between words in Mandarin and Punjabi? To think it all started with the Tower of Babel. Incredible! It's a small world after all.