This
has been an interesting week for me. Since English is my second language, I am
not as playful with the words and the language as I might be in German. My
initial thought upon reading the challenge was to write something comedic- but
I am not even sure I could pull that off in German! With the past challenges, I always started with working on my first idea, which then morphed itself into the end result. This week, that did not work and I had a bad case of writers' block!
In
the end, this challenge is a week late (but as a bonus, I edited more heavily before I
posted- tried to eliminate filter words!). I heavily used my German- and might have missed the mark of what was
asked in the challenge. The text might be unintelligible to those who don’t
speak German- but thanks to modern communication tools, you can figure it out!
You can find help here:
Exercise
5: Two of your
characters are having a conversation through some form of modern technology.
(This could be modern as in the fast food window, modern as in “new for the
19th century” modern, or future-world modern.) How does the technology impede
their communication? How does it assist? Do hijinks ensue? Or does the miscommunication
have fatal results?
Communication problems
“Nethourh gbber aorudw”
She did not understand a word of what the train
driver had just said. She had to get off in five stops. Thankfully, the stops
were announced by a machine voice and she could figure out where she was.
Between the crackling of the speakers, the
accent of the driver and her limited language skills, she did not understand
the announcements. The train driver had made three by now, but as long as
nobody panicked, it was probably not too important. Five more stops and she would
be at her hotel, meet her best friend and could finally sleep! The long flight,
jetlag and that text message that was waiting when she switched the phone back
on had gotten to her!
“Neturogugh aberre gewarde. Kommeri catu aber,
oce, depat.”
Once again, she understood nothing. She sighed
tiredly in response to the gibberish.
When the train came to a stop, the few others on the train hurriedly got up and left. It took her tired brain a moment to
register this. Also, the doors did not close again. Then,
the train engine switched off with a low rumble. On the platform, the last
passengers hurried down into the tunnel system. Slowly, she stood and gathered her luggage.
As she was ready to leave the train, a man in a
dirty uniform came through a door at the front of the compartment.
“This fart ends here?” she asked?
“Pardon?” he replied.
She nodded. “Thank you for saying sorry. Who is the next
train?”
“No nex’ train. Fire. Out!”
“Oh, you are fired? Or a brand?”
“You! Out! Naw!” He pointed to the door and
grabbed her suitcase.
“Hey! Thank you, but I have craft to schlep
this. This is a brand then? Now, who do we go? I am fast in the hotel. I
not can the way, you have a card?”
Frowning, he just said: “Girl, we need’a leave.
Come an, let’s go.” He hurried down the tunnel with her suitcase and she had no
choice but to follow him. She registered the faint smell of smoke in the air
while she followed.
Half running after the man, she asked: “Sir, I
am really irritated now. What is past? Go we to the taxi?”
He just kept walking, all the way out of the
building. At the curb, he stopped, put the suitcase down and turned around.
“Here ya go, ma’m. The infamation desk is o’er thea. Looks like ya have ta wait fo' a cab.” He pointed towards a
group of people huddled together, tipped his hand to his head, turned around
and disappeared.
I believe you achieved the goal of this exercise quite well. When I went to Torsby in 2010 the train I was on was stopped, a suicide on the tracks ahead prevented us getting to our destination. I strived to understand announcements over a poor speaker, in Swedish, and hoped the bus I transferred to would take me there. I was quite relieved to read the sign on the station when I got there around midnight.
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