I’ve always thought that if the Great Dictator had only spoken clear, concise English like Abdullah of Jordan, the Western world would have been a tiny bit more reluctant to attack. Speaking the impenetrable (to Westerners) language of Arabic led many to over-demonize him, was what occurred to me. After all, if your enemy speaks in an incomprehensible babble, what’s not to misunderstand?
Of course, over-demonizing Saddam Hussein is impossible, so at least that point is not at issue here. But what if he had stood up, looked the camera in the eye and said in clear English, “Everything you’ve heard about me is untrue!”
Well, one can only fantasize. But it seems to me that at that level, someone of his (dubious) stature would have definitely learned enough English to get along in ordinary conversation, and I wonder, why didn’t he speak English to his major opponents, the Americans? It would have at leat humanized him. (Let’s not get into George Bush addressing the Arab world in Arabic.)
This also goes to Hitler. He almost certainly spoke quite good English (he was a noted Britannophile,) so why didn’t he?
A followup to both these questions is: in their own language, what kind of impression did their accents have on the masses? Did Saddam sound like an uncouth village boy and did Hitler sound like a heavily dialected hillbilly from the countryside? Or did they sound (in their own language) as erudite as Churchill and Roosevelt seemed to us?
I guess the only people able to answer those questions would be native speakers.
And I have absolutely no idea whether he said “Our language is Arabic” in Arabic or English–you can’t tell from the transcript. It sure seems like he probably said it in English.
And I have absolutely no idea whether he said “Our language is Arabic” in Arabic or English–you can’t tell from the transcript. It sure seems like he probably said it in English.
So, I suppose the answer would be arrogance: Both Hitler and Saddam were highly arrogant men, generally unwilling to meet someone halfway. When Saddam said “Our language is Arabic,” he’d made a declarative statement regarding something that would not have been debatable.
And I think we’re all clear on Hitler’s feelings regarding the relative position of German in the Universe.
Well, I certainly don’t doubt that the arrogance existed, but I suspect that a better answer would be a desire not to make a statement in badly-constructed English that would be embarrasing or incorrect. Better to reply in Arabic and let a professional translator convert it into acceptable English.
Does anyone else remember JFK’s “I am a Jelly Doughnut!” speech?
There’s no reason for a head of state to use a foreign language. Not only as the representant of his/her country, it’s logical that he wouldn’t but also, even if he happen to know it, he will necessarily be less fluent than in his native language, so he’s likely to express himself poorly and he’s likely to make a mistake or to say something stupid, something that a politician would want to avoid. It’s best to let professionnal translators do their job.
Of course, he can use said foreign language in some occasion to convey a positive message : “look! I like your country, I even speak the language”. But he’s unlikely to say anything important in these cases.
And by the way, ** Derleth **, Saddam stating “Our language is arabic” isn’t arrogance. It’s a plain statement of truth, and it’s rather obvious that a politician interviewed by foreigners in his own country will expect them to adress him in his language, in the language of his country.
If you want to know, I believe the arrogance is yours, for thinking that not speaking one’s own language in one’s own country is arrogant. You seem to be arrogant enough to believe that foreign head of heads of state should speak ** Derleth ** 's language and should have some good reason or some evil ulterior motive if they don’t want to use it.
Or course, ** Derleth **, if you want to respond to my post, I expect you’ll do so in french or else, I’ll assume you’re an arrogant guy who doesn’t want to write in french on an american board.
Actually, I strongly doubt whether Hitler could speak English at all. Nor should this be terribly surprising: his education did not extent beyond school and I doubt English was routinely taught to schoolkids in early 20th century Austria. The lingua franca of the time, French, was, but his grades in it were recorded as “unsatisfactory” (Kershaw, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris, Penguin, 1998, p19).
The private meetings with Chamberlain required an interpreter, Paul Schmidt (Kershaw, Nemesis, Penguin, 2000, p110, 122). As a result, Schmidt’s memoirs are an important eyewitness account of what happened at Munich.
He didn’t ask if JFK really said he was a jelly doughnut. He asked if anyone remembered the “jelly doughnut” speech. To which the correct answer is, “Yes. Lots of people remember the speech.”
I’m fairly positive that Hitler was not fluent in English, but multiple Nazi party officials were. I seem to remember either Himmler or Goebbels being nearly as fluent as someone who had spent their entire life in England.
