[Sca-cooks] Accidental french

[Ana Valdés]

My friend, Flora van Millingen, was born in the deep England but early
in life went to Alger and later to France. She took the International
Secretary courses in Geneva and moved to France. When I met her in Paris
she was 30, full of life, with several lovers at the same time,
africans, arabs and south americans. She was so vital and lifeloving
person!! Two years later she married a boy 8 years younger than she, son
to one of her best friends and they started to have children. She got 3
children in a row and when the last girl was 6 months old, she was
dianogsed with leuchemy. She died when she was 38 years and left three
children of 5, 3 and 1 years old and a widower who was 32 years old.
Very unfair.
I attend her funeral in Paris, 200 people from the whole world, it was
similar to a United Nations meeting, arabs, blacks, her 5 English
sibblings with their families, her old parent in their 90:s, she should
have loved to see so many friends around.
Ana

Huette von Ahrens wrote:

> Funny thing, I too had a friend who worked as a
> translator for the UN.  She and I went to college
> together.  I haven't heard from her in decades.
> Her mother was German and her father was Mexican.
> She grew up speaking fluent German, Spanish and
> English.  In college, she took simultaneously
> language classes in Italian, French, Russian,
> Arabic and Japanese.  She was able to keep
> straight which language was which and got top
> grades in all her classes.  After graduation, she
> moved to New York and was immediately hired by
> the UN.  I stopped hearing from her when her life
> got so busy with diplomatic business.
>
> Huette
>
> --- Ana Valdés <agora at algonet.se> wrote:
> > Thanks for your kind words, Huette! I had once
> > a dear friend, she died
> > too soon, only 38 years old, she was a native
> > English but spoke French
> > and Spanish as well and lived in Paris. She
> > worked as a professional
> > translator for United Nations and met in her
> > work many different people
> > speaking English in the most different ways.
> > "It's funny, she used to
> > say to me, what you, non-English speakers,
> > believe its English is only a
> > poor version of our language, including 300
> > words and mediated by MTV
> > and Disney. The difference between what people
> > think its English and the
> > language of Milton and Shakespeare is
> > enormous".
> > I agree with her, I think often the English we
> > use as "lingua franca" is
> > a poor English, only related to instrumental
> > and functional issues. I
> > wish I should be able to write so good English
> > I could transmit all
> > shades and nuances I wish...
> > Ana
>
> =====
> Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they
> shall never cease to be amused.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
> http://mailplus.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks