3 . VIDEO . citytube sensation

[onset]

[There's a face to the British accent this time, and a little more of his radio-voice flare to it this time. He looks cheerful enough, considering his last post.]

All right, so - with the slight chaos from two days ago, thought I'd celebrate the silence and pay a visit to the library. This is what what I found. [he holds up a book - Learn French in 15 Minutes - and puts it back down to open on a marked page] Since French is my second language, why not share some of this book's very wise lessons with you?

[Because it isn't something you'd really do, Peter. But the curse has a different say today, so there you go.]

For example - this is a good one - mon chat est plein de puces.

Who can tell me what it means?

[He sounds amused. Go figure.

(hover over the sentence for a translation!)]

Comments

[georgeous]

[ George speaks French just fine, but he doesn't exactly see what's so amusing here. ]

It means your cat needs a flea collar, obviously.

[(now let us pretend the italics are french, the mun's lessons in this language were too long ago)]

[onset]

[It's just silly, that's what.]

Je cherchais la traduction littérale, mais il sert.

Je ne savais pas que vous parlait français.

[georgeous]

I speak a variety of languages, some more and some less fluent. It's useful.

As for your problematic cat, is there a particular reason the people in The City should learn expressing this in French?

[onset]

[still sounding entertained -] Vous faudrait interroger l'auteur.

[He holds up the page, showing the picture of a ginger cat, followed by the very same sentence he read out loud.]

[georgeous]

I could come up with a variety of scenarios where you would have to say that, but none of them are likely.

[ Touché, he has to admit that for a fifteen minute course that is kind of ridiculous. He still doesn't see the point of the network post though. ]

[onset]

Ils deviennent susceptibles à partir du moment où je reçois un chat?

[The point is camera-whoring. It's pretty neat from his end.]

[georgeous]

And end up in direct company of a French-speaking person, who takes enough interest in your cat to ask about its state of hygiene.

Assuming that is something you wouldn't tell people just because you feel like it, of course.

[onset]

Bien - il pourrait y avoir un vétérinaire français dans la City. [purposely in English -] You never know.

[georgeous]

Not for certain, at least. But there is a tendency of how realistic something is.

[onset]

Well. We are where we are. Whether something is realistic or not isn't exactly an issue here, from what I've seen.

[georgeous]

At the very least each of us come in with a different set of expectations about reality, I'll give you that.

[ When you're an anti-alien secret agent coordinator you learn to expect big crazy things... small crazy things not so much. ]

[onset]

Very true. Can't say there was a need for your organization where I come from, for example.

... Not that I'm aware, at least.

[Anyway.]

Is English your first language, then?

[georgeous]

[ Smart move to change topic before George can begin going on about ways aliens adapt to human society or not. ]

It is. I'm from London. I haven't returned there for some time though, sadly.

[onset]

[Oh-!] So am I! [On that note -] Where have you been?

[georgeous]

[ Oh, nice, someone from home! ]

Dubai, mostly. A nice place, but still not superior to London.

[onset]

[There's a pause - he seems rather impressed.] What's it like?

[georgeous]

Opposed to some other places of the Arabian room, it's rather diverse. You could almost say rather glamorous in some places, while almost rural in others.
Not a complete culture shock to someone Western, but still worth being described as 'exotic' to use popular foreigner's wording.

It's never really boring. Interestingly and pleasantly enough, cricket and horse racing are rather popular.

[onset]

Are they? [huh.] Wouldn't have guessed.

[georgeous]

Neither would I, but it's true. Sometimes you encounter familiar things where you least would have thought.