tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 12 04:51:18 1996

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Can one learn Klingon TOO well?

All this talk about the various subtle nuances of {-taH} "really" mean
(and my efforts at translating Captain Krankor's story) have given me
a strange idea.  I usually know in my mind EXACTLY what a phrase means
in Klingon, but the meaning often suffers when I try to express it in
English.  Do any of you have the same experience?

For instance, the simple phrase {bIchechlI'}.  It conjures up in my mind
an image of Otis from the Andy Griffith Show, but I don't know of an easy
way to explain the "in progress" part of the meaning.

We're all learning Klingon "in English."  There is probably a point in
one's study of a new language where one leaves behind the language in
which one was studying and begins to learn using the new language itself.
Is tlhIngan Hol rich enough for this to be possible?  Would this be a
desirable thing?

Enough.  I need to get my son ready for school and I need to go to work.

-- ghunchu'wI'               batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj

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