Edwina, my Australian colleague, is chatting with one of our Vietnamese clients.
Her speech is a combination of baby talk and eager-but-staccato-slow-to-the-point-of-condescending speech. I think she sees them as them as friendly natives.
A few quotes from her:
"So do you speak Chinese? Oh No? That's right, yes yes. Because the Chinese invaded you didn't they?
"Do you speak French? No? Well they were here, too, before, also. They stayed until you fought them - fighting them - and they run away." [I kid you not. At this point I was just sitting there, mouth agape, no longer typing my own document but typing out this dialogue in total shock.]
"But now you speak English very good, right? You learn English a long time? Even though you fight to get the Americans out. And you win and they have to leave? But you still learn English now."
"Everyone wants to move here to Vietnam and you need to fight them to go."
-- For fuck's sake, Edwina.
