Even the Toronto Star says Dion’s English is getting worse
“It might be politically incorrect to say, but Dion's spoken English is bad – and may be getting worse. Because of it, he's turning off many English-speaking voters. While his command of the English language is excellent, his diction and cadence are so terrible that he is often harder to understand than Jean Chrétien. Dion should work with a speech language pathologist, some of whom make big dollars training recent immigrants to speak without an accent.”
--“A summer makeover for Stéphane,” Bob Hepburn, The Toronto Star, today
Over the past few months it seemed to me that Dion’s English in Question Period was actually deteriorating. And this was with material that he presumably had some time to reword and rehearse. I guess I wasn’t alone. Better spoken English is number one on Hepburn's ten-item makeover agenda for Dion.
7 comments:
I chuckle every time I hear a Liberal compliment Dion for his "improved" english. I wonder if they're watching the French feed of Question Period and it's the translator they're mistaking for Dion.
I was always puzzled by dion's English, right from the start. I have taught ESL students, some were bright and eager, some weren't, but all made noticable progress week by week. Some improved overnight! It wasn't me, it was just listening and speaking, and I can't understand how he got where he is without that same improvement. And now he's getting worse?
He just comes across as such a nerdy wimp, no matter what he's trying to say. I cringe every time I watch him on TV. And he sounds like Kermit the Frog. Indeed, "it's not that easy being green".
Librano$ are BAAaack!
http://tinyurl.com/6sydtv
I love the image
"Dis is how much plan I reduce the carbon emission!"
Joan, I know I'm late to the party re: this post of yours, but that pic is a real keeper.
First of all, I'm not sure WHAT the hell Dion's doing, though "I just flew in from Buffalo, and gee my arms are tired" comes to mind. Hell, if I were you I'd send it to R Mercer for his photoshop competition...
But what really got me was the "Oh, for GOD's sake" look on Iggy's face. Priceless. (The rest of the troops don't look thrilled, either, do they?)
Seriously, you should give this pic a post of its own and invite the readers to play "Choose your caption".
When a blog gets as few comments as mine, there's no such thing as late to the party. So thanks.
I felt lucky to find a photo through Google in which (1) Dion looks silly (2) Iggy betrays more than he should and (3) the only Liberal who looks enthused is Blair Wilson, who resigned from their caucus over a family dispute. I guess if he's trying to get back in, then hanging on to the leader's every word in the Commons is not a bad way to start.
I used to do the caption contest thing with my colleagues at Queen's Park (I gave out real cash, too), but it was usually with a timely photo.
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