Babelfish...and the meaning of life.

There are so many accents of the English language. We have southern, northern, eastern, mid-western.  If you break it down to cities you find even more complex accents. The southy is my favorite. Well, only because all I hear is Ted. I also like the MinniSOta accent. Southern twang is part of my repertoire frequently. Not ozark but more like Alabama or Georgia. So you have the American variations of the English language but then you have the foreign representations of the English language. Latin, Asian, British, middle-eastern, islander, and so many others. I have a knack for understanding accents. It's probably because my mother still speaks with one, my father spoke with one. I have a natural babelfish built in.

What is a babelfish you ask? A babelfish is a yellow leech like fish that is placed in your ear to help you understand any language, local or foreign. Of course it isn't real! It was a concept introduced in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to help Arthur Dent understand the many alien languages he'd encounter while hitchhiking through the galaxy with Ford Prefect. Oh, by the way...the meaning of life, the universe, and everything is 42. And always know where your towel is.

My babelfish works very well for most every accent I've encountered save one, the light lilting musical Indian accent. Though the accent is beautiful I have the hardest time understanding a person with a thick Indian accent. For example, one of my instructors this term is from a province of northern Bangladesh. While trying to listen to seminar tonight I found myself straining to hear just to catch the meaning of the words I heard. It's bad enough I'm hard of hearing. Throw an Indian accent on top of it and I'm so lost. Volume is on max and I'm only catching every third or fourth word. This is where my babelfish fails me. Every time.