Hat: Don't bother:


> First simple rule: if they don't speak proper English, don't trust them
> to know what they're doing.

Fortunately, it's a SIMPLE rule :-)
So much so that it seems to fail Einstein's simplicity test for
minimum safe simplicity..

At first glance that sounded like low grade racism.
Any grade of racism that's detectable is not at home here.

BUT on inspection and for other reasons it is very likely low grade linguis=
m.
ie Not-English-phobic.
That also is, of course, misguided, but in another class.

Many people on Lyall's list had less problem with the use of English
than do a very large proportion of people in "English speaking"
country's so they are safe from the offered approbrium.

However [tm] I suspect that (to reach far away from the present) many
scientists in eg the old Soviet Union would not have had a masterly
command of the English language. That didn't stop them copying
development work by their also not necessarily English speaking
neighbouring engineers, and building on it to gain a very significant
advantage in rocket development over we the English speakers. Which
continued for such an uncomfortably long time, notwithstanding some
massive failings in key areas,  that I won't start to trace its
history.

- Rusting sadly (or sadly rusting) on my front "lawn" is a car that in
its (long ago) day (24 years ago) was THE fastest production car 0-30
mph on earth (as were all its stablemates). There is every probability
that the Oriental gentlemen (and I use that term here with great
respect) who developed this
FerrariAstonMartinPorscheLambhorginiMaClaren beater knew or needed any
capability in the English language. [Some say that they just copied
what others did. Maybe. If so the copy did a faster 0-30 job than any
of the originals :-) ].

- A know a number of China based Chinese national factory managers or
technicians who know only very slightly more English than I know
Chinese, but whose capabilities I am very convicned of. My inability
to speak proper (or almost any) Chinese may make them wonder about me
:-).

A command of the Queen's English (even many Americans manage it :-))
is highly useful when you seek to convey your understanding to people
who pretty much speak only English. But it's not a certain indicator
of whether you should trust their capabilities.


                Russell McMahon
--=20
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