[Tlhingan-hol] redditor wants to know why Klingon speakers speak Klingon

[PICHLMANN Christoph]

>I would like to do something to overcome that probably widely-held belief.

I'd say point them towards the klingon Hamlet, or perhaps even more importantly towards the Klingon Christmas Carol.
If klingon were "just some phrases and disconnected words" (likely only the context of Star Trek), it would be rather impossible to create something like that, I'd think.
Even if it won't convince them (quite likely), others will see it who might have agreed with the previous assumption.

Christoph



>Message: 10
>Date: Wed, 28 May 2014 10:50:49 -0700
>From: "Robyn Stewart" <robyn at flyingstart.ca>
>To: "tlhIngan Hol mailing list" <tlhIngan-Hol at kli.org>
>Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] redditor wants to know why Klingon
>	speakers	speak	Klingon
>Message-ID: <001401cf7a9d$5d4aa1a0$17dfe4e0$@flyingstart.ca>
>Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
>I glanced at the thread and it was a morasse of profanity and Bingon.  One
>of the commenters proclaims that "No one really speaks Klingon: it's just
>some phrases and disconnected words you can learn."
>
>I would like to do something to overcome that probably widely-held belief.
>It's kind of the counter to  another common belief, that many people speak
>Klingon, such that it would be commonly heard at Star Trek conventions.
>
>I think both stem from misunderstandings about the tools available and the
>process of learning a language. Or even what it is to communicate in a
>foreign language. And where Klingon is concerned, it falls squarely in the
>KLI's bailiwick to ensure that excellent tools are available, and to offer
>help to people who have managed to achieve or approach adulthood without the
>opportunity to learn a foreign language.
>
>- Qov