9.29.2006

Radio and language

Things haven't developed exactly how I wanted them to, but I'm not dead yet, so I still have time to attain some goals. But along the way, I've found something interesting: doing the sound board for some foreign language stations--they're all foreign languages, all the time. I haven't started working there yet because I have to actually be hired, but I've got a good chance. Unfortunately, they're languages I don't understand, such as Russian, Polish, and Korean. I asked the dude in charge how he can work a board for shows he doesn't understand, and he said they just point at you to give you cues to play whatever they've told you to play (the on-air folks are bilingual). At one point when we were talking on the phone, he had to put me on hold, and I heard a Korean song, then a commercial. The only think I could make out were the endings ("da" and "o" which are similar to "desu" and "masu" in Japanese) and I could tell that they were saying numbers. Another day I heard a Polish commercial, and guessed a similar thing--that they were saying numbers, which was probably a phone number.

So if I do end up getting some work there, it would be a good blend of two things I love: radio and languages!

2 comments:

comrade_tovarich said...

Does Chicago's Polish population still support a Polish-language newspaper? Certainly new Polish immigrants are still arriving in Chicagoland (the owner's of Al and Sally's Hotel near the Dunes are fairly recent immigrants, I think).

A Chicago cohort not too long ago was trying to strike up a date with a Polish girl, a recent immigrant working as a bartender while going through university.

I was hoping to hit Chicago this summer. I got close, but not into the city proper, where I've been wanting to go so I can take the Gangland Tours or whatever. Checking out the St. Valentine's Day Massacre site and other gangland sites would be rather interesting.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure there are Polish newspapers--Chicago still has the largest Polish population outside of Poland.

There's a gangster tour here--the Untouchables Tour. Or you can see some modern gangbangers if you go to the right neighborhoods. ;)