"Ryan Cousineau" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <
[email protected]>, "benjo maso"
> <
[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > "Antti Salonen" <
[email protected]> wrote in
message
> >
news:[email protected]...
> > > JG <
[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > > > How are langauges taken care of for teams with many different
> > nationalities?
> > > > Do they pick one language and that's it for everyone on the team? Is it usually the language
> > > > that the team originates from?
> > >
> > > I'm sure the country where the team comes from _generally_ dictates
it.
> > > I would be surprised if there are any Spanish, Italian or French teams in which the language
> > > used is not Spanish, Italian or French, respectively. I'm sure in most teams there is a single
> > > language which everybody is expected to know well enough.
> > >
> > > In the Phonak team, it appears that mostly French and Spanish are
used,
> > > even if the team is Swiss:
> > >
> > >
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2004/jan04/jan16news1
>
> "Even if the team is Swiss"? Switzerland has three official languages, and French is one of them.
>
> > > > Are most riders multi lingual?
> > >
> > > Most likely. Most Europeans are multi-lingual to some degree.
> >
> > But not all of the, Beloki doesn't speak one word French. On the other
hand,
> > Marcel Wust was fluent in German, French, English, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.
>
> Not one word? It's still a Romance language. It's not Portuguese and Spanish, but I'd bet he gets
> the gist of most simple conversations.
See
http://www.rds.ca/cyclisme/chroniques/CYCLIS3FE1E0F9.html
Beloki: Tout va bien, l'unique problème c'est la langue. Je ne comprends rien de rien (rires). Mais,
bon, d'ici le Tour, j'aurais fait des progrès et j'espère comprendre au moins un peu de Français", a
affirmé dans un rire à l'AFP le coureur basque qui assure avoir été bien accueilli par ses nouveaux
coéquipiers.
Beloki: "Everything is fine, the only problem is the language. I understand absolutely nothing
(laughter). But well, from now on until the Tour, I should have made progress and I hope I will
understand at least some French".
Benjo Maso