The mystery of Albanians 1

-Can you accept the situation in front of you?-

 

Tendencies

  1. When I was with an Albanian translator in Tirana, whenever I spoke English too fast for him, he said "Don't speak in Japanese, please". also in his mind, the priest language in Catholic church sounds as same as Japanese. 
  2. Saying "Chang-chung" to me is one of the significant character of Albanian people. They believe that it is a kind of greetings
  3. About half of the time when I tried to talk in Albanian, people can't understand the fact that the Japanese in front of them is talking Albanian.
  4. As far as I concern, they are the only people who can misunderstand 'breakfast' and 'tomorrow', 'some day' and 'Sunday' (this case, after my twice explanation, they made the same mistake)
  5. In their language, 'buk' = bread, 'buker' = beautiful. Even if I said "it's beautiful", in front of beautiful lake, they sometimes misunderstood it as "he needs a loaf of bread" (no breads nor nothing related with appetite is in their sight)
  6. Sometimes they can't understand my dialogue "Sa pare? (how much?)" even though the situation is so clear (when one finished eating and stood up, the next action can easily be expected)
  7. After recognizing that I can speak Albanian, their comprehension becomes 10 times more. 
  8. When they see me, they say "Kinez" in 80%, after seeing my PC, they change "Japanese"
  9. They are the people who can say "Do you speak English?" during the conversation IN ENGLISH
  10. No Albanian Kosovers (out of 5 samples, 2 English-speaking waiter, 1 ex-commando, 2 students) could understand how to play a strategic game. 
  11. Usually they don't have enough patience nor topic to talk with strangers longer than checking their ID
  12. Once my friend (age:17, an excellent student with good English speaking ability) didn't believe the actual number of Chinese population though he knew that my knowledge was based on latest statistics (He believed it as 2.5 billion, actually it is 1.1 billion... his number is closer to whole Asian population)
  13. Several cases in Gjakova: "Kinez!!" "Un jam Japonja (I'm Japanese)!!" "Japonja, Kina!!"
  14. It is significant (even among Macedonians) for them to mix my nationality (Japanese) after a few repetition of explanation.

NB. These bits are much more likely to be expected in urban area. 

from these points, several conclusions can be led 

  1. In their mind, Asian = Chinese, as well as Asian with computer = Japanese 
  2. They are pretty bad at guessing. Their ear can catch only the exact sound
  3. Even with exact sound, they usually put more weight on their pre-occupied idea (PI). In this case, 'strangers acts differently (Chinese always speak Chinese)' (conc. 1 can be regarded as a kind of PI)
  4. When they faced the situation that the sense and their PI are different, they choose PI.
  5. because of conclusion 4 and tendency 11, we should put some kinds of strong shock onto their mind to change their PI within first few seconds.
  6. Otherwise, no way to prevent group's misunderstanding (their communication speed is quite quick. If one do something, the news  will spread whole the territory under same center (in village, it is definitely possible within even half-day since village usually has only one center. as for the city, we can't provide anything better than Gjakova's case. The speed was 1block/1 night)

Then some cases can be explained

  1. Say 'criminal' to Serbian family (inc. a baby) Since their PI of Serbian is almost as same as devil
  2. Consider 'Beograd, 1985' on the military map of Kosovo (published year) as 'intention to invade Kosovo started before 1985'
  3. When I was typing this draft, the shopkeeper explained me as "Kineski" to others even though I was working with SONY computer.
  4. They usually make the predicted mistake after saying "I know"
  5. Among themselves, elders sometimes use violence to tame children
  6. As far as I concern, physical action and loud voice are only effective ways to keep children away (In this case, their PI is the standard of politeness) 
  7. Don't understand the simplest thing 'never make fun of strangers'. Because they believe that 'it is usual for stranger to be made fun of'

Under this logic, violence can be allowed. actually pointing gun at their chest directly means 'go away', 'I'm angry' and 'This is the risk of your behavior'. (And these meanings always make sense) However, it won't be the best solution though it is the best shock (since it is directly related with life). The better way will be changing their PI. But... usually the people with PI finished certain period of education (even university degree. remember that the tendency is more significant in urban area). The problem is not 100% related with their knowledge, but also related with their way of thinking (If it is just knowledge problem, the education system in Serbia/Albania/Macedonia could have changed it for these 50 years). Also it is impossible to change from inside (because of their pride, they strongly stick with their community and mentally stay inside the community. If the community can change this point by itself, no chance to see such tendencies) As for their thinking channel, of course, their characteristic shape of community and family should be mentioned.

 

To recap:

Some external pressures onto their information source are required. 

 

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