[ Li brushes the unfamiliarity away with a courteous smile. ] It's not surprising. It's a Wu dialect prevalent in Shanghai and Zhejiang. But with most of the younger generation being taught standard Chinese, it's almost a dying language.
[ The remark, in Mandarin, gets a twitch of an almost-laugh -- amused, grateful, good-natured -- before he composes himself enough to reply, ] Considerably better. I imagine if I phrased myself as formally as you, my teachers would've been happier. [ It's a tease, but also a compliment. The warmth in his smile seems genuine. (It's not deliberate but subconscious. Like most polyglots, he has a distinctly different personality depending on which language he's speaking. Businesslike in English, laidback in Japanese, wry in Mandarin and gruff in Portuguese.) ]
[Chekov meanders back into the conversation to the sounds of a wholly unfamiliar language--one of those far eastern ones that he has absolutely no knowledge of. He sighs and remarks, in near-perfect (if somewhat distorted) Polish:]
If we must speak a foreign language around the dinner table, can it be one that we all understand?
[He doesn't know if either of them knows Polish, of course. It would make him feel less stupid--linguistically--if they didn't.]
[ ...........Congratulations, Li is confused. But don't feel bad. That's a common occurrence. ]
I'd hesitate to call myself a linguist like Miss Uhu -- Nyota. I couldn't understand either of those languages. [ AND IT MAKES HIM NERVOUS ARE YOU PLOTTING HIS MURDER YOU ARE AREN'T YOU?!! ]
[Chekov slumps in his chair in mock petulance as they go back to talking about... whatever. Nyota has a point; he's usually the one who makes people feel like they don't know what's going on, not the other way around. He can live through this.
It helps that Hei apparently doesn't know Polish. He'll remember that.]
[ Snagging the last bit of mushroom, Li sets his now-empty plate aside, and beams, ] Of course. Whenever you like. [ It's flirtatious, but innocently so, like a schoolboy blushing at a teacher. For his cover's sake, it's more a convenience than a loss that Uhura doesn't know how many more languages he's fluent in -- even if Hei could use a refresher. ]
[ (He doesn't bother to disguise his amusement at the way Pavel slumps in his seat. What Polish plots are you brewing, Pavel? ((...........You better tell him unless you want Hei's brows to furrow into a unibrow from the stress 8| )) ]
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I learned some Mandarin in university, but I haven't had a chance to use it in years. [Her speciality is xenolinguistics, after all.]
She adds, with a wry smile and very, very stilted Mandarin] I don't know if that makes you feel any better.
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[ The remark, in Mandarin, gets a twitch of an almost-laugh -- amused, grateful, good-natured -- before he composes himself enough to reply, ] Considerably better. I imagine if I phrased myself as formally as you, my teachers would've been happier. [ It's a tease, but also a compliment. The warmth in his smile seems genuine. (It's not deliberate but subconscious. Like most polyglots, he has a distinctly different personality depending on which language he's speaking. Businesslike in English, laidback in Japanese, wry in Mandarin and gruff in Portuguese.) ]
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If we must speak a foreign language around the dinner table, can it be one that we all understand?
[He doesn't know if either of them knows Polish, of course. It would make him feel less stupid--linguistically--if they didn't.]
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Wenn Sie links Gefühl heraus, könnten Sie versuchen, die Teilnahme an dem Gespräch.
[It's not petty so much as it's playful.]
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It's difficult for someone who isn't a linguist to make decent conversation at a meeting of linguists.
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I'd hesitate to call myself a linguist like Miss Uhu -- Nyota. I couldn't understand either of those languages. [ AND IT MAKES HIM NERVOUS ARE YOU PLOTTING HIS MURDER YOU ARE AREN'T YOU?!! ]
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To Li, she says] Do you think you could help me with my Mandarin? The City's a hard place to be a linguist in.
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It helps that Hei apparently doesn't know Polish. He'll remember that.]
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[ (He doesn't bother to disguise his amusement at the way Pavel slumps in his seat. What Polish plots are you brewing, Pavel? ((...........You better tell him unless you want Hei's brows to furrow into a unibrow from the stress 8| )) ]
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太好了！我期待着它。