American President Faces Canadian Language Barrier
OTTAWA– George W. Bush became the first U.S. president to visit Canada in over ten years when he arrived in Ottawa last week for an official visit. Bush, with the help of an interpreter, spoke to Canadians, communicating the need for the two countries to mend their damaged relationship.
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Despite the vast cultural differences between the two nations, Bush, through his Canadian translator, promised to rebuild the broken ties between the two bickering countries. Language has been attributed a key obstacle in the recent negotiations over softwood lumber, beef exports, and marijuana tariffs.
Bush declined an offer to speak before Canadian parliament, not wishing to risk offense at the northern nation because of his poor knowledge of the Canadian language. Instead, Bush chose to use a skilled interpreter fluent in both American and Canadian to convey his message of friendship.
“We fight war on terrormatism,” spoke the interpreter in perfect Canadian, carefully translating the president’s words. “We defends Canadian and American dirt together!”
Bill Clinton was the last American president to visit Canada back in 1984. Clinton, who had taken Canadian lessons while still the governor of Arkansas, bravely spoke before the House of Commons, despite mispronouncing many common Canadian words such as “roof”, “barbecue”, and “about”.
Although they share a common border, Canada and the United States have many differences. There have dissimilar forms of government, a different system of weights and measures, and discordant alphabets. These elements, along with distinct languages, have created many challenges for visiting dignitaries, politicians, and heads of state.
Bush, who struggles enough with his own language, politely nodded when Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke privately to him about improving North American defenses, increasing trade, and screwing Mexico. Although Bush used his interpreter for most of the talks, at one point, the president became excited and used animated gestures and made explosion noises while trying to describe a proposed missile defense shield.
After a modest publicity shoot and a quick lunch of traditional Canadian cuisine, Bush attempted to speak a few words of the Canadian language to the crowd gathered in front of the Parliament buildings.
“Me love Canada, y’all,” he said to the crowd in broken Canadian. Bush then waved and gave two thumbs-up before hastily climbing into a limousine.
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