Who is Albert Sánchez Piñol?

Who is Albert Sánchez Piñol? Let’s look at Wikipedias in different languages, translated into English, ordered by the English name of the language:

Basque: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Catalan writer and anthropologist.

Catalan: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Catalan anthropologist and writer who wrote the known works “The Cold Skin” (2002) and “Pandora in Congo” (2005).

Dutch: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Spanish anthropologist and employee of the Center for African Studies of the University of Barcelona. (The rest of the article describes his work in the field of anthropology. The last sentence says that he writes in Catalan.)

English: Albert Sánchez Piñol (Catalan pronunciation: [əɫˈβɛrt ˈsantʃeθ piˈɲɔɫ]) is a Catalan Spanish author and anthropologist writing in the Catalan language.

German: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Spanish anthropologist and writer. (Catalan is not mentioned in the article, but the article is included in the category “Literature (Catalan)”).

Italian: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Spanish writer and anthropologist. (The fact that “The Cold Skin” was written in Catalan is mentioned towards the end.)

Norwegian: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Spanish author and social anthropologist, writing in Catalan.

Polish: Albert Sánchez Piñol, a Spanish writer, a prosaist writing in the Catalan language. By education he is an anthropologist.

Russian: Albert Sánchez Piñol – a Catalan anthropologist and writer.

Spanish: Albert Sánchez Piñol is a Spanish writer and anthropologist. His literary work is written in Catalan.

(All articles say that he was born in Barcelona in 1965. Only English has an IPA transcription of the name, although it’s probably wrong.)

Swiss, part 2

OK, i couldn’t resist, here a few more comments about languages in that Slashdot article about languages:

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[Learn] Girlspeak.

I’m currently living with four (4) girls (three daughters, wife) all of which are able to speak in riddles and conundrums that they themselves understand, while leaving me completely at a loss of any valuable information.

Interestingly enough, this Girlspeak language transcends cultural boundaries! It is simply amazing how two girls can communicate without actually knowing the native tongue of the other.

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adding German to my curriculum tacked one extra semester onto my studies. To say it was not encouraged is understating the case: I was told not to waste my time. Years have passed and the rest of my studies are some vague blur involving plumbing; but I can still speak German.

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I learned German for three years, thinking it might be good for science. I even stayed with a German family for six weeks one summer. What I discovered: The Germans mostly speak better English than 3 years worth of German, and they’re usually eager to practice it. Had I learned Spanish instead, at least I could converse with the gardeners around here.

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Germany is the only place where I’ve asked a question in english to someone off the street and have the person turn around and walk away. Sure the french may berate you, but I’d rather like that. Choose your poison.

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Russian is rarely spoken outside of Kaliningrad and Karlovy Vary, but is widely understood (though rarely very welcome.)