As soon as you come to Japan and speak English to any native Japanese speaker, you'll learn real fast that there are a few letters from the English alphabet that cause problems for native Japanese speakers. Fluency and intelligence have nothing to do with it, there's just something about these sounds that cause trouble for many Japanese speaking English.
Differentiating between B and V is quite the challenge, resulting in such interesting new words as...
Differentiating between L and R is even more difficult. Resulting in many words that, for all intents and purposes, become interchangeable. For example...
I hardly even notice these minor errors anymore. Most of the time, from context, I can figure out what the person is trying to say, I just roll with it and move on.
Except for last Friday.
I was at a rather posh dinner, which only adds to the humor, and was talking to a lovely Japanese man, fluent in English. His pronunciation was amazing, and his English was so good that I realized I could multitask while we chatted. I continued to add lasagna to my plate as he told me about this group he was in. I listened politely, nodding along. Then he started to tell me about the erection the group was having. I spun around and had to consciously de-furrow my brow so as not to insult him as he was still chatting away.
“Yes, next year were planning to hold an erection. As the erection comes up (I almost dropped my plate) we are planning on holding a dinner to try to talk to people about voting. Ya, I can't wait till the erection of a new president of our group! ”
Sounds like a fun group. I wonder if that erection will be public or private...
With Rove,
Kate
P.S. Read the first, The Norm for Me, A Chuckle for You, here.
Differentiating between B and V is quite the challenge, resulting in such interesting new words as...
bocabulary
feber
neber
balintines day
trabel
ober
convenience stores nation wide called combinis
Differentiating between L and R is even more difficult. Resulting in many words that, for all intents and purposes, become interchangeable. For example...
glass/grass
bling/bring
led/red
play/pray
fly/fry
light/right
lice/rice
clap/crap
The kids are often eating lice for breakfast, praying soccer, studying engrish and crapping their hands.
.JPG) |
| Exhibit A: My Grocery Store In case you bought any deep flied food that doesn't have a bar code. |
Except for last Friday.
I was at a rather posh dinner, which only adds to the humor, and was talking to a lovely Japanese man, fluent in English. His pronunciation was amazing, and his English was so good that I realized I could multitask while we chatted. I continued to add lasagna to my plate as he told me about this group he was in. I listened politely, nodding along. Then he started to tell me about the erection the group was having. I spun around and had to consciously de-furrow my brow so as not to insult him as he was still chatting away.
“Yes, next year were planning to hold an erection. As the erection comes up (I almost dropped my plate) we are planning on holding a dinner to try to talk to people about voting. Ya, I can't wait till the erection of a new president of our group! ”
Sounds like a fun group. I wonder if that erection will be public or private...
With Rove,
Kate
P.S. Read the first, The Norm for Me, A Chuckle for You, here.
[The Latest]
Must Read: Can I Get On the Mormon Do Not Baptize List?...from Slate
Google Search: Amazon Japan, puzzles
Tune: Better Together By Jack Johnson.
Accomplishment: Attempting a new recipe.
Obsessions: Goldfish crackers, thanks to the foreign good store.
Obsessions: Goldfish crackers, thanks to the foreign good store.
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