Confusing "V" and "W" and "L" and "R"???? (repost from last year)
Written on May 13, 2018
Chinese have trouble with "v" and "w". I
don't remember struggling with this issue in Taiwan, but maybe I was speaking
mostly in Chinese, and here I am using mostly English. When the students were
introducing themselves at the beginning of the semester, many said they liked
"mooies". I thought and thought about that one, and finally realized
it was "movies". Another difficulty was the student who asked me
about Easter "wiggles". Dances for Easter, like the "Bunny
Hop"? Telling kids to sit still in church? I had her repeat it a few
times, and even had trouble when she spelled it, because it was an unexpected
word. It was "vigil". You can see how things can get so confusing.
However, there are always these kinds of difficulties for
overseas workers. Do I have stories? In Zambia "r" and "l"
are completely interchangeable. The house worker told me Paul had cut his foot
on the grass. How do you cut your foot on grass? Glass. He also consistently
told me that Paul was outside praying. As much as I wished that was true, it
seemed unlikely at age 3. Playing. The funniest one was at election time....can
you guess where this is going? The tv announcer stated that "At the last general
erection, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda won. And the assembly all crapped." True
story.
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