So. Something that I have always found amazing is pronunciation. Usually it's funny when English words are pronounced in ways which are incomprehensible, or sound like another word. For instance, last night in my class, I had a student say the word 'harmful', but I would have told you with all confidence that she was saying a Chinese word. I had no idea! But it got cleared up later.
The one that I find most interesting, however, is when the Cantonese speakers read English articles with Mandarin words written out in PinYin: for example the name of the new president of China. They cannot pronounce it, so I then pronounce it in Mandarin, and they say, "OH!! Ohh, I know!"
PinYin isn't easy for all Chinese people to read, since they don't use it all of the time: they just know what sound each characters represent. I just find it interesting that sometimes I have to explain the Chinese words to the Chinese people ;)
What's a funny story from your job?
I am a wound care nurse, and today I saw a pt today with sores on his leg. I asked him if they were painful and he said, 'yes, it feels like someone is biting me, I think it's the shutters'. I asked him, 'do you mean shingles', and he said yes. Just a different part of the external accessory for your home, lol!!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Priceless :)
Delete