Wednesday, January 23, 2013

English as a foreign language

After spending more time with my Italian family, I have begun to see how they view American culture and the English language. It is quite interesting to hear them try to repeat the English words that they ask me. Plus, it is even more interesting to try and hear English from a foreigner's ears. 


As I looked through my cousin Peter's English textbook, I couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the picture of a 'hamburger' has chicken on it.

 What made this even funnier was that day my cousins started asking me how big the hamburgers were in America. At first, I thought they meant if they were popular but then I realized they actually wanted to know how thick they were…like all hamburgers were one size haha. 

Also while I was helping Peter with his homework, he had to do an activity about fashion and every time he read the word 'clothes' he would say 'santa clause'…I kept yelling at him because I thought he just wanted to distract me from his homework, but then around the third time I realized that he was saying 'santa clothes' because he thought clothes and clause were the same word! 

Lastly, Tony, Peter, and I were driving near their house and it was raining outside. Tony was telling me what the word for puddles in Italian is and then I told him it was 'puddle' in English. A few minutes later he told me the word for pot holes and then again asked what it was in English and I told him 'pot holes'. He then paused and looked at me like I was crazy. He again pointed to a pot hole and asked me what it was and again I repeated the word 'pot hole'. He still looked confused and then asked me why in English we have the same word for both of them. It then occurred to how similar the words 'puddle' and 'pot hole' sound. 


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