»People who have difficulty speaking a 2nd language«
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 Talk about your experiences with these people, or about yourself. One time I woke up to the sound of my mom was practically screaming into the phone because there were these Mexican ladies who were coming to our house for the first time and got lost. My mom had to spell out our community name around 10 times, each time screaming into the phone, "A LIKE APPLE, YES, YES, A LIKE APPLE...B LIKE BOY! YES B. BEEEE. B LIKE...BELL. YOU KNOW BEEE?" Oh, my gosh. I felt so sorry for my mom. posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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| in-my-opinion.orgTechnology, Computers, Science, InternetLanguage, Math and NamesPeople who have difficulty speaking a 2nd language |
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 oh man, i could go on about this FOREVER! so many funny stories...ill start with the early experiences...ahem so i used to work at this candy store in the mall here where i live...(i don't know if you could really call it a mall...anyway). we have a very large mexican population in this town, and the vast majority of them do not know any english at all. (i find that strange becuase...i don't know, if i were to move to a different country, i would try to learn enough of the language to get by) the funniest time there (that i can remember off hand) was when this one guy came up and wanted an icee. (they love those, that and ice cream, that's all they ever ordered) he strolls up, leans on the counter with this smirk on his face, all cool like..then looks at me and kinda points up and says, "ah, gimmie gwan de butt ice." i couldnt hold it in and i just had to laugh...i asked him, "did you just say...BUTT ice? he said yes, and so i told him that i don't have any idea what it was. after a lot of pointing and hard to understand words...i figured out that he wanted a strawberry icee...well, i hope so atleast, cause that's what he got. haha ill post more experiences later...its late now and i should stop before i start not making any sense... posted by allone |
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 When I first came to Britain I could could get by Ok by speaking english...I was just doing fine... Until a British friend of mine started using the word "oy" Like when he would maybe ask a question and I wouldnt answere he would shout at me "Pawnaton oy" But i would just stare at him...I was almost offended... Because...we also say "oy" in Iceland... only we spell it "oj" And when we use that word we are saying something is disgusting "Pawnatron dear you have to eat your aspargus" "ASPARGUS? OJ!" So i just thought he ws saying I was disgusting... 
Which I'm not... 
But that was a long time ago... But I'll tell you what is realy terrible... speaking to some people that have Icelandic as a second language... "Mubl ehl hubl shabl hubls hebls habl?" "Yeah i totaly agree...?" posted by Pawnatron |
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I changed the thread name to make it fit better. Not everyone lives in a place where English is the majority language (like Pawnatron), so this title is more inclusive. posted by nocturnal_anonymous |
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 English is a second language for me, so I can freely admit I had and still have difficulties speaking it. Now much less than when I started, but still. Two of my memorable English difficulties happened when I was 14. The town where I lived got a "brother town" or however you call it in Alaska, and there was planned an exchange trip. We had an interview with the guy who was supposed to choose those who go on the first trip. We have been learning English from textbooks that were to say the least old. You know, they say textbooks in schools depict the scientific knowledge from 50 years ago. Ours depicted it from... well, before that, probably. For example, we were taught that "gay" means "merry", which it does, but in 1995 the primary meaning was already different. So just before the interview we were strongly advised not to use the word. I kept thinking not to use it. But guess what? In the middle of our conversation I found out that the only word I remember that describes a Xmas tree is GAY. 
The second thing happened when we already arrived to the host town and were introduced into our host families. From the airport they took me out for lunch, and after I communicated to them with the movement of my head that I want cheeseburger they asked me what I want to drink. I coudn't remember anything except "orange juice, please". To which they asked "Orange juice or orange drink?". Can you imagine my terror? Oh, and the third one... We had a pillow fight with my host sister, but even after it was over she couldn't calm down and kept attacking me. I got annoyed and wanted to tell her to leave me alone, but instead of "Get off me", or "Geroff" as in Harry Potter, I said "Get out of me"... were they laughing... posted by mymla |
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When I go to places where Spanish or Italian is spoken, I always try to remember my Latin vocabulary since those languages are very close to Latin. Every so often I'll catch a noun or verb, so to me those languages sound like "blahdy blahdy blah blah BIRD blahdy blahdy blah ROAD blahdy blahdy blah blah FARMER..." 
Also, a good way to scare Italians is to walk up to them, beat your right fist against your chest and then stick that hand and arm straight out in front of you and yell, "CAESAR, AVE!" (That means "Hail Caesar!" in Latin and that is a Roman salute, but they will most likely think you are "un fascista," which mean "a fascist.") Also, it's fun to tell Italians "il mio nonno è stato ucciso da un soldato italiano nella guerra," which means, "My grandfather was killed by an Italian soldier in the war." LOL, they don't know what to say! I always find it rewarding to remind citizens of the former Axis powers of their countries' war crimes. Fascists! (Also works with Russians if you can fake an Eastern European accent and with Jews if you look like an Arab!) 
No pinkos, commies, or US federal agents allowed to post on 65mya!  posted by MindSlavery Florida |
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The time now is 12 February 2012, 08:00 php B.B. |