So, my favorite ex-roommate Lisa recently relocated to Norway, where I'm sure she's quickly picking up the native language, because the girl speaks like 4 languages already, but could probably pass as speaking like 10.
Anyway, one of her recent posts describing Norwegian class reminded me SO MUCH of David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day. I was surprised to hear that Lisa hadn't read it. I have a copy, which I promptly found in the blue section of my color coded bookshelf, and contemplated shipping it overseas to Liser, but then decided against it given that it's a hardback and would probably cost a fortune. Sorry girl.
I do have SOMETHING though...I found one chapter online over here, and it's just the particular chapter I was thinking of. It isn't nearly as funny without the rest of the book, but it's still a "kick in the pants", to steal an expression from hubby. Particularly if you've ever attempted to learn another language, and found yourself trying to construct a logical sentence or story using only the present tense. And even if you were successful at doing THAT, some "false friend" probably resulted in your teacher laughing his or her butt off at you. Case in point, "Estoy embarassada." For you non-Spanish speakers, it does NOT mean "I'm embarassed", as I thought until about my third year in Spanish class. It means "I'm pregnant." No wonder I got such strange looks from my Spanish teachers in high school...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Haha! I think embarassada is the best lingual faux pas that an American can make! Oh my word though that you said it until Spanish 3!
ReplyDeleteI will order that book on Amazon or Ebay or something if you promise m that it is worth it. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso I feel famous being called out in your blog. Love it haha. I have a lot of GREAT language faux pas...I will have to post an extensive one on those alone...so hilarious.