Thursday,
Kate: “交換. 交means interact. 換means replace.”
Bill: “Yeah. 像語言交換. 妳教我中文. 我可以幫妳的英文.”
Kate: “Okay. What do you wanna talk about?”
Bill: (eyes filled with excitement and anticipation) “I don’t know. You’re the teacher. Ask me questions.”
Kate’s secret thought:
Let me think…. ‘What’s your name?’ That’s dumb. ‘Where are you from?’ Nah~ ‘How long have you been in
Kate: “I don’t know what to ask you.”
Bill: “因為我們…..知道…..太多….. um….. How do you say ‘because we know too much about each other’?”
Kate: “因為我們太熟了.”
Bill: “熟? What’s 熟?”
Kate: “to be familiar with someone.”
Bill: “Oh, right! I know that word. I know a lot more words than I actually use. We
should ….. um… 我們應該每天一小時說中文.”
Kate: (exclaim) “早就跟你說過了.”
Bill: (eyes wide open) “huh?!”
Kate: “We’ve talked about it before, but we never did it.”
Bill: “Yeah, I know.”
Kate: (a light bulb moment) “That’s what I can do! I can tutor at home.”
Bill: “Chinese or English?”
Kate: “Both!”
Bill: “If you want, I can hook you up with some people.”
We went on talking about tutoring and debated whether it’s better to tutor kids or adults IN ENGLISH.
In conclusion, it's my fault that Bill could never practice speaking Chinese with me.
Wow! that is all Greek to me!
ReplyDeleteHey, that's cool! What level is Bill's Chinese? (Be honest!)
ReplyDeleteI can answer that question: I am currently at the level of suck, which is slightly higher than incompetent - yet lower than listens-with-blank-stare-on-face.
ReplyDeleteAt least I can ask where the bathroom is. I feel good about that.
No true! I think Bill's Chinese is definitely higher than listens-with-blank-stare-on-face. He had a conversation with my mother for two hours while I was coming around from surgery, talking about his family and experience in Taiwan.
ReplyDeleteIf we talk about it in the ESL way, I'd say he's between low-mid intemediate. Listen to me. I'm a pro.
Bill: You must be at the same level that I'm at in Korean, then: I can ask where the bathroom is, too, and when I listen, my eyes cross and my tongue sort of lolls out like this with drool hanging off of it. No one wants to talk to me after that; I think that's why I stay at the same level. Kate: I think that's where the expression 'fossilized errors' comes from in ESL... Aka 'Don't make that funny face; it might stay like that!'
ReplyDelete