At first, one of our team members spoke at a normal speed, using vocabulary and our usual language.
Then, the team member tried, slower, and louder.
Then: subject, verb, object. "We like soup."
Now it's Tarzan-speak. "Me, two sisters." "We California."
Also, Koreans want words to end on a vowel and there's no "f" sound, so
"coffee" becomes "copy" I was wondering why people were always asking if we needed copies of something . . .
"golf" becomes "golp-u"
"fork" becomes "pork-u" - I'm the only one who needs one; the other team members are quite handy with chopsticks.
"each" becomes "each-ee"
"Sh" and "s" sound interchangeable to me, so
"sit here" sometimes sounds like "sh** here"
"city hall" sometimes sounds like "sh**y hall"
I don't know if the Tarzan-speak helps them understand us, but knowing about the other stuff helps us understand them.
2 comments:
Hilarious!! Have absolutely loved the blog. Everyone at Monterey Pacific Rotary has enjoyed keeping up the your (GSE Team) travels. Keep it coming! Ann Appel
Ha Ha! I know what you mean. In high school, I worked in a Chinese Restaurant. The Chinese owners called me, Lola, "Rora", and they called rice "lice"...Hmm, they could say their "L's" & "R's" but somehow managed to transpose them. I never understood this...
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