The Anguish Languish
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In the Fall 2003 Pages newsletter we mentioned a few examples of the tangles faced by those learning English. We take most of these for granted. Have fun sometime exploring the problems for folks who learn what you speak so freely as their "second language." I remember the hilarious moment when a young friend from Chad got up after a meal and declared to the rest of us, "Okay! I am out of here!" He was surely "getting it"! Here are some more idiosyncrasies of English that may help us understand. Enjoy!
Quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? One index, two indices? Is cheese the plural of choose? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
English muffins were not invented in England or french fries in France. (Can most Americans even accept this truth?) In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out and an alarm clock goes off by going on. And finally, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
No wonder SOOP volunteers are sometimes tapped to "teach English," even when they never did it before, and are finding it a good challenge. While serving with MCC in Cairo, Egypt, we were told the best English teacher is one who has spoken it from birth as a "first" language.
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