the English Language

I didn't fully appreciate before coming here how intricate our language really is. When spoken in a hurry, even by an English speaking foreigner (for instance, someone from Ireland or Auz), meaning is never really lost if you can listen carefully enough. Cut to Korea: the land of smushing words together that definately don't belong together. Case and point: a popular band is called 2NE1. What the eff is that? Oh, "twenty-one". Eye roll. Another favourite of mine is a game called "Ghost op". Or at least I thought it was Ghost Op for the longest time. The game is actually called "Go Stop", but because the words are amalgamated, the meaning is totally lost.

I listened to how some of my students say words like, "empOrer" instead of "Emperor" and I really started to appreciate all those puns my dad and I spouted out when I was a kid. For instance, a Bergamo line that has become more than just an eye-roller (it's more of a mainstay at every single function) is "putting the wrong emphAsis on the wrong syllAble", again, totally changing the meaning.

These poor Koreans: in their language, a word has no emphasis, no inflection. Imagine a language like that? Even when I underline a word for emphasis, they still don't read it any differently than the word before it. I find it odd. And my appreciation for my mother tongue is growing exponentially.

So now I'm helping My Man with some English emotions: intrigued (try pronouncing that the way it's spelled), humiliated, and stubborn. I'm finding it really challanging to find synonyms for these words: they are so perfect as they are. I'm glad that my love of the English language is only getting stronger the longer I'm here...perhaps you are all right: maybe a career in English teaching is more up my alley.

Note: aren't you just loving the Napolean Dynamite-esque title page? Giggle.