Sometimes, I'm absolutely astounded by the things that my students say. They can be insightful, crazy, insulting, and super sweet.
Today, I couldn't help but laugh.
One of the students mispronounced the word "feast," and so the teacher said, "What do we know about English?" to the class.
The class, with complete seriousness, replied, "You write it one way and pronounce it another."
I had to contain my laughter.
What would happen if we told our children this when they started to learn how to read?
Sorry, kids. You're learning a really messed up language (orthographically-speaking). We'll give you some rules, but actually those won't really work most of the time. You'll just have to memorize that one!
You get situations like:
- -ough can be pronounced NINE different ways
- just to name a few: "through," "thought" and "though"
- Homophones make our lives hard because you don't know for sure which way to pronounce it without context. See if you can pronounce these correctly the first time:
- The bandage was wound around the wound.
- The farm was used to produce produce.
- The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
- There are words/phrases that just don't even make sense. I found a few of these on the internet.
- Why do we park in a driveway and drive on a parkway?
- Why do you recite at a play but play at a recital?
- Why do noses run and feet smell?
Later that day, a student asked me if it was true that people in the US only have one last name.
I already knew that Spaniards have two last names, but I always forget that they think it's weird that we only have one last name. The first last name is usually the father's surname, and the second last name comes from the child's mother. This is handy because you can tell how people are related--if it's through their mothers or fathers.
My students had all sorts of questions. If I only have one last name, who do I get it from? What do Spanish speakers do in the US? Do they keep two last names? What happens when you get married?
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