Get well soon!

Sometimes a photo of a class handwritten card can speak a thousand words. When my Instructional Assistant was ill and couldn't come to class, I decided to give students an opportunity to send a group message to their well-loved co-teacher Auriel. I started the writing by drawing a giant heart on the class whiteboard and writing Auriel's name and a brief message. About half the class participated by writing their own English messages and showed that they knew something of our shorthand way of communicating with a bunch of 'xoxo's. A few students signed their names, too.

There were only two misspellings: 'helthy' and 'healthe.'  The expression 'Stay helthy' also didn't quite make sense because the instructor was sick.  Notice the use of 'Get better' - 'Get well soon' (repeat) - 'I hope good healthe for you' and 'I miss u so much, Miss you, Come back soon, I hope you feel well.

Instagram, sort of!

Why Spelling Matters

Sometimes it is hard to impress on non-native speakers of English why spelling matters. To understand the humor found in these misspelled signs, if you are an intermediate level English language learner, you may need a native speaker of English to explain. Beware, however, that sometimes explaining what is funny destroys the fun.

Buzzfeed from a few years ago gets complete credit for finding these amusing signs.  This link will take you there to view several photos. Whenever you travel and you see signs that you suspect are written in English or a mixture of English and the local language, snap a photo and discuss your understanding of the sign with a fellow English speaker. You can learn a lot of language this way.  This is funny English and dangerous English.

Remember: Spelling counts!

   

"P" is for Park

How many meanings of park do you know? City, Regional, State, National Park.  Park your car in the parking lot between the white lines.  Park your hate here. Park is also a common Korean name (according to Wikipedia, the third most common name).

     

Palomar Mountain State Park

Parking Lot in Grand Teton National Park

Watch Your Step! Watch Your Head! Watch out!

One of the most poignant stories that a student has shared with me was an experience of getting off a bus in San Diego. My Korean student was an intrepid learner and always brought me interesting expressions that he had heard during his week outside of school. One day Kim (not his real name) came for his after-school tutoring session and looked very downhearted.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I had so very embarrassed experience," he said.

Then he proceeded to describe the situation. He was standing at the front of the bus waiting to get off. The bus driver stopped and opened the door, and as he was about to step down, the female driver said, "Watch your step…." Kim hesitated, and people standing on the sidewalk waiting to board were looking at him and wondering why he didn't get off. He stood motionless and looked at the steps. The driver repeated the phrase, but Kim stood frozen, not knowing what to do next. Yet a third time, the driver repeated herself.  This time Kim looked back at her, saying, "I AM watching the step." At that point, the driver shook her head in disgust and gestured for him to get off the bus. It was at that point that it suddenly dawned on him what the meaning of the expression was.

Why had no one mentioned this important expression to him?

My husband was also witness to a more dangerous problem. While boarding a commuter flight from the tarmac, walking up a portable staircase, one passenger after another was reminded by the rlight attendant to "Watch your head."  Each passenger looked up and lowered his or her head when going through the door. However, a very tall non-native speaker (by his accent) who thanked the attendant but never lowered his head smacked his forehead right into the low door entrance. He was clearly physically stunned, and the attendant helped him recover from his embarrassment and bump to his head. It left an impression on my husband, and he wondered whether I teach this idiom. It could be very important.  

The British have a different expression from Americans and say, "Mind your step" or "Mind your head." I doubt that either idiom is comprehensible to a non-native speaker of English without a clear context and someone explaining how we use these expressions and their meanings.