Why were they laughing at me when I tried to speak their language?

Have you ever had people laugh when you tried to speak their language. I have.
What makes others laugh at me?


The South Korean flag.


I want to a lot of trouble to find the Korean words for thank you. However, when I say thank you in Korean on leaving a restaurant, three members of staff burst out laughing. The same in the next restaurant. And the next. What has gone wrong?

Koreans laughed in a restaurant when I tried to say thank you in Korean, which is staccato. I was unaware that my sing-song British accent was what amused them.

I thought I had accidentally said a swear word. I returned from Korea haunted by the fear.

Eventually I had tea with a Japanese friend in Singapore. I askedI
"Do you speak Korean?"
"No. Yes. Only few words."

"I said thank you in Korean and that made them laugh. Do you know why?"

"Ah yes. Japanese is (the) same. Staccato - every syllable - (the) same intonation. You speak like singing."

"Sing-song?"

"You don't mind I tell you."

"Not at all. I am very pleased to know the answer. Very relieved. I thought I had accidentally said a rude word."

What makes me laugh?

The Welsh Flag

The Welsh accent.

Marilyn Monroe. Photo public domain in Wikipedia.

Marilyn Monroe said, 'If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything. "

I am not sure about that. It didn't work when a man was having a lovely laughing conversation with me on the phone. Then he started trying to chat me up in a Welsh accent.

I love the Welsh accent. It's friendly. It's funny. It makes me laugh with delight. Perfect for being friendly with a stranger and telling jokes.

But it didn't fit the seriousness of an anxious romantic proposal. A man trying to impress me.

Humorous Accents I can make Asians laugh when I put on different accents in English including the Scottish and Welsh accents.

For years I have been trying to make people laugh, without success. At last I have found the answer. When people laugh at you, use that in a humorous speech.

Practise Intonation The moral for travellers using other languages to be polite is:
Don't just learn the phrase from a book.
Repeat it to anybody, the hotel receptionist, the waiter, so you get the accent right before you start saying it to strangers.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages.

English language word order, questions, intonation, implication and the last word

"You are" and "are you" are the same two words but by reversing the usual order you suggest a question, and possibly doubt, surprise, incredulity! Just put the two in the same sentence and you get, "You are - are you!" This sentence has a definite hint of polite sarcasm. More than, "Are you sure?", more like, "I don't believe it!".

In English and other languages the last word of the sentence is given importance in grammar and because the listener tends to remember the last word. So if you are selling and you ask, "peas or beans?" you usually get the reply "beans".

Therefore, to persuade or sell up, the sales person will ask, "the bargain or the luxury item?" If you want to sell the luxury item; you put the one you are promoting in second place or last, at the end of the sentence.

"Where are you?" is the usual phrase construction. If you repeat the phrase because you are astonished, can't hear, or don't believe it, you indicate this by changing the order.

When repeating the sentence immediately in the unusual construction it take on a new implication: "Where are you - you are WHERE!" The implication is that the other speaker trying to answer is mistaken, stupid, lost, miles away from the expected route, or doing something politically incorrect.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and English language teacher.

Shakespeare - belated quotations - and intonation for understanding others when travelling

Better late than never (but better never late).

Shakespeare:
I can immediately quote:

1 To be or not to be.
(Hamlet.)

2 Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

3 Oh woe is me, for you are undone.

4 Is this a dagger which I see before my hand?

5 When shall we three meet again.
In thunder darkness or in rain.
(Macbeth, the three witches, opening scene.)

6 Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
(Watching Lady Macbeth.)

7 Out damned spot.

(Lady Macbeth.)

8 Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.

9 If you cut us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
The Merchant of Venice.

10 All's well that ends well.
Title of play.

11 Once more into the breach, dear friends.
King Henry's speech.


***
At one point it was suggested that Shakespeare was outdated and should be dropped from the secondary school curriculum and replaced with computer studies.

This caused an outcry. By all means add computer studies. But do not take away Shakespeare. Why?

Shakespeare reminds us of English intonation. In English we usually emphasize the first syllable.
Your ENGlish TEAcher says:
"Good MORNing."

Take the sentence from Shakespeare's play:
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, darkness or in rain.
Emphasis is on the first syllable, and on words which are nouns (naming words or words naming objects or people, animal, vegetable or mineral). Insignificant words such as in, on, the are mostly not emphasised.

Prefixes (additions pre or before the word) and suffixes (syllables added at the end) are usually not emphasised.

In a court of law, you might hear somebody ask: "Are there any mitigating circumstances?"

If you are not speaking English as a first language, and somebody who speaks English cannot understand you, try saying the words again with English intonation. If you are English and a foreigner is asking for a place, try guessing where they would want to go and how it would be pronounced if all the syllables sounded the same weight, or you emphasised the last syllable.

For example, an English person would ask for Paris. A French speaking person would drop the last letter of the word Paris and emphasise and extend the last syllable 'Paree'. Somebody from China, Japan, Korea, or a Chinese speaking Singaporean might ask for Pa - Ris, emphasising both syllables equally.

When saying goodbye, you can quote most of Shakespeare's opening to MacBeth, "When shall we - meet again?"

Angela Lansbury, B A Hons, CL, ACG, English teacher and tutor.