Learning a Second Language

There are several things that crack us up about learning Chinese. First of all, it's the day to day mistakes we make, the words that sound the exact same but have completely different meaning... and then lots of laughs in our classes. (We are still taking classes 5 days a week- Spoken Chinese, Listening Comprehension, Writing and Integrative Skills)

Here are a few good laughs we've had recently:

• In Chinese, the informal way to say "I'm pregnant" is "Wo yo le" which directly translated means "I have." So I will say "I have!" and Scott will say "You have what? You have a phone? I have a phone too. We all have!" -silly goose
• Yesterday my friends asked me what kind of candy I like. I misunderstood the word candy and thought they were saying soup (both are "tang", but with different tones) so I told them "I like cabbage candy, red bean candy, tofu candy". You should have seen their faces!
• Our listening comprehension teacher gives us dialouges to listen to, and then asks us several questions after to make sure we understood. One of the dialogues was this:

Mike: Hi, Mary. Lets go swimming this weekend. My friend Tian Feng is a great swimmer; he can stay under the water for 2 minutes!

Mary: Yes, let's go swimming! I think my friend Shang Ben is an even better swimmer than your friend. He can stay under the water for more than 3 minutes.

Edward: No, my friend is a better swimmer than both of them. He went under 5 days ago and he still hasn't come up!

• Here is another dialogue: The son has graduated from medical college and goes home to visit his parents

Son: Hello Dad! I've come back!

Father: I'm glad you are home! I need a vacation; I've been working so hard while you were in school. Take my patients for two weeks while I rest.

Son: Ok, Father. See you in two weeks! two weeks later.....

Son: Hi, Dad- how was your vacation?

Father: It was great! I feel good. How were all the patients?

Son: Your patient, Mr. Wang says that you have been treating him for four years. I was able to cure him in just two weeks! Are you proud of me?

Father: Oh, no! You cured him? He's a really rich man- I've been treating him for four years to pay for your medical school. Now how will I pay for your sister's school??