Funny things your students say
Oh, there’s a million-and-one of them. Some of my favourites:
“Americans are…. strong for… war and fighting!”
I think he wanted to say ‘keen’ but now I’m saying “strong for” at every opportunity.
Teacher: “What do you like to do in your free time?”
Student: “I play with my girlfriend”
Ooh la la.
It’s a bit unfair picking on the Japanese people though. I’ve heard of a few occassions where a gaijin has stuffed up, trying to speak Japanese. My favourite story is probably when upon hearing that the student’s mother had recently died, he wanted to say how sorry he was to hear it. And the first way you learn to say “I’m sorry” in Japanese is:
“Gomen nasai”
Problem with that is, it translates into “I’m sorry, I did it”. Funnier still, the woman to whom he just apologised for matricide was a manga-ka, a comic book artist, who promptly retold the episode in a later volume of her manga!
Anyway, if you know of any other funny Engrish quotes from your students, then please share in the comments section :)
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