Last week I had a great conversation with a Bulgarian friend who shared with me that sometimes native speakers didn’t understand what she was saying. One time, for example, she asked someone “Where is Andy?” and she couldn’t understand why the woman she was talking to was so confused. When I told her that the […]
Your English, my English: the global lingua franca
When I worked for a tech startup in Silicon Valley several years ago, one day my coworker, a native English speaker, turned to our new French employee, Zack, and asked: “zacker zakry?” Zack had just arrived from France the previous week and wasn’t used to the American accent yet. He turned to me with a […]
Bias against foreign accent and how to handle it
The power of simple words
To fake it till you make it or to be authentic?
When I was in elementary school, my physics teacher – a very good-hearted, but often contradicting herself – once looked at the class and said: “I’ve never told you, but let me repeat.” She proceeded to explain whatever she was trying to explain at the moment, but the rest of the class and I couldn’t […]
Embarrassed due to a mispronounced word?
Not long ago, one of my students shared with me a funny, but slightly embarrassing story regarding mispronunciation. She wanted to thank the technician who was fixing something in her house. But instead of “thank you for your patience,” what came out of her mouth was “thank you for your passion.” The guy looked perplexed […]
What do you do when you get stuck in English?
The power of body language
When we study a new language, we usually think about using correct grammar, memorizing vocabulary, and learning how to pronounce words correctly. But there is a very important aspect to mastering a foreign language that has been a little neglected – body language. I remember once talking to an American guy; actually he was talking […]
Cultural difference or misused punctuation mark?
“Thank you for being such a ‘good’ friend,” she wrote and, although I knew what she’d meant, I was a bit taken aback. Was it a cultural difference or a misused punctuation mark? My friend had written this sentence on the beautiful card she’d given me before going back to her country. To her, putting […]