Comical Mistakes When Speaking a Foreign Language

[marmoset]

I remembered a good one.

At the high school where I teach English in Japan, one of the Japanese teachers of English passed me on my way to the restroom. He said he wanted to discuss something, so I turned around to walk with him back to the staff room. Then he said, "ah, we can talk after you take a bath."

As I proceeded to go "take my bath," I imagined him continuing on and smacking himself on the forehead when he realized what he said. His English was better than that.

[CrOtALiTo]

Nice the story.

[Luna]

We had just moved to Arizona and shared a duplex with a Mexican family. We wanted to introduce ourselves to our neighbors so we asked them to come for an outdoor barbecue. Mistake #1 - We are from the midwest and my husband did not notice the cold weather. All of us, except him, were shivering. Mistake #2 - I studied Spanish at the university twenty years ago but could barely remember it. I was trying to tell them we had a son who was 19 years old, but I said he was 90 years old! Our guests were very polite and eventually realized what I meant to say. When I realized my mistake I couldn't stop laughing. They were so polite they wouldn't laugh with me. That broke the ice for me. After that I wasn't afraid to try to speak. I simply accept that I will make mistakes all the time. - Luna

[marmoset]

Originally Posted by Luna

We had just moved to Arizona and shared a duplex with a Mexican family. We wanted to introduce ourselves to our neighbors so we asked them to come for an outdoor barbecue. Mistake #1 - We are from the midwest and my husband did not notice the cold weather. All of us, except him, were shivering. Mistake #2 - I studied Spanish at the university twenty years ago but could barely remember it. I was trying to tell them we had a son who was 19 years old, but I said he was 90 years old! Our guests were very polite and eventually realized what I meant to say. When I realized my mistake I couldn't stop laughing. They were so polite they wouldn't laugh with me. That broke the ice for me. After that I wasn't afraid to try to speak. I simply accept that I will make mistakes all the time. - Luna

Fun story. I love laughing at my own mistakes too. I'm so glad that it made you NOT afraid to speak instead of the reverse. All too often, 2nd language learners (sometimes myself included) become too afraid of making mistakes.

[Caballero]

Hmm. It could be a good idea to make a few deliberate comical (but not rude) mistakes (like "my son is 90 years old"), so if you ever do say something completely inappropriate (e.g. Estoy caliente), they will forgive you for it.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by Luna

We had just moved to Arizona and shared a duplex with a Mexican family. We wanted to introduce ourselves to our neighbors so we asked them to come for an outdoor barbecue. Mistake #1 - We are from the midwest and my husband did not notice the cold weather. All of us, except him, were shivering. Mistake #2 - I studied Spanish at the university twenty years ago but could barely remember it. I was trying to tell them we had a son who was 19 years old, but I said he was 90 years old! Our guests were very polite and eventually realized what I meant to say. When I realized my mistake I couldn't stop laughing. They were so polite they wouldn't laugh with me. That broke the ice for me. After that I wasn't afraid to try to speak. I simply accept that I will make mistakes all the time. - Luna

I'm sorry I didn't understand completely the jokes.
I guess you have a son with 90 years old?

[Caballero]

Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo

I'm sorry I didn't understand completely the jokes.
I guess you have a son with 90 years old?

Ella dice "Mi hijo tiene noventa años."--pero realmente su hijo tiene solamente 19 años. Olvidó la palabra correcta para 19.

[CrOtALiTo]

Hahahahaha.

I catch you.

Before this explanation I didn't catch you.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by CrOtALiTo

Hahahahaha.

I catch you. I got it.

Before your explanation I didn't get it.

Corrections.

[CrOtALiTo]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Corrections.

Just I wanted to improve with other new expression for me hahaha.

But very inside to me, I knew that expression was incorrect

Thank you for the correction.