Forgive me...

for I have sinned. This post is to confess my disrespect towards Taiwanese culture and the Chinese-English language. It's shameful to say that there are too many instances to list, but nothing is more shameful than the reason for this is because I disrespect the Taiwanese for a living.

One of my 3 year old students: "Teacher John, my home has blue cock."

My response: "You can say: I have a blue clock at home."

In retrospect, I wish I had asked my student whether or not he believes his house can have possessions, asked him what he believed a "cock"is, and then respected his choice to call a mechanism used for keeping time a "cock."

4 Reasons Why You aren't an ESL Teacher

Here is the latest addition to the debate between a white middle class male English teacher, a 6 year old Taiwanese ESL student, and a white middle class female teacher (the comments keep getting deleted, but I received them in pieces, so I'm not sure if they are 100% accurate in terms of the intended order of paragraphs):

more supporting evidence

click here to see posts leading up to this

In Chinese-English intercultural communication, kinship terms often present problems because satisfactory equivalents are not always available... The Chinese practice is generally , but not always, to use 公，母 to show whether a creature is male or female. In English, more specific terms are often used, including terms for the young.

Step 1: Recognize the issue, Step 2: Make relevant arguments

"...words in both languages that appear to refer to the same object or concept on the surface, but actually refer to quite different things."

A comment on my most recent post was accidentally deleted, but I wouldn't want to deprive anyone that may be following this debate (click here to see all the posts leading up to this). I've recovered the comment, which is displayed here, and below that is my response.

I understand what you believe to be true comes from your understanding of New York and Taiwan culture because these are the only places you have been.

Step 1: Know the Rules, Step 2: Break 'em

A comment in response to this post:

"You probably should have taken some classes in understanding different cultures before you went over there.

There are plenty of "English-speakers" who use that exact terminology. Different cultures say different things- who are you to be the judge of what is correct or incorrect? Because it is in the dictionary??? If everyone spoke using words and meanings strictly from the dictionary, that would include some pretty boring conversations and no differences between cultures and areas. I am guessing you are looking for cookie-cutter speakers throughout the world?

Directly Translated 3

I have to keep stressing the fact that the direct translations I'm brining up aren't actually translated incorrectly. They do have a tendency to be used incorrectly, though, so there are plenty of instances where it will be incorrect. Like this example:

Just like Aunties and Uncles, any person that is maybe a little bit older than you can be called "older sister" or "older brother." This especially includes cousins. While there is a word for cousin, it is much more common to hear an older female cousin referred to as, "older sister," directly translated.

Once, back in the days of the Squirrel Class,

Directly Translated 2

Here's something interesting that my recent Chinese studies have led me to. Presented below is a list of 3 Chinese characters and their English meanings.

Watch carefully...

Directly Translated

I am a teacher of the English language. My job description is pretty clear: teach English. The way this differs from a translation website or a dictionary is that, although some things CAN be directly translated, it doesn't always sound right.

So my job is not only to teach English, but to make sure it's being used properly. Here's how things can get interesting: