tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post8349855379742739818..comments2023-10-15T10:29:12.991+01:00Comments on Karyn's erratic learning journey: On not laughingThe upsychohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-11120881522677244062009-05-30T13:08:08.783+01:002009-05-30T13:08:08.783+01:00@Virgnia Good point, and there are other anecdotes...@Virgnia Good point, and there are other anecdotes I could share, where much laughter <I>did</I> ensue, that they are quite rude (although that wasn't the intention of the parties involved at the time!)The upsychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-8703204520489429242009-05-30T10:45:01.710+01:002009-05-30T10:45:01.710+01:00And yet, sometimes laughter makes language learnin...And yet, sometimes laughter makes language learning so much less embarrassing. When I was learning to speak French and Spanish, it felt good to laugh at my own mistakes and understand how silly they were. I once had a conversation with my landlady about a student who was looking for a "vaca" to study instead of "Beca". In Spanish they sound alike. I thought I was having a conversation about a scholarship that this Biology professor was looking for to study in the US (una beca) whereas my landlady heard about the cow this biology professor was looking for to study in the US. She kept asking me why she needed to look in the US when they had plenty of cows/scholarships in Costa Rica! <br /><br />When we finally got the meanings sorted out, we both laughed until we had tears. If she had been embarrassed to tell me, rather than laughing when she realized the misunderstanding, I would have 1) been uncomfortable speaking to her in the future or 2) continued to talk about my students looking for cows to study in the US!V Yonkershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554noreply@blogger.com