Tag Archives: square

26 Sep

English pronunciation

Who taught : Andrew, Jake, James and Carl

There is a new tv show started last week. It is called, “Outsourced.” I love it. It shows a lot of cultural differences between America and India. You should really try to watch it and let’s talk about it later.

Do you know what file type I hate most? It is zip file.

Do you know why? Well… it is so hard to pronounce. A few months ago, I was having a meeting with a client and there were James, one of my old coworkers, and Carl, my old boss. After the meeting, I went into Carl’s room to have another meeting and, at the end of the meeting, he taught me how to pronounce zip correctly. And, interestingly, when James and I had brunch together last Saturday, he mentioned about his feeling about my pronunciation of zip file. It is actually kind of frustrating to have the feeling that I would never be able to have a correct pronunciation for some of the alphabets or words.

There are a few other alphabets or words that are hard to pronounce correctly. (Here, I mean really correctly like Americans, not like mimicking the sound!)

1. v and th

A lot of Koreans, or Asians, pronounce this incorrectly so that many American people think we are saying “b” instead. For example, when you are looking for a “vase” but if you pronounce it incorrectly, then it becomes “base.” The other example is any word having “th.” More specifically, if you trying to say that you are “thinking” now but, if you say it incorrectly, then it becomes to mean that you are “sinking” now. Then your American friends would be like, “to where are you sinking down?”

2. wood

This one looks pretty easy to pronounce but it, in fact, is very hard to pronounce correctly. Jessy has a friend who came to the U.S. around 20 years ago when she was around 25 years old. She has children who of course are native English speakers. One time, she had a conversation with her children and she said “wood.” As soon as she said that word, her children said to her, “Mom, that is not correct. Say it again!” So, she tried again and again but still the pronunciation was not correct. You know what happened eventually. Her children said, “Mom! You are never gonna be able to pronounce it correctly at all.”

How frustrating it is! Remember! She has been living in the U.S. for 20 years. 20 years!

3. Square or Squirrel

Well, I had a very similar experience with what Jessy’s friend had. I live in a neighborhood, called Squirrel Hill, in Pittsburgh. One time, I was talking about this neighborhood to Andrew and Jake. As soon as I said it, they were like, “Terry! What? Say it again!” So, I kind of realized that I spoke it incorrectly and tried really really hard to pronounce it correctly. Then, they said, “That is pretty good. Before, it was not correct.”

Then, a few days ago, I was talking about something and I said “Square Root” to Andrew and Jake. Then, they were like, “Hey! Terry! Say it again?” Yeah, they challenged me again. So, I tried again. Andrew and Jake! How was I? Do you think I need more practices? I guess so, right?

So, as a non-native English speaker, what is the hardest word or alphabet for you to pronounce? I think mine is “Z” alphabet and any word having it like Zoo or Zip. The real hope I have now is I wish I can speak those ones really good so that no one can recognize me as a non-native English speaker. There must be some ways to practice. Does anybody know how to practice to pronounce those alphabets correctly?

01 Sep

square vs hip vs sleek

Who taught: Andrew

AVAILABLE

So.. this is one of the words that can be used in so many occasions. Suppose you just get into a cafe and try to find a seat to sit. After a few looks, you spot one chair but someone is sitting on the chair next to that chair. And, you would like to make sure whether you can really sit on that chair or not, then how would you ask to the person? That is right! Simple! “Is this available?”

Another example would be in your biz email. You want to have a meeting with your client or customer but are not sure whether he/she can make it to the meeting at a specific time. What would you use in your email? That is right! Simple! “Are you available at 11:00 am on Tuesday? Please let me know your availability! blah blah….”

Now! You, assuming you are a woman, find me who is with friends at a bar and decide to go for me. “Hi, there! Nice to meet you! My name is Jessica!” At this point, everybody knows that you are trying to flirt with me. Then, what would you hear from my friends? That is right! Simple! “Hey, Lady! T-Bone is not available! He is married.”

I mean you can use this word in so many situations. I guess this is too easy for you. But, the reason why I bring this word up is because I would like to talk about the difference between English and Korean. All of the above cases, we, Korean, use totally different words. For instance, we use the expression, “품절남(Pum-Jeol-Nam)”, to describe a married man. Literal translation would be “He is out of stock!”

The hardest part for Korean people or any other non-native English speakers is that it takes a long time to realize that they can simply use “available” in so many situations because every time they try to speak something, then they think in Korean or their mother tongue first and try to translate it into English. This is one of the main reasons why non-native English speakers say so many sentences which do not make sense at all.

Square Face(source:gocomics.typepad.com)

Well… Let’s talk about today’s expression!

He is square.

Can you guess what this means? Hard to understand, right? Does it mean the shape of his body is square or the shape of his face is square or the shape of his but is square? What the heck does it mean?

Well, here is the definition on urban dictionary.

A person who is regarded as dull, rigidly conventional, and out of touch with current trends.

In other words, someone who is not cool. Now, what is the word to describe someone who is cool. Right! You can use “COOL” but there is also another one, “HIP.” So, if you see someone who is very in touch with current trends. You can say like “You are so hip!” to him/her. He/she will love it. What about to your male friend who is very fashionable, especially by wearing a suit? Then you can say, “You are so sleek today!” I am not sure whether you can use this one to female friends. I feel like you cannot. Hope my feeling is correct! (If I am correct, that means I am getting closer to become an American?? 🙂 )