# Share you funny situation from language-learning materials **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-you-funny-situation-from-language-learning-materials/339220 "2006-01-09T22:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-you-funny-situation-from-language-learning-materials/339220/21 "2006-01-10T15:43:29Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > \ > So, she started conversing as though she were a student, and we chat about this and that. The conversation turns to what I’m doing. “I’m waiting for my teacher, Professor Suzuki, to arrive.” “I don’t know Professor Suzuki. What does she teach?” “She teaches Japanese.” “How old is she?” > > I froze. Did she really want me to guess how old she was? “…I really don’t know.” “Well, guess.” Damn, she wasn’t giving up, she wanted me to guess her age. “Um…about 24 years old.” “Oh, I see.” And on the conversation went. I’ve had the age thing happen to me in Spanish oral exams. The explanation was that they want to make sure you can properly say how old someone is, or at least know your numbers. (During a horrible mess of an exam I once ended up telling my teacher I thought he was ten, because I couldn’t for the life of me remember the word for twenty). ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-you-funny-situation-from-language-learning-materials/339220/22 "2006-01-10T23:42:59Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > And on a completely different subject: ever read _Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need_? In the intro, he mentions something about how all he learned from language classes were useless phrases, like “Show me the fish of your brother Raoul.” Apparently, it isn’t just foreign language textbooks- it’s encyclopedias as well: “I’m not sure why the _Britannica_ in all its wisdom chose those phrases to translate. But if I’m ever walking to a Starbucks on the other side of a Hokan reservation and there’s a creek in the way, I’m in excellent shape to encourage my Hokan pals to cross it. Also, I can stage a kidnapping in Haiti. But _mi havas no Italian chops_.” -From _The Know-It-All_ by A.J. Jacobs (©2004), page 229 ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-you-funny-situation-from-language-learning-materials/339220/23 "2006-01-11T01:50:18Z")
Well, our French textbooks always made a big deal of Mardi Gras. Let us go and watch the parade on Mardi Gras. What are you doing for Mardi Gras? This is my friend Winton. He will be staying over for Mardi Gras. In year 8, this was hilarious because in Australia, Mardi Gras means the gay parade in Sydney. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-you-funny-situation-from-language-learning-materials/339220/24 "2006-01-11T02:39:05Z")
This isn’t exactly about language “materials”, but its funny. Several years ago I was living in Taiwan. One of the jobs I had was teaching English to a group of soldiers in the Taiwanese Army. There was one guy who had a slightly larger head than most people that was nicknamed “Da Toe” (‘Big Head’ in Mandarin Chinese). One day the group asked me how to say “Da Toe” in English. From that day on, his nickname became “Big Head” both in and out of class. That weekend some of the group was downtown when they spotted their large headed friend across the street. They yelled out, “Hey ‘Big Head’!”. Unfortunately, an American student was standing near their friend and thought the group was talking to him. He responded to the group by say, “Hey, Fuck You!”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-you-funny-situation-from-language-learning-materials/339220.md?page=1)