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Help! My Cat Needs a Hill and My Dog’s Chasing a Hormone
What happens when you’re not gifted at languages but have to speak Italian…
After almost 25 years living in Italy, I now speak good Italian. For someone not naturally gifted at foreign languages I think that’s quite an achievement. I’m proud to say that I am competent enough to have worked as a translator and even sold advertising in Italian on the phone. However, this does not mean I can’t screw up this lovely, lyrical language in a big way. Mistakes are part of learning and the better you get, the more over-confident you become. Trying to use a more complex expression can lead to huge misunderstandings. For instance, I was on the phone a few weeks ago and I needed to explain something technical but couldn’t remember the word. I ran outside to ask the Italian gardener. In my head I intended saying: “I need your language skills here,” what came out of my mouth was: “Quick, I need your tongue.” (I am going quite pink just remembering this. OMG!)
ANIMAL CRACKERS
Many of my mistakes have been animal-related. That’s because having pets forced me to speak, even when I lacked the vocabulary and ability, in order to perform simple tasks like buying food so they wouldn’t starve to death.
A typical incident happened in the local pet store. I noticed the friendly assistant’s face…
