Being a host family for Japanese exchange students has been a learning experience for our family. True, the student is in America to learn English in a homestay environment, but an involved host family will also learn from the exchange.

Case in point. As a host family surrounded by people trying to learn English, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for how difficult English is. As a native speaker you just don’t realize that our language is full of grammatical exceptions which makes “book study” of English nearly useless for anything but a beginning English student. A Japanese exchange student needs to spend time speaking with a native English speaker to gain any degree of proficiency in verbal English. In contrast Japanese is a much more predictable language to learn (except when it comes to their written language, which is even hard for native Japanese speakers to master).

Another challenge for Japanese students is learning proper English pronunciation. English contains sounds that simply don’t appear in the Japanese language. For example, the sound of the letter “v” is not found in Japanese, therefore “vanilla” becomes “banilla.” Also the “r” sound, as in “red”, becomes “led.” (If you know a native Japanese speaker, ask them to say words “Lion” and “Ryan” – the sounds will be exactly the same). Furthermore, the Japanese language is one where every consonant must be followed by a vowel sound (the only exception being the sound from the letter “n”, which can exist without a vowel following). So, the phrase “good morning” comes out like “guuddo moningu.”

Anyway, I wish I had a dollar for every jaw stopper English questions I’ve gotten and I really wish I had written them down! It would make a great book. Off the top of my head, here are a few of the more memorable questions that we’ve gotten. Any ESL teachers out there? If so, please add your winners to my list – I’d love to hear your stories.

What would you say to an exchange student asking the following questions:

• Which is better, “thank you for making dinner” or “thank you for cooking dinner?”
• “I caught two fish today.” Why is it not, “I caught two fishes today?”
• “No food or drinks allowed” Why isn’t it “no foods or drinks allowed”?
• “Just a moment please…” How many minutes is in a moment?
• “I have to leave…” Doesn’t a leave come from a tree?
• How do I say “itadakimasu” or “gochisosama” in English? Short answer – there is no good English words similar.
• The waiter asks, “would you like soup, or salad?” What is a “Super Salad?”
• “Would you like another helping?…” “Helping” is a verb…and what does it have to do with food?
• If a duck has a duckling, why doesn’t a dog have a dogling?
• What does “THE” mean?

Posted by Netsato on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 at 12:12 am.