I am getting better at understanding Americans speaking - but still have problems with some accents.
I was at the pharmacy yesterday (they are no longer drug stores like they
were when I first started coming to America) and I was waiting for my
prescription.
A black guy was sitting next to me and we said hello.
After a few minutes another black guy came up and said hello to the first
black guy and they talked to each other for about ten minutes. I have no idea
what they said as their accents were incomprehensible. I caught only the
occasional word.
When the second black man’s wife was called to the counter she did not
have enough money for her prescription. She said ‘can anyone help me out - I am
in a lot of trouble here’ except she did not say it like that. She spoke like
her husband - but I managed to get the drift of what she was saying. I am guessing
her husband had no money – he sure looked like he had no money.
I helped her out with the sixty five cents and when she left she said
‘God bless you’ to everyone and shook their hands. To me she said ‘God should
especially bless you’.
I of course also wished her God’s blessings – it being the po-lite thing
to do.
On the bright side – most people seem to be able to understand me and
almost no one is troubled by my accent. Of course I always speak slowly and clearly
and make sure I use only American words. I now know about cilantro, bell
peppers and cantaloupes – to name but a few of the new words I have learned.
It sure beats the hell out of German.
I have been working on Lakota a little more. It turns out I knew another word simply by watching teleBision and films: tipi is house but I am stiLL along ways from knowing 100 words. I think German might be easier. I now have several shirt designs flooding the local market as our silk screen printing business takes off, hah, me, a commercial artist. I am stiLL struggling with CorelDRAW, it appears buggy, even with the latest patches.
ReplyDeleteWhile visiting with friends in Atlanta a number of years ago, I overheard a conversation between two black men. One guy said, "Ahfehdowenihmahed" which my friend translated as, "I fell down and hit my head."
ReplyDeleteThe accents are thick down there.
How you communicate at all is beyond me: cilantro, bell peppers, and cantaloupes are such basic vocabulary!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried asking for the loo yet?
We no longer enjoy cantaloupe as the grainy skin can hide ecoli and you clean it properly. So now we only eat honeydew and casaba melons. That was nice of you with the 65 cents.
ReplyDeleteesb: I will not ask why you are learning Lakota. I am sure it cannot be harder than German. I was never successful with Coreldraw.
ReplyDeleteSK Waller: That is exactly how they talked - but I could not understand any of it.
Merisi: Yes - but one still has to learn what everything is. No - here I ask for the bathroom.
fmcgmccllc: It is such a wonderful melon I am not sure we can do without it - we will just have to take our chances.