Hello from Gary. I’m back again with another language problem.

Whom you ask should we admire? In my opinion, any person who grew up speaking a foreign language and then learns to speak and understand English is very worthy of admiration. This language is so loaded with dual meanings and nuances that it has to be enormously confusing for a foreigner to adjust their brain to understand how to communicate in English.

Take for example the common 2 letter word “UP”. When first taught to a foreigner in English class it’s defined as meaning “toward the sky” while “down” means toward the ground. That’s pretty straight forward and easily understandable.

So you can look “up” into the sky, but how do you look “up” something on the Internet? And how do you clean “up” the house and then lock it “up” before leaving for a drive “up” the road? And if your spirits are “up” does that mean you’ve died and gone to heaven?

And how do you make “up” a story, or make “up” after a disagreement by cozying “up”? And then too, if you don’t pay your taxes, that’s a screw “up” and you’ll end “up” in trouble and have to round “up” more cash to pay “up” the penalties. And why set the phone down to hang “up”?

O.K., you get the idea. I’m not going to write “up” any more of these examples. So I’ll wrap it “up”. If you’re truly fascinated and want to know more about the horrors of “up”, check it out at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/up And notice that the word “up” can be used as an adverb, a preposition, adjective, noun, or verb. Granted, this is probably the worst case of multiple usage in the English language. But there are many others in common usage. When encountered, they challenge a foreign person’s sense of grounding in what they have learned. It can thus become an act of pure bravery to attempt to communicate.

And yet, they do it. Some better than others, but each at his or her own pace driven by need and blessed or cursed by circumstances. Try to make it easier for them by speaking a little more slowly than usual, enunciating clearly, avoiding slang and being a good listener.
So I say admire them. And if your wife is a foreigner doing battle with the English language, let her know that you appreciate her efforts and the difficulties she deals with. Be proud of her and let her know that too.

No, I’m not going to finish with some clever usage of “that word”. Just wishing the best for you and yours.

Until next time, Gary.

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