For
Mehran and my seventh conversation I decided that we should meet again in 1873
since last week was so confusing. When I first arrived we exchanged the usual
small talk conversations; for example, we asked each other how we were, how
classes were going, and questions along those lines. I then asked Mehran what
he ended up doing for Thanksgiving, and he replied that he was able to spend
the holiday with his roommate’s family. I was really happy to hear this because
he originally thought that he would spend the holiday alone. I then asked him
if he enjoyed the food and he simply shrugged and said, “It was ok.” I could
not believe that those words came out of his mouth. Personally, I think
Thanksgiving is the best meal I have every year by far, and I have never heard
anyone describe a Thanksgiving meal as just ok.
Mehran
then asked me if I knew what the word morsel meant, which I thought was a
rather odd question. I told him that it meant something small; for example, the
chocolate morsels that I use for baking. Mehran looked at me surprised and told
me that I am the first person who he had asked besides his teacher that knew
what morsel meant. This fact surprised me, so after our meeting I went up to
one of my friends and asked her what the word morsel meant. To my surprise she
had no idea what it meant.
Our
conversation about the word morsel then led into a discussion about grammar.
Mehran asked me if I had been taught grammar in school, which I replied that I
had in elementary, middle, and high school; by the time I had gotten to college
my professors expected me to know grammar. He was curious then why his
professor mentioned that many Americans did not know how to use proper grammar.
I told him that even though many people learn proper grammar they fail to use
it because it is not the way in which many Americans speak.
Our
conversation this week really revealed how observant Mehran is of the world
around him. I also really enjoyed the conversation because it strayed away from
our usual topics. The topics were both unique and insightful, and I cannot wait
for our next meeting.
I'm genuinely shocked that morsel is a word that most Americans don’t know. And I definitely know what it is because of chocolate morsels for baking! It’s also great that Mehran is taking notice of grammar. Even though grammar has been stressed throughout school, I know I make mistakes. And like you said, many people fail at using proper grammar in speech. It makes me wonder if they are taught any slang in the program because that is a way of integrating into the English language.
ReplyDeleteKhalifa and I have actually discussed the topic of slang multiple times. At one point, he was a level 4 in speaking and a level 1 in writing. He said that writing was so hard because nobody in America writes the same way that they speak. He is highly encouraged to talk to as many Americans as possible in an attempt to learn the language. As a result, his speaking is vastly improved. However, I feel like talking to Americans is almost counterproductive when learning how to write in English and Khalifa seemed to agree. Many words in English are spelled nothing like what they sound. When you add to that the fact that everyone talks in constant slang, it's easy to see how learning to write English is so difficult. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI have often heard it is extremely difficult to learn another language specifically because of the differences most languages have in writing and speaking. A friend in high school spoke fluent Spanish, but could barely pass Beginners Spanish! He explained that what we were being taught was more proper Spanish and he had never spoke or even used this proper form. Therefore, I am not exactly surprised that Mehran brought up grammar. I would have had a similiar response to this discussion as yours, too. Even though we are continuously taught grammar, we tend to forget a majority of our teachings. I believe texting largely contributes to our improper use of grammar. Mehran seems brilliant. I am glad you two enjoy conversing.
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