Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Martians and Dry Soup

A friend of my recently said, "Language is beautiful!" I agree. Language is beautiful, but sometimes it is just plain funny - especially when you have learned another language besides your own! When I lived in the Philippines, I learned Cebuano.  Then God brought Hubby into my life, we got married, and moved to Peru. I'll admit was was nervous about learning another language.  I had fears of being confused and I had visions of my tongue being completely twisted into knots as I struggled to find the right word or the right conjugation of a word!

So here I am three years down the road of speaking another language. Are there times of confusion? Yep. Do I sometimes find myself with a twisted tongue in the middle of a conversation? Absolutely! It has been a challenge to keep Cebuano and Spanish straight in my head sometimes. There have been times when I say something, and the person I'm talking to suddenly gives me a blank stare. I scramble around in my mind to try to figure out what I just said that caused that look. Then I start laughing, because usually that look has been caused by the fact that I just used the wrong language! Oops! I often wonder how in the world Hudson Taylor kept all his languages straight!

Then there are the comical moments, where my English brain just doesn't quite get it. Or I (Hubby included) suddenly realize the English equivalent of a word! For example: here in Peru they have a dish called "Sopa Seca." My Translating-to-English mind tells me, "Dry Soup." DRY SOUP?!?! To an American, soup is soup. It has liquid. It is not dry. If it's dry, it's not soup. So I ask, "What is dry soup?" As it turns out, it isn't really a soup. It has noodles and other things, but not really a lot of broth.  Hubby (my personal chef) explains that it is like a braise. Hmmm. I smile.

Then there are the hilarious moments. For example: my children love eating "marcianos." Translated into English (literally)? Martians. By now you are asking, "What in the world are those poor MK's being given to eat? Popsicles. Really?
Marciano (Martian)
American Marciano (American Popsicle)

Peruvian Marciano (Peruvian Popsicle)



Marcianos?

So....what are my children eating anyway?  I'll let you decide.  Remember, it all depends on which language you are eating in!  

In the meantime, I'll praise the Lord for the sense of humor He gave me, and thank Him for the beautiful gift of language He has blessed me with - four times over!

2 comments:

  1. Hahaha! :D Martians... that's really funny. :P

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  2. Been there. Done that lots of times over! I wonder what furlough will be like since we have so many Swahili words mixed into our family's "normal" language now. :)

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