Mr. OneDosTres introduced me to Fawlty Towers (affiliate) many years ago when we first met. It’s a decidedly British show that is very much a product of its time (and which I only understand with subtitles on). I thought I’d share one of my favorite moments from the show as it seems particularly relevant to what we’re doing here. Language misunderstandings like these are both fascinating and somewhat hilarious to me, as you will come to see.
Oh de foof
Sometimes, don’t you feel like Phoebe from Friends teaching French to Joey? This morning my husband was trying to get N to pronounce “svetlo” (light), but it kept coming out more like this “sleplah.” When I asked him to pronounce it for me, he very slowly said, “Mama, se dice “SLEP-lah,” like I’m the one misunderstanding. Anyway, sometimes it’s hard not to laugh (in their faces).