Funny is as Funny says

My interest in this position stemmed more from my interest in language than my interest in teaching, and it has certainly served that interest well. The exchange is mutual; I'm learning at least as much about Spanish as my students are about English. In fact, my classes are a little relief from the constant learning process that is living in a country that doesn't speak my language, and hearing Spanish people make mistakes in English can be downright funny.

Recently, one of my teachers was discussing the difference between short and long vowels in English to our class. Spanish only has one sound for each vowel, so this can take some explaining. For instance, Spanish children always say "feesh" instead of "fish" because they do not have the short "i" sound. But it was another typical Spanish mistake that made this instance so funny. In Spanish, there is no difference between the "b" and "v" sounds. Thus, for example, "volunteers" can come out either as we say it in English, or as "bolunteers." And what was my teacher talking about? That's right, short and long...vvvvvvowels. I'll let you put that one together.

On the other hand, I have been taught several tongue-twisters in Spanish that almost literally twist my tongue. In Spanish, they are called trampalenguas (literally "tongue cheats"). The first, practicing the "tr" sound, goes like this: tres tristes tigres comían trigo en un trigal (three sad tigers were eating wheat in a wheat field). It's a little easier than the second one, which is to practice the notorious rolled "r": El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado/cortado (San Roque's dog doesn't have a tail because Ramón Ramírez stole it/cut it off). Interestingly, I have found that people think it sounds better if I overemphasize the rolled "r" - even to the point of tiring out my tongue - than if I say the "r" as we do in English. By the same token, I tell my students the same thing about the difference between "b" and "v." But at least that doesn't cause them to risk swallowing their tongues.