Pool People

I spent a great deal of time this weekend marking exams and assignments. Although it is tedious work, there are always moments of humour.

One of my boys wrote about his aspirations for the future. Being only 13 years old, these are many and varied. The list included things like fireman, engineer, millionaire, and so on. However, in spite of a definite yearning for great wealth, he generously stated, "I want to help pool people."

He meant, of course, "poor people."

In an earlier blog, I talked about some typical Korean mispronunciation of English. English has both "r" and "l." The "l" has two pronunciations. One is alveolar, which means it is pronounced in the area of the ridge behind the top, front teeth. The other is velar, or what is commonly known in linguistic circles as "dark l." Native Canadian English speakers pronounce the velar "l" at end of a word, and the alveolar "l" when the sound falls at the beginning or in the middle of a word.

Korean has a version of "l" that is very different from either of our pronunciations, and a version of "r" as well that is very different from our rhotacized "r." As well, Korean speakers seem to be unable to distinguish between "l" and "r." I have heard "lettuce" pronounced as "rettuce," for example.

One of the funniest l/r stories I have heard relates to a friend of ours. When Lane was a little boy, his father was doing a doctorate at Leiden University in Holland. They lived in an apartment, and Lane and his brother used to play with the Korean children who lived in a neighbouring building. The Korean kids would buzz Lane's apartment to ask if the boys could come out to "pray." Lane was born into a missionary family, but even so, "playing" was much more to his taste than "praying" during his free time.

As you go through the week ahead, don't forget all the pool people out there!