Where's her burka?
Manabu has taken English mispronunciations to a new level of art. To his endless credit, he talks English constantly, not a bit afraid of making mistakes or looking like a fool. For most of his mispronunciations, I correct him, and he practices the word over and over for the next few minutes until he gets it right.
For example, last night we were talking about Jessy, my Chinese teacher here. "Daniel, I agree with you, she is very arrogant," Manabu said. I was rather taken aback by his statement and questioned him on it. He could not find an alternate explanation, continuing to proclaim, "But, Daniel, she is very sweet, very arrogant." After he went to his Genius -- an electronic contraption that translates between English, Chinese and Japanese -- he showed me the word he was trying to say. It was not "arrogant," but rather "elegant." And, so, again, he practiced, "Larry Bird really likes left-handed layups."
One of his mispronunciations, however, I haven't yet corrected because it's so much better mispronounced. His English teacher and the object of his undying love, Skye, has a roommate who now is learning Japanese from Manabu. She teaches Physical Education at the college and is very eager to play doubles badminton against us -- she and Skye versus Manabu and me. Every time we see her, she is dressed in black stretch pants, aerobic shoes and a tank-top; a coach's whistle dangles down from her neck and her mouth is locked in a permasmile.
Manabu reminds me, before we greet her, that she "is an Arabic instructor." Of course, he means to say, "she is an aerobics instructor," but I'd much prefer to play cutthroat badminton against an Arabic instructor who looks like the Chinese Joannie Greggins.
