language

I used to believe…

when i was younger i believed that the english language was invented by a group of four or so biblical looking characters who sat around in a cave taking it in turns to invent words for things.

i used to believe that foreign languages consisted of swapping each letter of the English alphabet with another - so A in English would be F in French, etc then later I became a language teacher

yeah really

I used to believe…

As a six-year old I moved to Hong Kong and thought that maybe if i stretched my eyes to make them "slitty" then I would be able to read Chinese.

I used to believe…

When I was little I used to think a suitcase was called a "soupcase". I called it this for many years before I figured it out and no one noticed.

I used to believe that all languages were identical - just that the letters were in a different order. So, the word for 'tree' would always be four letters and all you had to do was learn the codes.

I used to believe…

When singing/reading out the alphabet, I used to think that 'LMNOP' was one word and not five separate letters.

I used to believe that cats and dogs in foreign countries would bark and miaow in a different langauge, I also used to make occassional attempts to emulate the sounds they might make.

I used to believe…

When I was about 4, I dropped a piece of carrot from my plate onto the floor. In my frustration, I uttered a random syllable, which happened to be the "F-word". My parents were shocked, and my mom said "Do you know what that word means?? It means 'kill your mother'!" Until I was about 13 I believed that that was another meaning of that word.

I used to believe that everyone else talked a different language when I wasn't around, and that I was adopted after being found in the garden. I used to believe this because my big sister told me so. Im now bigger than her.

I used to believe…

Teach: Spell 'this morning'!
Person I knew: T H E....how do you spell 'smorning'?

I used to believe…

My mum told my and my twin brother Weasal, that she could not read our comics to us, as she couldn't read the speech bubbles.
I went years think my poor mother had some rare form of dyslexia, when she just couldn't to bother to do the voices!

I used to believe…

As a child I confused both my parents by asking what Bee Car Bon It Tee was?
Now I am older I know it as Bicarbonate.

I used to think that teenagers had really interesting conversations.

I used to believe…

We told me little brother that the worse swearword was 'bridgewater' & then would stand behind my mum & use it liberally just to upset the little squirt!!! He believed it for years & is now in an institution! OK, so that last bit was a lie!

I used to believe that I could talk when everyone around me knew that I was making no sense. Mark would look at the box of cornflakes on the kitchen table and point to a letter. "A" said Mark. Mum would say "Very good Mark," or nod approvingly. Then I would point at a letter and say "Yab" or "Boo" or any other sound that I could think up.

I think I got a lot of encouragement so I really did believe I was talking even though I didn't have a clue what I was saying. This extended from letters into words and sentences and I'd burble on for hours "talking" to everyone who happened to be around regardless of whether they listened. One day dad turned around and said "oh look Nico's talking!"

My parents can't remember my first word, or rather my first real word, my speech just evolved slowly into English.