Ridicule of my pupil

Teach her proper pronounciation?

Or, if this isn't actually a joke, like Ithought it was....

Why not teach her more casual english rather than proper english.

"this is" or "speaking" upon answering a phone.
"I did, thanks" when asked by the hostess who wanted water.

The first one is entirely proper, and is commonly used.

The second one may be proper (I forget), but is not commonly used. "It's me" or "it was me" would be more usual.

Ronmac, first of all, very welcome to a2k! Hope you'll like it here!

Second, from what country is pupil? That could perhaps give you some kind of direction in "class". I've been living in Germany for eleven yrs now, and I made a bundle of mistakes in the beginning! All because of the german grammar... Mother tongue grammar is often very different to a foreign language.

In german, for instance, you can end a sentance with up to 4! verbs. That never happened to me in swedish or in english, lemme tell you that!

(had BIG problems in spanishclass....)

Welcome Ronmac
Sounds like you were given good advice. I wouldn't have been one to laugh at her for that, but some people will laugh at anything. I agree with Littlek is saying that maybe it would be a good idea to teach her more of the casual english.

The best of luck to you and your student.

dammit! her english is correct - more correct than that of most english speakers - though nominative after the verb to be appears to be going the way of the dodo.

tell her to be proud!

then teach her how lazy english speakers speak - and let her choose.....

Tell her to ignore it....who gives a damn anyway. As long as you get your point across. Proper English my a**.

art?

Maybe art....your guess.

Her usage is perfectly correct; it's her attitude I question. I'd have answered "Yo!" in both instances. And I'm sure my friend mikey, were he to any extent sober, would likewise -- at least in the first example. In the second he'd be apt to do nothing; look around horrified perhaps.

I am sober, I don't get the point here. Why would anyone ridicule someone who's English is not 'perfect". Mine is by far from that. I make no bones about it. You get what you see from me. If it's not up to snuff, so be it. My education came from the street and my desire to learn when I could, and I found or made the time to do so while supporting myself at the ripe old age of 15. Granted, I have no Phd. But I tried to do my best under the circumstances.

And what defines perfect these days?

I pass no judgement on anyone.

(Pssst, Mikey, he means horrified that someone wanted a glass of water . . . )

I always try to speak english with as much propriety as possible in business situations, because the habit assures that one writes the language correctly when called upon to do so. Therefore, if someone calls our company, but does not specifically request an employee by name, i will ask: "To whom did you wish to speak?"

In casual situations, it would depend upon circumstance. If i wished to humiliate someone publicly because i'm ill-tempered, or i think that individual has done something to deserve it, i can almost always use language as a weapon. In a relaxed circumstance, i generally revert to the "oral/aural" english of childhood--what i've heard spoken since i don't know when, just as i oftentimes "write" in that style here.

Know what i mean, doncha?

I hear you Setanta, but why even bother? I must be getting really jaded here.

Sorry for putting words in your mouth, mikey.

Probably ain't, 'cuz some people are perfect bastids, but it may me that Setsu is mistaking the level of malice in the ridicule, as well. Some cultures (say, for, example, Philadelphia, or Chicago) value friendly ridicule as a form of social interaction, meant to establish a connection rather than to put down; others (say, for instance, Seattle, or Salt Lake City) take everything that's said at face value, and verbal sparring frequently degenerates into confusion and hurt feelings.

Phone: Wasssup????

Party: Thanks for the water but I really wanted a beer.

LOL. I personally think she shouldn't let it bother her so much. Her English was correct and the ones who laughed at her were ignorant. I think the best thing you can do is to explain that to her, so she can see that she was right and they were wrong. There are cruel people everywhere you turn and no matter how you talk, someone somewhere will laugh or have something to say. I just moved to Canada a few years back after living in the Boston area for most of my life and people laugh at the way I talk all the time and I just laugh along with them.

I got a lot of laughs from my accent (what accent?) while I lived in georgia. Funny thing is that the people doing the joking were raised, in part, up North.

LOL Littlek. Go figure.

Goes with what patiodog states above. I'd also like to include italian families with that type of back-handed comraderie.