WARNING: Some words in this story may be offensive to some readers or not suitable for a younger audience.
“Pardon my French!”
Vincent’s first trip to visit me and my family in America was full of hilarious language and cultural bloopers.
He had been studying English since middle school, when it was a requirement in the French educational system. However, like many language classes, the focus was on grammar and writing—rather than on much-needed oral communication.
Vincent had a lot to learn about speaking English!
First Family Outing
Growing up in Missouri, one of our family’s favorite restaurants was Tippin’s Pie Factory. It was also the first place that I worked as a teenager. We couldn’t wait to take Vincent there for some traditional meatloaf, chicken pot pie, honey butter cornbread, and the largest variety of pies anyone has ever seen!
Our first meal out to the restaurant was with my mother and my grandparents. It took me a while to translate the entire menu into French for Vincent. It took an even longer time for him to make up his mind about what he wanted to eat. There was an overwhelming amount of choices, and he wanted to try them all!
When the impatient waitress came around a third time to finally take our orders, we were all ready. Vincent wanted to order on his own. He really wanted to practice his English.
His First Spoken Words—Oops!
Going around the table in order, it was Vincent’s turn. He proudly opened his mouth and spoke in his charming French accent.
“I will take a triple-dicker sandwich,” he said cheerfully to the girl with the pad of paper and pen in her hand.
We all broke out laughing, and of course, Vincent had no earthly idea why. With my eyes popping out of my head and a held-back chuckle, I proceeded to correct his order with the waitress. “He’ll take a triple-decker sandwich please.”
When I turned to Vincent to translate into French what had just happened and what he had just said, he was horrified! His face turned bright red with embarrassment in the presence of my older and respectable family members.
Thankfully, his shame quickly turned to laughter!
We all had some tears and a good bellyache from laughing so hard!
Vincent’s American début certainly impressed everyone. That is one sandwich description that our family will never forget. I don’t think the waitress will forget either!
Before ordering his slice of pie, Vincent wisely practiced his English pronunciation in my ear.
P.S. My computer continually wants to auto-correct “triple-dicker” to “triple-decker.” 🙂 (“Pardon my French!”)
For non-American readers, a “triple-decker” sandwich is a three-layered sandwich—as shown in the top picture of the article.
P.S.S. More “language bloopers” to come!
Avoid language bloopers! If you want to learn a language correctly and work on your pronunciation before hitting the ground, try Rosetta Stone—in French and many other languages. Before arriving in Morocco, our family—even our kids— used this highly recommended language learning program to learn Arabic. We loved it!
—The Cultural Story-Weaver
Let’s Weave Cultures!
What language and cultural bloopers have you made? Tell us your funny (and “not so funny”) stories.
How do you keep a humble attitude while learning a new language and culture? How do you respond when people laugh at you when you are learning a foreign language?
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures!” Write about them in the comment box below.
Too Funny! I always hear the stories about anglophones, but to hear one the other direction makes it really special. thanks for making me laugh out loud today.
There are many more laughs and funny stories to come! I’m sure that you have some of your own that you could share. 🙂
An official dinner, at the end of the negotiations… and a tired director asking the partner head of delegation (who ate almost nothing): „Are you a vegetable?”
That’s funny! How did he respond? 🙂