English is Wierd

Hi again, today Hanis my daughter  came back from office with a poem. Apparently she attended an in-house CPD on "Cross Cultural Business English", which to me is very interesting. For one it will improve her command of English, second it will make a better person, staff, worker and member of the public.

Her training stuff caught my attention.  Objective document, activity sheets etc. was simple but fascinating particularly the Poetry called

"Hints on Pronunciation for Foreigners", - Here how it goes;

I take it you already know 

Of tough and bough and cough and dough? 

Others may stumble but not you, 

on hiccough, thorough, laugh and through. 

Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, to learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word 

that looks like beard and sounds like bird. 

And dead: it's said like bed, not bead 

For goodness' sake don't call it deed! 

Watch out for meat and great and threat 

(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.) 

A moth is not a moth in mother 

Nor both in bother, broth in brother, 

And here is not a match for there, 

Nor dear and fear for bear and pear. 

And then there's dose and rose and lose 

-- Just look it up — 

and goose and choose and cork and work and card and ward. 

And font and front and word and sword. 

And do and go and thwart and cart --

A dreadful language? 

Man alive! I'd mastered it when I was five."

Thank God English is my native tongue!

T.S.W

Upon reading, it further triggers a thought that interestingly opens an opportunity for me to pilot my new certification PEC - Proficiency in Enterprise Communication. Hah!

Just to add spice to the wierdness of the language.... do read both captions.


--
hamid