Manches, was man grammatikalisch richtig sagen kann, sollte man trotzdem nicht immer laut sagen. Wir bearbeiten gerade eine Geschichte im Lehrbuch, in der eine Oma vorkommt. Wie meist beginnt die Lektion mit einer Beschreibung des begleitenden Bilds: “Da ist eine alte Frau.”
Ich erkläre, dass es höflicher ist, von einer “älteren Frau” zu reden. Rahaf, die immer zu Späßen aufgelegt ist, deutet auf Emre, ihren Mann, und fragt: “Ich kann nicht sagen: alter Mann?” Großes Gelächter ist die Folge, auch bei Emre. “Zum eigenen Mann sage ich auch manchmal: du alter Mann!” rufe ich in den Lärm.
In dem Moment läuft der Hausmeister der Schule vorbei und steckt seinen Kopf durch die Tür. Mit gespieltem Entsetzen mahnt er: “Aber Frau Eklastic!! Das sagt man doch nicht!”
Lernen am Modell – klasse!
Not everything that is grammatically correct should be said aloud. We are working on a story about a granny. We start as usual with a description of the accompanying picture: “There is an old woman.”
I explain that it is more polite to talk of an “elderly woman”. Rahaf, who is always ready to joke, points to, her husband Emre and asks: “I cannot say: old man?” The whole class laughs out loud, including Emre. “I call my own husband ‘old man’ on occasion I shout in the hubbub.
At this moment the caretaker of the school walks past and looks in. With pretend shock he admonishes me: “Ms Eklastic!! What ARE you saying!”
Learning by watching – I love it!
These days, now I’ve reached that point, ‘elderly’ sounds just as bad as ‘old’. The other thing that always irritates me is terms allegedly sweetening the pill for my age group. ‘Silver Surfers’ indeed. Don’t patronise me!
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They use the supposedly English term “best ager” in German!! — Which is worth another rant: pseudo-English in German. One of the best examples is a chain store that sells mainly cosmetics. They adopted the slogan “Come in and find out”. Germans with no English were puzzled. Germans with average English skills were also puzzled – they understood it to mean “come and in and find your way out”. Needless to say, the store dropped the slogan but it’s still quoted as an example for bad marketing.
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Hmmm. Marketers should stop trying to be so clever – particularly when they pretend to a knowledge of the group they’re addressing themselves to!
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This has also made me laugh!
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best way to learn, by having fun!
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Your post has made me laugh. Thank you.
But, one thing I will say…..Being old is better than the alternative! 😂
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Always!
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As we get older in years we realise that the brain stays young always.. 😉
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And as the saying goes:“Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
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I like that!
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Hilarious story!
Language is such an interesting and peculiar creature!
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I’m glad you enjoyed reading it.
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Hehe! I always enjoy a giggle. Thank you. 😂
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😊
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