Please don’t let this happen to you….

Happy Monday, my dear!

Thank you all for ordering my (e)books and cards during my Black Friday sale! I hope you enjoy laughing and learning with me!

So…this is a true story.
Once I said to a student, as she walked into my classroom with a big, bright smile, in a sunny summer dress, ‘You look so glad today!’

And she replied, bending down and looking at her legs, ‘Yes, I just shaved!’

I tried not to giggle as I explained to her why this was funny. Then she paused for a second, and laughed really hard and I laughed just as hard with her.

Laughter, like wine, hugs, coffee, and many many other things, is best when shared.

And then I told her about False Friends. In our chat, I was thinking in English, where ‘glad’ means ‘happy’. while she was thinking in Dutch, where ‘glad’ means ‘smooth’. Similar sound, but totally different meaning!

It’s wonderful to laugh with your students.
I do it all the time.
It’s wonderful to laugh with your teacher.
My clients and students do it in every lesson.

HOWEVER…..

You don’t want to do this with your clients. I don’t want you to feel embarrassed in English, and I always encourage people to (please!) make mistakes with me because I can help you learn from them, correct them, and eliminate them, so that you DON’T make them with other people! That’s why I asked my wonderful designer to make this for you to help you avoid False Friends, which are words that might sound exactly the same in another language but mean something very, very different.

Print this out and hang it on your wall.
Share it with your friends.
Pin it on your colleague’s shirt – you know who – because he really needs to stop doing this.

I’ll be so glad if this helps you rock your English!

Love,
Buffi

PS: It’s December. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!? Time flies in Buffiland! 🙂