When I was growing up, I spoke English with my father and Hokkien with my mother. My mother told my father to learn Hokkien from me and he told her to improve her English too 
(they said the same thing for my other siblings too)
In the end, my father learned to speak maybe 20 sentences in Hokkien (although he knows it when we’re talking about him!) but my mum’s English improved tremendously.
Wanna know why? Because we were 100% intolerant of my mother’s bad English! Yes, we were cruel children who laughed at our Chinese mother’s bad pronunciation or poor grammar.
We couldn’t help it because
a) it was painful to the ears and
b) we couldn’t let her go around speaking bad English!
For all our sakes, we corrected her when we can. I guess that’s why a lot of people label the “English-ed” people as arrogant or stuck-up!
Thankfully, Mum is an incredibly patient person with a thick skin – she took our teasings well, took note of the corrections and tried not to repeat them. She’d also correct her Chinese-educated sisters and friends.
We are thankful our Mum is not like the bully’s mother in the popular Singaporean movie “I Not Stupid
My Mum only used words she knew, spoke only when necessary, didn’t show off and she also didn’t put on a fake accent!
While blog-hopping, I noticed common errors in English in many blogs. Some of these blogging mothers whose children are enrolled in special English classes or international schools.
I’m sure these mothers are proud of their children speaking better English than them However, they should be prepared for their kids to cringe at their parents’ poor command of English!
I am not joking because many of my students were *embarrassed* when their parents spoke bad English (or displayed a lack of manners) but acted as if they were RIGHT.
In the spirit of helping others who are interested in improving their English, here is a ‘mini lesson’ on commonly confused words, with sentences showing correct meaning and usage:
“I am bored (DO NOT use ‘boring’ or ‘dull’ in this context because then, you’re telling people that you are ‘boring’ person unless you really are…) because the English teacher gives us grammar exercises everyday. I wish she’d give us some fun quizzes…”
“No, I am not a boring OR dull person! I am really, really fun once you get to know me better.”
“Hello Mummy, this is Mrs. Huang, the school principal.”
“No, Mummy, as a matter of principle, I refuse to wear pink Hello Kitty dresses just because I am a girl!”
“Yes, I know it’s strange in this modern day and age but I cycle to school daily (pronounced DAY-LEE) because I love the wind in my hair, it’s healthy and it’s environmentally-friendly.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Tan, but I can’t have any of your home-made chocolate chip cookies if you have milk in the recipe. I am lactose-intolerant, which means I can’t take dairy (pronounced DAY-UH-REE) products e.g. milk, butter, cheese.”
“Mummy, I’m going to write all my secrets in my diary (pronounced DIE-UH-REE) but you must never, never, never read it or I will never trust you again, EVER!”
“Thank you, Jessica, I am delighted to accept (prounounced X-SAP) your offer of hand-me-down newborn clothes and equipment!”
“Then again, I’ll take everything except those stained pants now that you mention they are poo stains…”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, just because I’m a poor maid from a developing country, please don’t expect (pronounced X-PACT) me to be grateful for the cheap food or clothes you got me. Anyone can see that they are cheap and inferior compared to the top-grade organic foods you eat or the designer brands you wear. Just because I’m poor that doesn’t mean that I have poor taste.”
Congrats! - short form of “congratulations” used in situations when you know a person well.
Congrates! - no such word in the English language!
Happy learning
Feel free to post any questions you may have, ok? This English teacher will try to answer them
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post and interesting topic. I am a grammar nut, misspellings, mispronunciations drive me crazy in general. But I have to say it’s never bothered me when that person is from another country; I just consider it part of who they are. I had never thought about it from the other side, interesting.
Thank you for your topic “Learn English 1 – Confusing words — Right Reads…”. Have a nice day.
Cheryl – Thanks
Your comment about bad English being “part of who they are” got me thinking a bit. I guess most people from the English-speaking world take it for granted that those from non-English speaking countries would have a poor command of English unless they’d studied abroad etc.
I know I found it weird (and slightly insulting although I should be flattered?) when some of my colleagues from the UK and the US comment, “Your English is very good” when they’d probably never say it to any of their country people.
My first thought is, “Why shouldn’t it be?” since we are part of the Commonwealth but then again, the standard of English teaching has deteriorated so badly in our country that we’d be surprised ourselves to find any of the younger generation speaking reasonably good English!