461. 25 Deceptively Difficult Questions (with Amber, Paul & Sarah)
2017 ж. 23 Мау.
13 572 Рет қаралды
An episode about the tricky little questions that we use when socialising. What are the appropriate answers? What are the subtle differences? How do native speakers use these questions? Can you take the test and get all the right responses to my list of deceptively difficult questions?
Download here: teacherluke.co.uk/2017/06/24/4...
Spoken offer: www.getspoken.com/lep
Hi Luke! I know you posted this episode a long time ago but I just came across it and listened to it and your Taiwan story rang a bell in my head as well. Once I got caught up in a similar situation so I hope you'll read and find this comment and (hopefully) have a good laugh at my heavy-handedness. So, not very long ago I had been living and working in Denmark (I'm not originally from there), and during my time there I got a job at a sushi restaurant as a kitchen helper. The team was really multinational, just to name a few countries: I had colleagues from The Philippines, Bulgaria, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Japan and from many other places. Since English wasn't the mother tongue of any of us we often had difficulties understanding each other, in fact miscommunication should have been our first name. I think you can imagine a bunch of foreigners being disorganised and in panic in the middle of rush-hours. That's exactly how we looked like. The place was chaotic and the fact that the menu that we should have memorised by the time we set foot in the restaurant was in Danish, was just the cherry on top. (We could understand even less Danish than English.) Anyways, it was my first move ever to a foreign country so I really wanted to make the most out of it. I was a bit lost because I didn't have any friends in Denmark to rely on, I was all by myself. As you can imagine on the very first day in my new job I had been trying my hardest to impress everyone around me, I was excited and terrified at the same time. My first day was all about learning the basics, so the chef put me under the supervision of a Korean girl who had been working there for a little longer than me. At that time I didn't know that she was Korean (this info will make sense in a sec), anyways, as we were trying to decipher the menu at the back of the kitchen I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce some ice-breaking jokes, puns, whatevers to ease our discomfort. There is a saying in my country if something is really challenging to read, we say "Oh, it's Chinese to me". Meaning that I can't really get my head around it, I need clarification. We say that because we're not familiar with Chinese letters. So the following conversation took place: Me: "reads Danish words" -Oh, it's all Chinese to me. Her "suddenly gets really angry" -Do you think that I'm Chinese? Me: -What? Her: --Do you think that I'm Chinese? Me: Ummmm.......no no no no? Her: Don't ever call me Chinese again!!!!! Me: Okay...... so I guess Chinese and Korean people are not friends??????? Her: NO!!!!! And there you have it, what followed this conversation was nothing but dead air..... and shame, mostly on my side. Suddenly I felt really bad, mortified in fact, I should have known, I shouldn't have made this joke, I came across as really ignorant who doesn't know anything about other cultures. Actually, I think giving an insult unintentionally is worse than receiving it, at least that's how I felt. I must admit I'm still ignorant in some ways simply because I just can't keep up with every single thing that is happening in the world. Anyways, I'll never make nationality related remarks again in a multinational environment, lesson learned, don't mess with Koreans kids, and don't make Russian jokes xdddd :D
As far as I can tell you did nothing wrong and she misunderstood and then overreacted just a little bit!
@@LukesEnglishPodcast Thank you for responding. I love your podcast. :)
I learned from a textbook that you can say "it's Greek to me" about things that are too difficult to understand.
I'm from Sri Lanka Recently only I have started to listen to ur podcast you are doing great job. Keep up the work sir
Luke . Your English Podcasts are really excellent
I can't get enough of listening to you guys. You're fun. I wish I could join you 😁. I only made a mistake which is good I guess my level is ok thankfully. Thank you all Amber, Paul, Sarah, and you Luke.
thanks Luke.... don't worry about these problems ....we love you and we love your podcast unfortunately sometimes It 's difficult not to deal with topics that are ...say delicate ....bear in mind that we can not solve the problems of the world...
Hi folks, in especially for Luke. Thank you very much. I'm a new member and to be honest I'm enjoying a lot your job. I'm going to do the next English test PET on December. Then the British English is very important to do this test. Keep doing, Luke!! Thank you!
I won't stop listening to your podcast Luke.
It is a good one, thank you, Luke!
you're have amazing bodcast thank for all
No worries at all, Luke. We just enjoy your podcast, as always! I appreciate your authenticity and for keeping it real and mindful. Don't worry too much about losing your listener, you WON'T!!!!! Anyway, thanks for your consideration of this political stuff ----some thoughts from a Ninja listener ;)
Very helpful! Thank you!
Thanks to this episode, I learn a false friend to my language, that is deception, in Spanish mean disappointment (decepción) and in English nevertheless means foolish or deceiving.
Great podcast Luke..I'm a new subscriber to your channel.. :)
I am Chinese, I feel a little bit uncomfortable when you say Taiwan is a country. But I think that's not my thought, is a thought that has been pushed into my head by our government, not my real thought. I could be really objective about anything controversial.😃 But this world got so many people with a attitude , you're wise to made it clear that you are neutral
Great!
Mainland Chinese are so rude to say that. Just ignore them. Taiwanese are different from Mainland Chinese. They have the right to identify themselves. I mean the independence of Taiwan. It is not the business of Mainland Chinese.
nice one.......
No Luke please don’t apologise, you are absolutely right. Taiwan is a country. Thank you.
I just love when the Russian joke is brought up.
Great
Nice try Luke. It is always great to try to unite the world.
❤
Luke, hello. You said that we were all lepsters of yours. What is the meaning of " lepsters"?
L.E.P. = Luke's English Podcast LEPsters are people who listen to the podcast.
Thank you)
53:36 Luke being funny. 53:52 I wonder if she noticed. Imagine if she was like my baby got in the way... hahaha a bit awkward
'Imagine there's no countries...'
You're so cute, Luke. xD HAHAHAHAHAHAHA we understand.
39:41 the audio became different
Yes, it's a quick sample of audio recorded at a comedy show.
Hi Luke!! Taiwan is a country, not part of China, China just wants Taiwan that’s why. China is so hungry.