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Written by Bonnie Nelson
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Friday, 04 July 2008 |
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Our language instructor in Colorado told us: “You’re going to make a million mistakes so get started! Here is one of my million.
Ellie Beth and I were taking Frodo, our puppy and people magnet, for a walk one day when two girls about Ellie’s age started talking with us: “Baš je slatki!” He’s so sweet/cute! “Muski ili ženski?” Is he male or female? “Kako se zove? What’s his name? “Koliko je star?” How old is he?
Ellie Beth answered them all! But then they asked us another question – one we hadn’t heard before…we had no idea what they were saying. Ellie Beth and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. I gave my typical answer – “Ne razumijem." I don't understand. Then after a second to think it through: "Tvoy hrvastski nije dobar." Our Croatian is not so good. Well that’s what I meant to say! They looked at me strangely, smiled and walked away. We walked on.
About 20 meters later I stopped, looked at Ellie Beth and said, “Oh, no! I just told that girl that her Croatian wasn’t good, didn’t I?!!”
“Yep – you did.” Ellie Beth smiled at me and we started laughing. It’s better than crying!
I love this story. I have told it quite a few times. So easy to do when learning a new language. |
Our Family 
