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My true story joke - 3 When my mom was , Japanese occupied Taiwan during WWII. Her Japanese teacher taught English in the class how to speak 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 in English. "Go home and practice from 1 to 10 and I will test you tomorrow and teach more numbers", the teacher said to the class. The next day, the teacher ask the class in Japanese "Who know how to say 5 in English?". Many students raised hand and answered correctly. The teacher then asked the class in Japanese "Who know how to say 11, 12, 13, 14, ..... to 20 in English?" My mother was the only person raised her hand. The teacher told my mom to stand up to answer the question. My mom proudly stood up as she lost many chances to answer those number from 1 to 10 in English". My mother said "Sir, the number 11 is Ten One, #12 is Ten Two, #13 is Ten Three, #14 is Ten Four, #15 is Ten Five,...... #20 is Two Ten". She then sat down and hoping teacher will praise her. However, the teacher said "You are WRONG". "#11 is Eleven, #12 is Twelve, #13, is Thirteen, ...... #20 is Twenty". Because in Taiwanese, Mandarin Chinese or Japanese say #11 as Ten plus one Ten One and there is no specific word for #11 as Eleven. Say #12 as Ten plus two = Ten Two and no specific word for #12 as Twelve. If you are bilingual, you probably can understand better. However, this is a true story joke about my mother learning English numbers. Honesty is the best policy. |
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My mother passed away in Sept. 2013 at age 87. She was a licensed nurse and midwife in Taiwan. But due to the language barrier, she had worked as a nurse-aid from 1978 to 2002 at a Japanese Retirement Home for 26 years in East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights. Honesty is the best policy.
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