r/MadeMeSmile 22h ago

Good Vibes ESL classes be like

1.1k Upvotes

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u/Adventurous-Bee4823 20h ago

When I was learning English (thirty some years ago. Immigrated from Russia, legally, with not a lick of English under my belt) reading it was so confusing. I still to this day do not understand the pronunciation of “Colonel”.

50

u/dayburner 18h ago

That's because colonel is a french word, the real issue is English doesn't know how to properly borrow words.

5

u/kitsunde 12h ago

It’s always funny to me when Americans will insist on pronouncing Casadia the Spanish way and then absolutely butcher Ombudsman or Smorgasbord.

2

u/dayburner 9h ago

I think in part it has to do with your neighbors and actually hearing the words pronounced. Ombudsman has been butchered so long without anyone to correct them it's just stuck that way.