Thursday, March 15, 2007

Turning Chinglish

I caught myself speaking Chinglish in class. It was in my introductory class. These students are fairly capable in English and need reinforcement in grammar and pronunciation and it doesn't help when I'm not speaking proper English. I constantly have to stop and think of words--I think I'm forgetting vocabulary. I better start using the Merriam-Webster word of the day more often. It's even affecting my writing. I'll type up a bit of a story and realize that I haven't written complete sentences or that my vocabulary is on a much lower level than it once was.

On another note: I read an interesting article about Chiquita Bananas. Apparently they were paying money to a Columbian terrorist organization so that the organization wouldn't kill its workers. Now Chiquita must pay a hefty fine in the US for this.
Remember the anti-drug campaign of a couple years ago? "Buying pot funds terrorists." Well, what about buying bananas and coffee? Do we know who Juan Valdez and his mule are working for?

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