Today, I was heading to a toilet nearby my class. When I wanted to enter the toilet I saw a cleaner and he looked at me and he said " Miss mau ke toilet ya?" meaning "Are you going to the toilet miss?". I said "Yes, I am sorry". Inside the toilet i thought "Wait what? Why did I say I am sorry?"
About six years ago when I was in University I texted one of my lecturer to ask her whether she would have a make up class or not. I still remember the first sentence of my text was " Maaf ibu apakah hari ini kita ada kelas pengganti hari ini?" meaning "I am sorry maam, will we have make up class today?". She didn't reply. At the Evening, she came to our class and asked which one was me. I raised my hand and i really scared if I made mistakes. She said "Why did you ask for forgiveness in your text when you didn't do anything wrong to me?" I couldn't say a thing. Then she continued " My dear, instead of using I AM SORRY the proper word is EXCUSE ME, I know our culture made confusion on when to use SORRY and EXCUSE ME". What about in your country?
11 Comments
3/5/2018 03:24:47 pm
I currently live in Canada and people here say "I'm sorry" all the time. It's kind of a joke: we apologize for everything. That said, I think the difference between "excuse me" and "I'm sorry" is actually very complex and interesting. I know for sure that it's hard to explain!
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3/5/2018 04:01:48 pm
I had to laugh at your internal thoughts once you were in inside the bathroom. "Wait what? Why did I say I'm sorry?" It's interesting to consider the difference between these two phrases. I think many people use them interchangeably, at least in the US where I live.
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3/6/2018 02:29:15 am
I'd love it if you'd stop by my blog. It's called Nix the Comfort Zone--https://mbhmaine.wordpress.com/.
Shannon
3/5/2018 06:19:52 pm
I live in Guatemala us who are learning Spanish start questions with "Es posible...?" meaning "Is it possible to...?" for anything from ordering a meal to asking for assistance. It's not something we learned. No locals use that phrase, yet so many of us do. I think it is a way to express our uncertainty with the rest of what we are trying to say. Learning a second language is hard!
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3/5/2018 07:47:12 pm
Languages are hard enough -- idioms make them harder :) I appreciate these small glimpses your writing and memory offer into the complexities of phrases I take for granted, but shouldn't. (Excuse me, I'm sorry!)
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3/5/2018 08:03:27 pm
This is such a common situation. I think we often feel like we are inconveniencing others when we ask a question. I see this in my own children and my students, and even myself sometimes. It can be a hard habit to break. It's a good one to recognize and your thoughts here are ones we should all ponder.
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AuthorA learner, kids lover, Social media enthusiast and Teh Kotak Lover Archives
January 2023
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