A Comedy of Errors | 一场语言误会

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I'm a newspaper editor. One day, a foreigner called me. He said in Chinese that he liked our newspaper very much, which delighted me. I then asked, "Could you share your impressions of our paper?"

The foreigner spoke at length, but I couldn't identify the language. It wasn't Chinese or Japanese. "Was that Spanish?" I wondered. "Can you speak Chinese? What language were you just using?" I inquired.

After a moment of silence, he replied with slight disappointment, "I'm English. I was speaking Chinese with you just now." Oh my goodness! I laughed until tears welled up. "Perhaps you'd better speak English," I suggested.

He began to talk extensively in English. Considering his limited Chinese, I attempted to converse with him in English.

After a few exchanges, he asked, "Are you speaking Latin? I couldn't understand a word. I'd comprehend more if you spoke Chinese." Oh my! "Is my English that poor?" I thought. "No, I don't think so. Perhaps he's an Englishman who can't grasp standard American English."

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