Lunchtime in a Stockholm restaurant.
In back of me, a family finished their meal and stood up to leave.
As they were about to exit, the father called out to the waitress, “Hi.”
His wife laughed.
And he got a free English lesson from his teenage daughter.
What’s Going On
Why did he say “Hi” when he wanted to say “Bye”?
I think he knows the difference.
I don’t think he needs lessons.
It’s the same reason so many of my students mix up borrow and lend... left and right… push and pull… he and she
Years ago, their school gave them a text book.
The text book had word lists.
The word lists were organized according to categories: clothes, vegetables, days of the week, etc.
Some of the words were very similar to other words, in sound and / or meaning.
And now, they make simple mistakes like saying “Hi” instead of “Bye.”
The Lesson: Never learn English vocabulary in a school or from a text book or a YouTube teacher.
Tell them all “Bye.”
Hi Ryan !
I learned in secondary school about English grammar : alphabet, fonetica ,written according to the teacher’s dictation ,tenses ,irregular verbs etc.
Cheers
Gabriel
Great! Simply perfect lesson.
I think many people translate directly from their native language. And, in some countries people use the same word for “hi” and “bye”. In Croatia it is Bok, in Italy it is Ciao. We spoke about that in the chatting room. But, since nobody warns us about mistakes, we are not aware of our mistakes.
Hello
I need speak English
Do you help me?
” Encore une fois”, would say a French tourist!!
This was useful to hear, I have not thought about this and I shoud have. In Finland we say the same word “Hei” for words hi and buy.
IT is not very big mistake .