This happened to me last week.
It was embarrassing.
It was frustrating.
And maybe the same thing has happened to you…?
A SIMPLE SIGN
I was walking down the street here in Prague.
I was on my way to the grocery store to pick up some fish and veggies for my dinner.
I was almost there — just a few more feet left —when I noticed someone was behind me.
I turned my head just enough to see that it was a woman. A very attractive woman.
That was good.
Perhaps we would start a conversation in the checkout line…
Perhaps we would discover we both love old cafes and Primator IPA Beer…
Perhaps it could be the start of something big….
But then a few feet more, and I was at the store entrance.
That’s when I saw the sign on the door.
It said, tahnout.
And that was bad.
“Do I push or pull….?” I thought.
“Why do I always confuse those words?”
I had to make a decision quickly.
The attractive woman behind me was waiting…
So I pushed….
And the door didn’t move.
THE CRIME
The Czech words for push and pull are tlacit and tahnout.
Not too difficult, right?
So why did I confuse them?
The answer is this:
- because the words have a similar meaning
- I learned them at the same time / on the same day
And when those two things are true, according to the research I’ve read, there’s a 25% chance you will mix them up in your head.
Forever!
Yet, open any English text book and what do you see?
Lists and lists of words with similar meanings.
There’s a list of colors… a list for directions… a list of fruits….
Go to YouTube and you’ll see EngVid has a video called “10 GET Phrasal Verbs” – with 4 million views!
Go to the British Council website and you’ll find a vocabulary section that asks you to learn pear, plum, peach, and pineapple.
And the result of this vocabulary crime…
Students all over the world… my students… smart students — doctors, lawyers, managers — still have problems with simple words.
Is it east or west… ?
Is it borrow or lend….?
Is it March or May….?
A peach or a pear….?
What about you?
Do you confuse simple words?
How was vocabulary taught in your school?
Please share in the comments section below!
Oh yes. I am guilty of that crime without a bit of time for thinking. My original language is Spanish and the word for “before” is “antes” (Spanish), then when I think in English my mind go automatically to “after” because sound similar, not “before” that is more connected with “después” (Spanish), meaning the opposite. In other situation, my second language is the Portuguese, where “push” (English”) sound similar with “puxar” (Portuguese) and the meaning is the opposite. Pull sound similar with “pular” (Portuguese) meaning jump, and “Empurrar” (Portuguese) meaning push (English).
That does sound tricky. English teachers call these “false friends.” I just call them headaches…
In Spanish and Portuguese are named “falsos cognatos”, some like “false co born”, or born at the same time.