Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Problems with direct translation

Last week, my students were describing what they do to celebrate their holidays and time off. They mentioned hanging out with friends, but kept accusing their friends of eating "white food and white drink."

It wasn't till Chinese class a few days later when I learned that "bai chi, bai he" (literally meaning white food, white drink), means FREE food. So, with this new information in mind, I went back to my English classes and taught my students a new and important vocabulary word:

Freeloader: One who constantly partakes in "white food and white drink"

--
Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

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