Monday, April 11, 2005

left, right, left, left, right, damnit!!

After all these years, I still can't seem to be able to differentiate the word 'left' and 'right' in Cantonese. Well, I don't really understand it myself. Pretty embarassing too, since I've been speaking Cantonese my entire life. I don't have this problem when speaking in English and BM though.

Not that I can't tell at all, it's just that I need a split second and say to myself 'left right' (in Cantonese) before I can confirm. It's like your mind's completely blank for an extremely short period of time.

Me: Woi, yi ka jun pin dou ah? (woi, now turn which side ah?)
Friend: Yau. (right)
Me: ...(silent for a second and says to self, 'jor yau') Right.

It's not something that bothers me a lot in my everyday chores, but sometimes it can get pretty annoying. Like for instance, people are telling you directions and you completely lost it because he uses left and right repetitively with ease. Times like these make me wonder why the hell I can't figure it out right on the spot. Damn...

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