0712112130 English has two too many "to's".

The language difficulty for today is with English rather than Cantonese - English has at least two too many "to's". I had to find an address, as I keep saying, in foreign country, in another language. There is nice lady, Cora, from church that runs an agency that specialises in farming out English speaking people to schools for a reasonable fee and, considering the type of work, a decent days pay. Cora speaks Cantonese and English and told me the address as "Thirty Eight Two Forty Four" which is quite a big number but not unusual in the city. It is common to give phone numbers as multiples of tens in Hong Kong. My phone number could be said as "twentytwo, sixtysix, fortytwo, fiftyseven". (If that was my number). I searched for number 38244 on Shau Kei Wan Road and ran out of numbers at 6582. Even though I knew where I was, I had no idea where I was going. Several roads converged in a vipers nest of bridges, flyovers and underpasses and I had no idea what road went where. A few minutes before the appointed interview time I was rescued by a courtesy call from Cora that finally explained the true location of the office. Cora's office address is at number 38 - 44. A quick tram ride for HKD$2 and I was only a few minutes late.



The meeting centred around how Cora's agency can make a teacher out of a telecommunications technician - Cora asked me, as if I had planned to come to Hong Kong and be an English as a Second Language Teacher, "tell me anywhere that you have been a teacher". The job seems simple enough - I am to read stories to primary school kids and never speak Cantonese to them. The bit where I never speak Cantonese will be easy. I try to use my limited vocabulary where it is appropriate - this gives the illusion that I know the language.


Cora - "Do not let the children know that you can speak Cantonese"
Me - "That part will be easy because I can't speak Cantonese"
Cora - "I can hear you, you speak Cantonese very well"
Me - "All that I can say is that I can't understand you"
Cora - "That is what you must say to the children so that they will learn English better"
Me - "Do you want me to pretend that I can speak Cantonese, but I choose not to so that I can teach them English"
Cora - "That is what you must do. It is for the better."

A fews hours later Cora called to say that the principal of the school would like to meet me and see if my Australian accent was not too hard for the children to understand. I may have to put on an American accent.