Friday, March 22, 2024

Biography 201: Pronunciation made everything change


 I was studying in school on those days. We had a private tutor for Math. He came from a district different from Dhaka. His accent was different from ours. We never had any understanding problems because of his pronunciation, unless one day.

"Bus" is a common word in Bangladesh. It's the same as English, which means public transport where 50 people can sit together and travel. 

Another word in Bangla is "Baash," which means bamboo.

Our teacher started asking me if a bus was deep in the mud in 1/3 parts. I stopped him. Why on earth would a bus be inside mud unless there was an accident? He looked at my face and said, why not. Can anyone put it like that? I was surprised more and said, no, why would anyone?

He kept trying to make me understand how natural it could be, and I didn't admit it. No way, this is a normal situation.

After a couple of minutes, suddenly, I looked at the book, where the question was written: "If a bamboo is put inside a mud 1/3 parts..."

I understood it was not a bus; it was a bash (Bamboo); it's just his accent, which made me a fool; I told him, ok, I got it; you were right, so what were your questions?

He was preparing to say more to make me understand, and suddenly, I stopped him and agreed. Now, he became speechless. What made me understand everything? It took him a few minutes to start talking and continue his math teaching.

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