Small episode...
About 5-6years ago I was a nurse at a one hospital in Korea.
One day a foreign woman-maybe American or Canadian- visited hospital and she had symptom of bloody urine.
A doctor ordered 'foley catheterization' (insert the catheter into urethral canal) and I undertook the patient. That time I was very very poor at English, I tried to prepare the words for the woman. But, during I had been implementing the insertion, all things that I was able to speak to her were just simple words. I said "lie down" "open two legs" "It will be little painful"
She looked so anxious and I really wanted to give her emotional support, but it was beyond me. Finally, when the catheteration was done, I wanted to tell her I finished it.
So, I said to her "It's OVER"
Short pause..
She said "finish?"
I got confused and said "Yes, yes"
'Over',' finish', 'end' , etc. I thought they had same meaning and function. After that episod I realized my English could be different from natives', even I use their language.
Untill now, this remained as most difficult aspect of English to me.
About 5-6years ago I was a nurse at a one hospital in Korea.
One day a foreign woman-maybe American or Canadian- visited hospital and she had symptom of bloody urine.
A doctor ordered 'foley catheterization' (insert the catheter into urethral canal) and I undertook the patient. That time I was very very poor at English, I tried to prepare the words for the woman. But, during I had been implementing the insertion, all things that I was able to speak to her were just simple words. I said "lie down" "open two legs" "It will be little painful"
She looked so anxious and I really wanted to give her emotional support, but it was beyond me. Finally, when the catheteration was done, I wanted to tell her I finished it.
So, I said to her "It's OVER"
Short pause..
She said "finish?"
I got confused and said "Yes, yes"
'Over',' finish', 'end' , etc. I thought they had same meaning and function. After that episod I realized my English could be different from natives', even I use their language.
Untill now, this remained as most difficult aspect of English to me.
4 comments:
You are correct - "It's over" means much the same as "It's ended" and "It's finished." Maybe your patient just wanted the reassurance of knowing it was really over so that she could relax.
Hi YouKyoung,
I really enjoyed reading your post. Whenever you speak KyoungSang dialect, I feel friendly. It is very fasinating dialect rather than other dialects in Korea, isn't it? :)
Hi YK! Your story reminded me of how far we come when we learn another language well. Being able to connect emotionally through words is such a subtle aspect of language. I believe Skip is right that she was seeking reassurance in that situation. :)
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