Learn native English could be interesting

出自香港新聞網 - 樹仁新傳系學生實習習作

"Learn native English could be interesting”

If you hear someone say break your leg!? You might get mad and think why do I have to break my leg? However, Mr. James Yiu tells us, break my leg means Good Luck.

Mr. Yiu had a talk in Shue Yan University yesterday. He claimed that Students in Hong Kong don't have many chances to learn native English that is because English education mainly emphasizes on traditional culture. It causes students knowing nothing about western common phrases. For example, when someone asks “Do you have the time??” Most of the students in Hong Kong will probably translate it as are you available? Actually, it means “what time is it??” You should have seen the police in the movies yelling Freeze very often. It stands for on move? Some people will misunderstand the sentences and explain it as to get it frozen. That why it is useful to learn native English.

Mr Yiu even made lots of examples which are wrongly translated from different TV programmers and movies, like keep your change, it means No need to return the changes, but people just straightly translate it.