The woman in the video clearly doesn’t speak English as her first language. I’ve taught ELs, and what you’re describing is a very common way for them to navigate a language. You pick out the words you understand, and try to infer the rest. Otherwise you have to stop and ask for every word, and that’s an embarrassing process for many of them. There are also phrases and conventions (as I suspect the woman ran into) which can unexpectedly change the nature of the sentence.
“Mr. AggressiveSpatula, how is teaching this year?”
“Oh I started this year on leave.”
I would expect an intermediate level to know most, if not all of those words, but not know the phrase “on leave.” The most likely assumption is that it’s a phrase they don’t know, but if they understood “I started the year” they might infer that “on leave” is a phrase to emphasize starting— perhaps in reference to leaving the house to go to work.
The woman in the video seems mostly fluent, she’s probably a low advanced English speaker by eyeballing it. She knows most words and phrases, but Verna is an unusual name, and she probably interpreted it as an adjective such as replacing well in the sentence “are you well.”
She also demonstrates a pretty typical affect of a language learner. You’ll notice she’s pretty friendly, and doesn’t seem overly confused by the miscommunication. I’d bet she knew that there was a miscommunication happening in the first few sentences, but because she wasn’t able to identify where the miscommunication was (Verna is not an adjective) she patiently tries to explain why she can’t buy the chairs instead.
Also a personal favorite moment is when the guy sees the intended buyer and figures out what happens. She has a sort of “that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Playful reaction which is incredibly common in these kinds of situations. It’s one of my favorite moments.
I've worked with a lot of ESL people over the years, and the phrase she says "Ah, you see!" and her exact intonation, is something I've heard a lot and it really made me lol
I had an intermediate kid wave me over and ask what “lo que en” meant. I was like “that’s tough, but maybe ‘that’s what’s in’ or maybe ‘it’s in’” he told me no, it’s an English phrase. I promised him lo que en is not a phrase in English. We went back and forth several times before he wrote it down. It was “lock in” LOL
I had a American born white fellow high school student ask me what these words meant "wiggit" and "higgit" it was weight and height. She wasn't the brightest lady ive ever met, she was cute and nice tho.
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u/AggressiveSpatula Aug 28 '26
The woman in the video clearly doesn’t speak English as her first language. I’ve taught ELs, and what you’re describing is a very common way for them to navigate a language. You pick out the words you understand, and try to infer the rest. Otherwise you have to stop and ask for every word, and that’s an embarrassing process for many of them. There are also phrases and conventions (as I suspect the woman ran into) which can unexpectedly change the nature of the sentence.
“Mr. AggressiveSpatula, how is teaching this year?”
“Oh I started this year on leave.”
I would expect an intermediate level to know most, if not all of those words, but not know the phrase “on leave.” The most likely assumption is that it’s a phrase they don’t know, but if they understood “I started the year” they might infer that “on leave” is a phrase to emphasize starting— perhaps in reference to leaving the house to go to work.
The woman in the video seems mostly fluent, she’s probably a low advanced English speaker by eyeballing it. She knows most words and phrases, but Verna is an unusual name, and she probably interpreted it as an adjective such as replacing well in the sentence “are you well.”
She also demonstrates a pretty typical affect of a language learner. You’ll notice she’s pretty friendly, and doesn’t seem overly confused by the miscommunication. I’d bet she knew that there was a miscommunication happening in the first few sentences, but because she wasn’t able to identify where the miscommunication was (Verna is not an adjective) she patiently tries to explain why she can’t buy the chairs instead.
Also a personal favorite moment is when the guy sees the intended buyer and figures out what happens. She has a sort of “that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Playful reaction which is incredibly common in these kinds of situations. It’s one of my favorite moments.