All in all I spent seven years in Belgium. Seven years in which I grew accustomed to inviting friends and acquaintances over for a chat and een tasje koffie. (cup of coffee)
Old linguistic habits are hard to shake, and I'm continuing to do that now that I'm here in Germany. The only difference is the reactions I keep getting when I ask them if they'd like to come over and have eine Tasche Kaffee. (a bag of coffee)
They may sound about the same, but once again the meanings (and reactions) are completely different... :-)
5 comments:
Oops is that wrong??? damn, I am sure I say that to my German relatives!
Betsy, you crack me up!
Goofball: There's a slight but meaningful difference.
Tasche = bag
Tasse = cup
That's one of those things I never thought of. Tasje and tasche sound exactly the same!
Is coffee in a sack anything like your American's wine in a box?
chloe
Betsy, you adorable thing, you're making every mistake I never allowed myself to out of silly fear. Hats off to you. I enjoy hearing about your little mishaps. Really brightens my day. :)
You know, people are really nice when you make these mistakes, though, because at least they see you're really making an effort to learn the language.
That, and when I say something really embarrassing I USUALLY don't make the same mistake again. (although this particular one I keep making over and over and over.)
The way I see it I'm learning German-- one mistake at a time. ;-)
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