Learning English

One of my all-time favorite "Learning English" conversations with Hugo...

Hugo was hammering a shelf on the wall, missed the wood, and hammered his thumb. Later in the day, I asked Hugo how his thumb was feeling.

"My what?" Hugo asked.

"Your thumb." I repeated.

"What is a thumb?" he asked.

I wiggled my thumb. "This."

"I thought that was a finger."

"Well, yes. You have 5 fingers on each hand, but each finger has a name. This is your thumb." I explained.

"No way! I never knew that!" He sat, wiggling his thumb, repeating its name over and over.

Later in the dinner conversation, I told Hugo about the little girl at the cyber cafe who wanted me to paint her finger nails and toe nails.

Again, Hugo stopped me, "What are toes?"

I wiggled mine and said, "These."

"Really? I thought those were fingers?" He looked confused.

"No. These are fingers," I said as I wiggled them. "These are toes," I said...wiggling again.

"No way! I always thought those were fingers too! In Spanish it is 'fingers' and 'fingers of the feet'."

What fun it is to learn new things! :)