So my original plan for today was to see how much South African vocab I could introduce in five minutes of writing, but then my seven-year-old boy who happens to steal my heart all over again every single day jumped into the challenge with great enthusiasm and has written for five minutes on the past three prompts: GO, KNOW and today’s word, SAY.

He even asked if I would post his writing on my blog.  🙂  Coming from a kid who refused my invitations to join in with Five Minute Friday during the past school year and the kid who is very self conscious about his writing, I simply couldn’t resist his nascent confidence.

I’ll translate below, in case some of you lack creativity in your spelling (or the ability to decipher a seven-year-old’s script).

Here’s what he wrote:

GO:

I like to go to restaurants.  I like to play at the playground.  I think that the playground slides go so fast.  I also like to go on a plane.  Planes go crazy fast.

KNOW:

I like to know what food’s ingredients are.  I know a lot of math.  I know that tomato sauce is made with tomatoes.  I know what my favorite fruit is.  It is watermelon. I also know that I like plums and oranges and peaches.

SAY:

I speak a lot.  I like to say a memory verse.  I like to say math problems.  I like to say my spelling words.  I like to say my favorite animal.  It is a lion.  I like to see birds flying in the sky.  I like to see animals.  I like supper and breakfast and lunch and I like my mom’s food.

Now tell me that’s not the most adorable thing you’ve seen on this blog.  🙂

But just so I’m not accused of cheating in my own challenge, I’ll throw in my own five minutes on “say,” for what it’s worth — even though we all know I can’t top what’s already been said.  🙂

Here we go …

Learning the differences between American and South African vocab were some of my favorite parts of cross-cultural living.

I still remember one flight on a South African Airways, where my sandwich was delivered to me in a cardboard box that had South African lingo explained on each side.  My box had the word “tekkies,” which are tennis shoes or sneakers.

There is a huge overlap with British vocab, such as bonnet and boot instead of a hood or trunk of a car.  Strollers are prams, diapers are nappies, pacifiers are dummies.  Grocery carts are trolleys, and ketchup is tomato sauce.

The most confusing for me is that jelly is jam there, and Jell-O is jelly.  Eggplants are brinjals and zucchini is baby marrow.

Pick-up trucks are bakkies and VW minibuses are kombis.

And those are all things that my brain had an American equivalent for … nevermind the biltong, vetkoek, koeksisters, and boerewors.

Oh, and the word “shame” is used so perfectly but inexplicably unless you’re there .. almost like, “agh, sorry, man,” or “that’s too bad,” … but my explanation doesn’t suffice.

My all-time favorite?  To honk the horn of your car is to toot the hooter.

This is Day 8 of 31 Days of Life in South Africa.  Each post has been written in just five minutes. 

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