Can't hear, can't say… will say!

The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip horray!

It’s weird waking up to warm weather in the UK. Normally it’s warm in the afternoon here, but recently it’s been warm in the morning, too.

I had an amazing weekend visiting Guru Tambo and her son Little S in Brighton. We walked along the seafront, had burgers for lunch and then sat in her garden drinking Kir Royales while Little S played with a bucket of water.

Little S’s real name is of Irish origin you know, which makes it hard for me to hear – lots of s sounds and different vowel combinations. When I first met him I was too afraid to say his name in case I got it wrong. But it sounded so weird not using it that I had to fess up that I couldn’t hear how to say it.

Guru Tambo then taught me, so we marched through The Lanes saying Little S’s name until I got it right – I think!

*Phew

But, it seemed that I was doomed for a weekend of mispronunciation. I said wrath with a northern ‘a’ and promptly got corrected by Ma... Apparently even northerners don’t say it the way and I put an audible p at the end of corps...

*Dammit

As a result, I’m reluctant to use all these words. However, quite often when I’m reluctant or scared to do something, the best thing to do is do, or say, it repeatedly. So I’m going to make sure I say Little S’s name, ‘wrath’ and ‘corps’ repeatedly today until they automatically come out right.

Just for good measure I might pop a Marseilles, Versailles, schizophrenic and a few other tricky ones in there, too…

…oh I pity the people I speak to today!