我會說English?

I was translating a poem for class one morning when I stumbled across a word that I had no idea how to spell in English. "Fiery" was the thorn in my side. F-I-R-E-Y? F-I-R-Y? The online dictionary confirmed it. Why in the world are the "r" and the "e" switched around?

The daily struggle of learning and relearning languages is nothing new. As for majoring in the Chinese language, it always brings up the issue of how does one translate certain words and phrases to sound the most "correct" as well as learning and relearning certain features of one's own native tongue. In turn, it reminds me of the many reasons why I've decided to major in my supposed mother tongue. Growing up as a child of immigrants, I've always dealt with my parents and relatives' struggle to learn English. Correcting their broken English while in return they correcting my broken Chinese was the constant exchange in our households.

That morning was a reminder of the daily struggle of dealing with a language. The immigrants and/or refugees who come to a foreign land, dealing with the language barrier. The embarrassment, the trouble, the etc. etc. of learning a new tongue. The thorn in my side. The thorn in anybody's side. Paul hit that nail dead on with 2 Corinthians 12.