Failure to Communicate

I found this while cruising the net this morning. ESL means English as Second Language for those that don't teach.

I have been teaching ESL in Vietnam for almost 4 years now, and have several interesting stories, but will relate one of the funniest from the class-room environment.
Vietnamese have a particular problem with pronunciation, in particular, the final consonants in most words.
I have a few business classes which involve using the word "Fax". When this is said with an uncorrected Vietnamese accent, of course the "eks" pronunciation of the "X" is missing, and becomes a "K", so the word "fax" sounds like "Fak".
I like to take new teachers into these classes so they can see the funny side of the job, and the Viets then go into a conversation role play that goes something like this:

S1. I tried to fak you yesterday, but you weren't in.
S2. I would have been very happy to receive your fak, but at the time I was faking somebody else- sorry.
S1. So if I fak you tomorrow at about 2 pm will that be OK?
S2. Yes, you can fak me any time you like.

Of course the participants have no idea why the new teacher is in fits of laughter at this, but when the lesson progresses and we get to the correction part, and the error is pointed out, and what the alternative means, the students first become very embarrassed, but this turns into giggles as they begin to realize what they had just been saying.
Ray Connors, Australia