Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A German coast guard trainee is being shown to a table with radio equipment,
then left alone by his own colleague . Apparently this is his first time in this job
position, consequently he is very nervous. Before long, he receives a message
from a ship which is sinking, saying "Mayday, mayday, we are sinking", to which
the coastguard replies in broken English “Hallo. This is the German Coast
Guard”. The voice replies “We’re sinking! We’re sinking!”
What makes the situation hilarious is that the young trainee is unable to make
himself understood or understand what is actually going on as he mistakes
“sinking” with “thinking “ It’s actually a phonetic issue ! The young trainee has a
real problem with the phonetic symbol /θ/ .There is a simple misunderstanding
which has hilarious consequences. The word “sinking” in a very serious distress
call is heard by the young man as a “thinking”.
The targeted people may be anyone who want to improve their knowledge of
the English language / The target audience must be the people who would like to
speak English with confidence. / to become fluent in English.
What ‘s the effect of the final music on the viewer ? The music which is
played after the Berlitz logo is revealed is Ode to Jyby Ludwig Beethoven . It
sounds as a bit of comic relief (moment de détente / note d’humour). Thank God
there’s Berlitz to help you learn English and survive ! Phew!