Language Lessons
English is perhaps one of the hardest languages to learn because grammar and a dictionary aren’t enough to get you by. Meanings can be changed by inflection, a raised eyebrow, a pause, or a cough. The exclamation “Dude!?” can either mean: “Hi, where have you been?” or “Was it really you I saw leaving the adult video store?” or “I have the worst hangover.”. In that spirit, we have “Language Lessons”, which attempts to satirize “proper” speaking English. Through a series of three vignettes, Simon and Marie (in proper English) teach the reader how to discuss bumming a cigarette, go shopping, and give advice to someone traveling abroad. The style is deadpan, though lacking a certain wit to carry it over to being humourous. It’s much like the gag where a clown shoves a cream pie into the face of the “straight man” – you see it coming from a mile away. (KJ)
zine, $?, Estuardo Rossini, Proper Tales Press, Box 141, Station F, Toronto, ON, M4Y 2L7