“you have a point there,” she murmurs quietly, fingers tapping mindlessly at the desk they were seated at.
“don’t forget there’s also to, too and two. oh! and complement and compliment. it’s honestly insane.” her english as a second language class had been hell growing up; if she had been asami’s shoes, she would have thrown her hands up and called it a day but alas, here they both were, suffering through english. fortunate for lili, she liked learning languages; unfortunately for lili, it was fueled by her need to succeed and to prove others wrong for doubting her and her lovely intellect.
“english is full of things that sound the same but are spelled different, it’s dumb but … it’s english.” she says as if that would help asami's predicament at all. it didn't but lili truly didn't know what else to say, "you know what you need is a break! should we go for lattes?"
Asami smiles satisfied with herself for pulling that reaction out of Lili. She shrugs, "As far as you know, I might only be able to count up to ten and know how to ask for directions to the bathroom. When I got to Korea, that was all I knew for like a month. Oh, and also colors!" Asami points her finger up like she made a discovery at the addition of that last piece of information.
She could feel her head starting to hum with the foreshadow of a headache. Learning new things that didn't require her moving often left that little impression in her. "It makes no sense. The best way to keep us from saying idiotic things is by not being able to say them at all," she says with a little pout and a sigh, but then she deflates, "I understand how this is important, since it's a easier language for most people to follow abroad, but doesn't change the fact that is so confusing," Asami points at the screen where she is seeing interesting language facts where the words 'they’re, their and there' are all side by side, "These all sound exactly the same."
she laughs — an actual, loud-mouthed, almost snorting laugh — a laugh lili almost never lets anyone hear; and maybe it’s because of asami’s audacity or was it her comedic timing? or maybe, asami was actually that funny.
“you did not just learn that, shut up.” she teases, shoulder nudging the others as she shakes her head, nose crinkled and all at the playfulness of asami’s english.
lili nods, understandably so to asami’s distress. when she had first arrived in america and had been placed into their special esl ( english as a second language ) classes at school, it was as if all her teachers were speaking an alien tongue — but now, after years of living and breathing the language and still being told it wasn’t enough ( hence why she was currently taking the english class ), well … it was quite the accurate statement: english was just so wrong.
and yet, it was still considered one of the most important of languages to learn.
that was some weird westernized level of thinking.
“you’re so right — but hey, on the bright side, at least they don’t need us to be completely fluent … just conversational? or like … maybe enough so that we don’t say … controversial things?” which, in hindsight, maybe learning a new language only opened them up to the vulnerability of saying something wrong …. well, that was for the company to handle.
When Asami was attributed with the task to learn English as fast as she could for the duration of the month, she won't lie, she was stressed. She doesn't know exactly why she never invested in learning English, to be honest, especially with how the company seemed to be investing in the western market as of lately, but after learning Korean in such a short time, and having Japanese to back her up as well, Asami didn't pick up any language books and focused in other things.
Now it's coming to bite her in the ass.
Though one must admit, trying to learn literally anything while feeling pressured? It isn't the best method. The teacher is nice enough, and Asami has been trying to focus, but when Lili interrupts her, it's like the first deep breath she takes of all evening, "The book's on the table," she says cheekily in English what she learned years ago when she was still in school, "English was one of my worst subjects when I was in school, I didn't think I'd need to revise those times years later," Asami admits with a sigh. "Korean was much easier to pick up, to be honest, now I'm struggling again with a language that makes very little sense."
HOW TO SAY I’M BORED BUT LIKE REALLY, REALLY BORED? lili knows english but apparently not the english that matters — @lgcasami
strangely enough, despite living in america — namely the palm-tree lined yards of bel air — for nine years, lili still considers english her second language; even if she confuses her mandarin more than her los angeles-accented english, she stills tells herself that she’s far more fluent in her mother-tongue than any other language she learns after the fact. and perhaps that is why she’s now stuck here, in english class, relearning grammar structures and how english really makes no fucking sense but here they are — still learning it for the sake of western advancement.
( a part of her wonders why she didn’t just take japanese lessons again, at least she’d be learning something worth her while )
it is with these thoughts that she looks to asami. good ol’ asami, always there to take her mind of the boring present and the relentlessly annoying english grammar system that makes no sense whatsoever. “so, did you learn anything new today?” she asks, actually curious if anyone else had listened to the lesson and had not dazed off like she had. “or are you regretting taking english and wished you took korean instead?”