Some of my students � classics in addition to most of those mentioned above:
grammar and vocab:
- I have like music. - as a direct translation from Czech
- He has birthday on... - direct translation from Czech
- Have you a house? - surprisingly, I once heard this version myself on the BBC - �Have you a problem? Just call us at... �
- I must to go to work.
- Jane she is 30. - this appears with beginners at early stages
- My job is a teacher. - in answer to "What �s your job?" - happens mostly on beg. to pre-int. levels
- Did you spoke to her?, Do she has a car?
- When? and Where? as question words
- I �m from Czech Republic. (instead of .. from the Czech Republic)
- I �ll go there at Monday.
- huge problems with the word order, as Czech word order is far from being strictlygiven - typical: Interesting was when I saw their live concert., placing an object instead of a subject: The dog we left at home. (Czech w.o.), On Friday came Sue to visit us. .. etc.
spelling:
- witch instead of which
- wether x weather x whether
- becose
- mather (instead of mother)
- beautifull, and all adj. ending in -ful
pronunciation:
- hotel - all say /hotl/
- event - /i:vnt/
- to live - /l�:f/, /laif/
- receive - /risaif/
- son - /son/
and then the category I would call "irrational":
- Germany instead of German - Andreas is Germany. - this mistake strangely appears with all students ranging from beginners to FCE, what �s weird about it is that they do not make mistakes with other nationalities, only Germans :-)
All weird or irrational mistakes from your countries welcome. Would like to write a thesis on them one day... :-)
Have a nice weekend!
