Where is Bryan?

Bryan is in the kitchen.
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A few weeks back Risha, Marc, and I went out for lunch with a friend of Risha’s from France, and a good part of the conversation was about language (and about making the most of the menu by getting the buffet for your first plate). Enzo was telling us that in France, just like in Andorra, English is compulsory which in most cases turns students off from learning it. He was saying that most people don’t really wake up and realize how useful it is until they go out and meet interesting people that they can’t communicate with.
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Anyway, this brings us to my favorite part of the conversation. As he explained, in France there is a sort of national English program that everybody has to go through in school, and for some reason the one thing that sticks in everybody’s mind, the one thing that any French person will tell you when you ask them for a typical phrase in English, is “Where is Bryan? Bryan is in the kitchen.” Enzo even called a friend back in France to prove it. I’m so glad they are learning such useful things over there! (Though I can’t be too critical; my students just learned “I’ve got a black eye” this week.)
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This might not be super funny to most people, but I thought it was great. It’s always funny to see what sticks during a language class. For example, three of the Fulbrighters here all have the same book “Teach Yourself Catalan,” and when we discovered we all had it, the first thing we all said was “Perdoni senyor, el punt de trobada?” or “Excuse me sir, where’s the meeting point?” which is the first thing they say on the CD. Later when Risha and I explained that Bryan was in the kitchen to her friend Alex visiting from Italy, she said that she also had a sort of catch phrase from her Latin class (don’t ask me to repeat it because I have no idea what it was), that dealt with somebody’s father working in the garden. Who knows why certain phrases stand out; I’m sure some have a reason while others are completely random, but it’s always entertaining to hear what people remember from language classes.