Hi, Ivan!  Recently you wrote in a message to mark lewis:   
      
   ml>  the point is that you don't learn someone something...   
   ml>  you teach someone something ;)   
      
   ml>  it is kind of like "sell" and "sale"...  you put   
   ml>  something on sale that you want to sell...  i   
   ml>  always cringe and bit my tongue when i see someone   
   ml>  insist and even argue about writting that they have   
   ml>  something "for sell"...   
      
   ml>  eg: i have a knife set for sell. call me!   
      
   IS>  Somehow, I stumble upon examples like this all the   
   IS>  time, and /that/ hurts!  It's almost as if I'm living   
   IS>  in a country where English is not an official language,   
   IS>  or something...   
      
   IS>  ... Well, wait.  Indeed, I'm living in such a country.   
   IS>  What a misfortune!   
      
      
              In that regard I doubt you'd be better off here.  Athough English   
   is one of the official languages of Canada, my experience is similar to   
   Mark's.  I understand why people from southeast Asia often have difficulty   
   with plurals in English and/or with where we'd draw the line between /r/ and   
   /l/.  As Roy says, Canada & the US are multicultural countries.  But when I   
   hear on the radio, for the umpteenth time, that there's a traffic stall on the   
   "Patella Bridge" I have much the same reaction Mark does.  The name of the   
   bridge is "Pattullo", and it sounds just the way it looks... the "patella" is   
   the kneecap.  Apparently there are many young native speakers of English who   
   haven't grasped the concept.  ;-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)