Tim Torkildson, a social media manager for a Utah English school for ESL students, has been fired for blogging like homophones after his employer Clarke Woodger expressed concern that students might misinterpret the word as a reference to gay sex. Homophones, words that sound the same but mean different things.
“I didn't know what the hell you were talking about.” Torkildson recounted Woodger telling him. “We don't teach this kind of advanced stuff to our students, and it's extremely inappropriate. Can you have your desk cleaned out by eleven this morning? I'll have your check ready."
Woodger corroborated Torkildson's account of the conversation to the Salt Lake Tribune, insisting that "People at this level of English may see the 'homo' side and think it has something to do with gay sex."
Homophones are often thought to be one of the more challenging aspects of the English language for those new to it. Torkildson is of the school of thought that the class of words are crucial and “one of the first subjects tackled when teaching ESL” because the language is rife with them.
London-based filmmaking duo Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston's short film Skwerl about what English sounds like to non-English speakers highlights Torkildson's point perfectly. Check it out AFTER THE JUMP…
