A query on translation

[jbor]

> <<That's where I hear people saying "interested on"
> all the time. >>

on 15/4/03 10:22 PM, Malignd at malignd at yahoo.com wrote:

> I'm sorry.  People don't say "interested on" all the
> time.  They simply don't.

Yes, "interested on" in the sentence is an error, and it was productive for
Otto to make the self-correction. For second language learners there is
first language interference but there is also idiomatic interference from
within other codes of English. When using the homonym "interest" (meaning
money), we do say that you pay "interest on" your loan or get "interest on"
your savings or your capital investment. It would be the sort of thing you'd
find pretty commonly in word problems in maths textbooks. Second language
learners often find it much more comfortable studying maths and science than
more language-heavy subjects, and grammatical and syntactical constructions
which are prevalent in the language of those disciplines sometimes leech
across into other language contexts (eg. passive voice, subjunctive mood
etc). It's another aspect of what linguists call an "interlanguage".

It would be remiss of a teacher in a learning situation not to correct the
misuse. In general conversation, however, it would depend on the tenor (i.e.
the relationship and familiarity) of the interlocutors. If people's
incorrect usages go uncorrected chances are they will become entrenched.

best