Kumiko Tsuchida's case
I have read the case of Mrs Tsuchida in lesson 5 and I think that is very difficult to believe. I can't understand how a person can think that after a fews hours by train he can reach Turkey from London.
In the other hand, there are millions of people on the planet and that rise the probability of this to happen. We have to think that Mrs. Tsuchida was from Japan and I think that she really didn't know how long Turkey from London is.
Regarding the misunderstandings, this can perfectly happen when you are speaking in your own language and then it can happen even more if you are trying to speak in other language, even if you think you speak it very well. I remember one situation I heard on the radio about how American people laugh about Spanish people when they want to say they have studied at the University of Yale. Spanish people pronounce Yale with the same sound of “jail” and American people think that is very funny and useful that you take advantage of your years in jail to study .