A recent episode provided some hilarious perspective on English from the point of view of a woman from Texas who was born in Barcelona. A friend of mine from South America always refers to Gallagher's discourse on the logical stumbling blocks of the English language. I laugh out loud every time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDFQXxWIyvQ&feature=PlayList&p=73B719D6615701FA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=49
It's been a while since I've heard that. Thanks for reminding me. I sent the link to my Chinese friend who is struggling with English.
That last bit of the Gallagher clip of word comparisons reminds me of my favorite scene from I Love Lucy. Lucy decides to learn "proper English," and has Ricky read from a children's book to prove her point. Ricky gets hung up on Bough, rough, through, and cough and then has a fun rant about Spanish. "you speak it the way you write it! Our baby will learn Spanish and you can't talk to him until he's an adult!" I think the episode is called "Lucy Hires an English Tutor."
Here is is on Youtube, starts about 6:45:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hilcjMEqJRQ