English as She is Spoke
Pedro Carolino
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
English as She is Spoke is a 19th century Portuguese-to-English phrasebook that has become a classic of absurdist humor, owing chiefly to the apparent fact that its writer had absolutely no knowledge of English. It is thought that for utterly obscure reasons its unknown author, Pedro Carolino, used a dictionary to translate Portuguese words to French, then a second dictionary to convert French to English, producing an incoherent but hilarious result. Mark Twain said of this book, "Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect." - Summary by J A Carter (1 hr 3 min)
Chapters
| Introduction and Preface | 15:33 | Read by J A Carter |
| Vocabulary and Familiar Phrases | 14:05 | Read by J A Carter |
| Familiar Dialogues | 21:23 | Read by Elsie Selwyn |
| Familiar Letters, Anecdotes, Idiotisms, and Proverbs | 12:28 | Read by Elsie Selwyn |
Reviews
Listen to Chapter one
Annika Matson
The preface and 2nd and 3rd chapters are alright. But the first chapter had me laughing so hard my sides hurt 😂