I’ve been learning that there are slight differences between some words but it’s important to know what the differences are so that you can use the words correctly. I was glancing at the homework sheet that our instructor handed out and I noticed a picture of a stuffed animal and it had a different word for a child’s stuffed toy compared to the book that I had just read to the boys in French last night that talked about a child’s stuffed toy. My confusion was between the French word poupée and doudou these words sounds exactly like the English words for poopie and doo doo. If you have not used these words when potty training you might not see the same amount of humor that our class did on Friday.

So without thinking, something I have a hard enough time doing in English, I asked our instructor for clarification on the difference between poupée and doudou, in French. She explained the difference to me. But while explaining the difference between a stuffed animal (doudou) and a stuffed doll (poupée) there was a sudden burst of laughter in the classroom. I finally realized what I had asked and I saw the humor in my question so I said no, I have a doudou in my backpack (Jonah’s stuffed Stitch walked with us to class and I was holding him for the way back.) That only made it worse and to top off the laughter I had to explain to the instructor why all the American’s were laughing so hard. So when you hear a child in French say Je veux une poupée they don’t have to go to the bathroom they just want a doll.