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When I was in Houston earlier this month, one of the guys I was traveling with would speak differently whenever he had to speak to a local. After the first day, I couldn’t take it any more.
“Uh, why did you do that?”
“Did what?”
“Spoke like you did just now?”
“Oh, I was thinking, I should speak like an American when I am talking to them here.”
“Uh, let me tell you, you didn’t sound like an American just now. You sounded like a Malaysian trying to speak English with an American accent. And a bad one at that.”
“No, I think that we should try to speak like they do.”
“Uh, I don’t think so. I don’t think when the English comes here they break out into the local slang. I think they just speak the same way they do, maybe slow it down so that the Americans could figure out what they are saying. Probably the same the other way around too. At least they have the advantage of a similar language.”
But trust me, what came out of his mouth was not English with an American accent, it was plain Malaysian English with a bad American accent. Naik bulu roma gua lorrr…
When speaking to native English speakers, I’d just slow down my speech and speak each word clearly. So far the Americans have been very patient with me and the bulu roma of anyone who is with me tak naik when I try to speak English like an American…. People are inherently patient when they know that we are trying to speak in their native tongue. Fantastic fast Malaysian English could be an earful for the native English speakers. Years ago, I always thought that I ni macam bagus aje speaking the London but I did get tired when I was asked to repeat what I said each time. That made me think and true enough by speaking sebiji sebiji, I almost never was asked to repeat whatever I said.
“Hi - can - I - have - a - cheeseburger - a - small - coke - and - a - large - fries - to - go - please?”
That’s much better than “HicanIhaveacheeseburgerasmallcokeandalargefriestogoplease?”
Honest, every time he breaks out into what he thinks is American English, my bulu roma naik tegak……
I think that unless you could carry the slang perfectly, you should not even try to sound like an American, an Englishman or an Australian. Thousands of our countrymen (and women) spent years studying the States, UK and Australia and very few of them came home with the ability to speak English like the Yanks, Yobs or Aussies. Most would be able to say a few words like them but that’s it. I know that Bonch could carry the Southern twang well. A colleague at my work place speaks English like an American and it was a joy to listen to her because she sounded just like one. My biras could speak the Queen's English like an Englishman when he wants to but most of the time he just spoke plain good English. But then he did spend something like 14 years in the U.K. so that’s no surprise. Most of us would fool around with words like quarter, Manhattan, y’all, barbi etc but few could really carry the foreign accents well. This lidah of mine is sudah the lama cakap Malaysian English and dua tiga tahun duduk negeri orang will not change the way it curls and whirls.
Well, g’day mate…
That one I berani cakap, easy one meh……
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