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Broken English, is it offensive to you? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| vilas Pentaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6961 days ago 531 posts - 722 votes  Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese | Message 65 of 83 24 March 2013 at 5:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Broken English, is it offensive to you?
Not at all ! I am fluent in broken English ! 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Keilan Senior Member Canada Joined 5087 days ago 125 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 66 of 83 25 March 2013 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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Since I started studying other languages my acceptance of people who speak English poorly has skyrocketed. In situations where I used to wish they would just learn English because it was annoying dealing with them, I am now more likely to be impressed by their progress.
That being said, I do find myself frustrated when I can't communicate with someone properly, especially in situations where it is very important that we can communicate (some calls to call centers fall into this category). However, I don't view that as being offended by broken English - I feel the same thing when I can't communicate in Russian, which is of course my fault, not the person I'm speaking to. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4445 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 67 of 83 25 March 2013 at 10:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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I traveled to Shanghai China 2 years ago. At the airport the announcements in English
get a bit annoying. First you hear the Mandarin version your flight will be leaving and then the English version with heavy Chinese accent. Considering Shanghai is a major business center if you have trouble with the announcements you might miss your flight. Even an automated "computerize" voice would be easier to understand to native English speakers. There are places that were once colonies of Britain where English is "supposedly" 1 of the official languages, yet you find some locals speak with too much of an accent to be understood like India, Malaysia, Singapore. I've met people from Jamaica before who speaks a from of English you technically call "Creole". A bit hard on the ear to understand what the speaker is trying to say. Singapore and Malaysia being close to Australia but don't know why they don't adopt the Aussie accent. The other way was watching a movie call "Singapore Dreaming". The dialog is mixed with Chinese Fukienese, Mandarin & English. The Mandarin isn't too bad but for the other 2 had to rely on subtitles. You have a Chinese man in the movie going to a job interview. The person in human resources is an Indian. They both speak English with a heavy accent. Somehow the locals have their way of English pronunciations but not for us who are used to the English or Americanized accent. Edited by shk00design on 25 March 2013 at 10:10pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| vilas Pentaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6961 days ago 531 posts - 722 votes Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese | Message 68 of 83 26 March 2013 at 3:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Prince Charles of Britain calls broken English the unofficial language of the world
"English is the easiest language to speak badly," ( G.B.Shaw) The Global Lingua Franca is Globish, Which is NOT English . And Never Will Be. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4950 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 69 of 83 28 March 2013 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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It would not be simply because different people have different priorities. Most very
different from us language learners. More than focusing on berating poor speakers, I like to recognize and admire those who try to always improve their skills, even if it is by little steps each day, especially when they have other careers as a priority, or a family and children to feed. I will always help anyone that tries to improve and would never get annoyed if they are not pleasingly fluent, especially if they want to be corrected. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| lecavaleur Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4778 days ago 146 posts - 295 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish | Message 70 of 83 28 March 2013 at 6:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't consider it the world's duty to speak to me in English, broken or polished. In a
situation where good English skills are a reasonable expectation (like someone working in customer service in an English-speaking country or region), then it's legitimate to be somewhat annoyed by an interlocutor whose English is incomprehensible. But when you're in a country or region that speaks another language, you have absolutely no right to be indignant about someone's broken English. I don't care if it's a bellhop, a hotel receptionist, a waiter or anyone else. You might be spending good money, but you are a guest in their country/region and you need to show a little deference and appreciation for their effort to accommodate you. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| vilas Pentaglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6961 days ago 531 posts - 722 votes Speaks: Spanish, Italian*, English, French, Portuguese | Message 71 of 83 28 March 2013 at 8:56pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree. If you are the King of United Kingdom you have to speak a perfect Queen's English but if you are a porter of the Bombay airport is normal that you speak English with a strong indian accent like Peter Sellers in "Hollywood party" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfWvWRqrAig 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hyrax Diglot Newbie Kenya Joined 4322 days ago 8 posts - 14 votes Speaks: Swahili, English Studies: German, French | Message 72 of 83 30 March 2013 at 3:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Mindful rudeness, arrogance or lack of trying to understand, these are offensive to me.
How can someone struggling to communicate in a foreign tongue be offensive? 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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