in the old country we speak english, the american version -- usage, idioms and spelling. that country, although colonized by the spaniards for over 500 years, never learned to speak spanish although some of our native words were bastardized pronunciation of spanish. that was because the colonizers didn't want the natives to learn their language, perhaps because they didn't want the natives to understand their conversations. spanish was supposed to be the language of the elites and only the rich native families were able to learn to speak the language because they could afford to go to school.
when the americans came to liberate the country from the oppresive rule of the spaniards, their first order of the day was to teach the locals how to read and write and how to speak english, their english. 50 years under the americans and the locals, even those with the least education can communicate in what we called english "carabao"; carabao is a beast of burden akin to the buffalo which is used by the farmers. it was because the americans actually talked to the people and taught them the language. that is why the constitution of that country was written in both pilipino and english,and our laws and contracts are in english. most of our important literature were written in english and oh, do we love those big words.
however, i've been exposed to british english by reading so that coming to canada was not a big adjustment for me in terms of spelling and terms. do i use the lift or the elevator? is it favour or favor? colour or color? the good thing is our english here is a combination of both american and british english. we understand and use both languages. 😊
the only gaffe i make all the time is when i spell a word with the letter "z". i always pronounce it "zee" like the americans, not "zed" like the canadians or british.
the photo is for week 23 of the 52-capture challenge, the prompt is "repetition".
This is a most interesting read and i would love to debate more on the topic. My language is mainly of slavic origin and romanized / latinized (not sure if these are correct) around year 100 AD. It is most interesting that your culture did not absorb Spanish. In school (the higher level) we were taught that language is absorbed naturally in such instances. Yet in your case, in 500 years, that did not happen. That is so very interesting.
On the other hand, about English... this or that English. I'll tell you a real reaction I was faced with.
I was on a business trip to Britain, and a driver picked us up from the airport. On the way to our destination, we chatted a bit about where we were coming from because our English sounded strange. And I told him that we learned it in school and that we were taught standard English. And he was puzzled: What is that? English is English.
Lovely colors! And language is such an interesting subject...
We lived in different places in the world where English is spoken, but the different accents/dialects can be a challenge.
I always have to think and laugh about my mom. When my parents visited us I dropped them where ever they can shop on their own - a city center of a mall.
When they came back when we lived in London she reported back that the "hot potato English" was hard to follow. When a friend from the Scotland stopped by she was totally lost.
After visiting KLCC (big mall in KL, Malaysia) she wondered what the little word "la" meant. A positive answer would sound like: "Can do la" and the negative "no can do la".
In Houston she trouble understanding the manager of a restaurant when he asked us "How y'all doin'?". She also thought that it might be easier to speak Spanish with the lady at the supermarket check out.
Due to their ages I kept them company when they visited Oman in January 2020, but what you hear here is also very interesting. And I'm sure my mom would have given me some feedback...
A lot of the English here is neither British, American nor correct, but people are able to communicate and that is the most important thing.
Just now when I was typing this the doorbell rang. A worker stood in front of my door: "I am remover car-net. Pajero yours? Remove. Please". He was nice and his message was clear, so I moved the car. Apparently they are replacing the screens above the parking.
As an English as a Foreign Language teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed your story - and those from @ingrid01 and @monikzoi too!
I also like your photo - clever choice of subject for repetition (and all the colours of English too!).
@summerfield@ingrid01@monikozi what a terrific, informative narrative and comment stream! Vikki your watercolor pots are awesome. I think I need to buy my granddaughter a big selection like this.
@ingrid01 indeed interesting. But... what does 'la' stand for? @clearday how nice! The reason I studied English was my first English teacher (also as foreign language). Many years later (approx 30) I met her in the highschool where my son learns, and I was so thrilled with the emotion of seeing her again. I still get goose bumps when i think of meeting her and of her in general.
@monikozi - the spaniards wanted to keep the locals ignorant of their language, that was how they managed to control the country for that long. in order to keep that part of our heritage, we do have spanish courses in high school and in college. it's a useless subject unless you speak it on a regular basis. the filipino people took to english because the americans were lazy to learn another language so they made it a point for the locals to learn 'american' plus they're inherently arrogant (in the words of the first mr. summerfield who was american). even those with no education at all (the no-read, no-write we call them) would be able to communicate in english with anyone, albeit with a lot of hand movements and facial expressions.
@mrslaloggie - that's what i always say. and if say "zed" i laugh because there is no phonetic equivalent for zed (technically).
@ingrid01@clearday - when i arrived in oman, the brits were teasing me for my 'american' slang and intonation; i say garage and they say garage and of course there was the tomato and potato thing. when i lived in belgium and luxembourg just before i went to oman, i worked in a souvenir shop at the square in luxembourg where one day a group of american tourists upon hearing me speak, all sighed and said "finally, someone who speaks american and she doesn't even look it!" i didn't quite know if it was a compliment.
I like this close up of the paint box. Great colors. I'm all the time saying that I speak a different language than @30pics4jackiesdiamond because I don't understand half of what she says although we both speak English. It's the slang phrases that are the worst.
On the other hand, about English... this or that English. I'll tell you a real reaction I was faced with.
I was on a business trip to Britain, and a driver picked us up from the airport. On the way to our destination, we chatted a bit about where we were coming from because our English sounded strange. And I told him that we learned it in school and that we were taught standard English. And he was puzzled: What is that? English is English.
We lived in different places in the world where English is spoken, but the different accents/dialects can be a challenge.
I always have to think and laugh about my mom. When my parents visited us I dropped them where ever they can shop on their own - a city center of a mall.
When they came back when we lived in London she reported back that the "hot potato English" was hard to follow. When a friend from the Scotland stopped by she was totally lost.
After visiting KLCC (big mall in KL, Malaysia) she wondered what the little word "la" meant. A positive answer would sound like: "Can do la" and the negative "no can do la".
In Houston she trouble understanding the manager of a restaurant when he asked us "How y'all doin'?". She also thought that it might be easier to speak Spanish with the lady at the supermarket check out.
Due to their ages I kept them company when they visited Oman in January 2020, but what you hear here is also very interesting. And I'm sure my mom would have given me some feedback...
A lot of the English here is neither British, American nor correct, but people are able to communicate and that is the most important thing.
Just now when I was typing this the doorbell rang. A worker stood in front of my door: "I am remover car-net. Pajero yours? Remove. Please". He was nice and his message was clear, so I moved the car. Apparently they are replacing the screens above the parking.
I also like your photo - clever choice of subject for repetition (and all the colours of English too!).
@clearday how nice! The reason I studied English was my first English teacher (also as foreign language). Many years later (approx 30) I met her in the highschool where my son learns, and I was so thrilled with the emotion of seeing her again. I still get goose bumps when i think of meeting her and of her in general.
Likewise your clever and creative photos which always seem to hit the mark. This one is a spectacular interpretation of the challenge
@mrslaloggie - that's what i always say. and if say "zed" i laugh because there is no phonetic equivalent for zed (technically).
@ingrid01 @clearday - when i arrived in oman, the brits were teasing me for my 'american' slang and intonation; i say garage and they say garage and of course there was the tomato and potato thing. when i lived in belgium and luxembourg just before i went to oman, i worked in a souvenir shop at the square in luxembourg where one day a group of american tourists upon hearing me speak, all sighed and said "finally, someone who speaks american and she doesn't even look it!" i didn't quite know if it was a compliment.
@wyomingsis @dutchothotmailcom @casablanca @30pics4jackiesdiamond @kjarn @seattlite @koalagardens @swillinbillyflynn - thanks, ladies and gent.