Witness America

[Bessie]

Who ruined American pure English

 

I took my first ICE Listening/Speaking class on Jan. 17th.

 

To my surprise, the instructor Ms Kool is a non-native-English-speaker who migrated into America a score years ago. She speaks English fluently and writes very beautiful handwritings. But still I can tell sort of foreign accent and tune with her speaking.

 

We learned a "new" word on our first class which I have remembered it by heart long time ago, delivery-man. Then Ms Kool led us to read this word together with other new words. She articulated the seventh letter ¡°r¡± of ¡°delivery¡± as ¡°l¡±. I was afraid I misread her, so I listened hard, yes, it was ¡°l¡±.

 

I got so confused, as according to alphabet rules and phonetic rules this ¡°r¡± absolutely should pronounce as ¡°r¡± not ¡°l¡±. Later on I questioned my husband about how to pronounce this word and this letter ¡°r¡±. He told me Ms Kool was wrong.

 

My husband told me that there are many of his colleagues speak English with heavy foreign accent that he a native English-speaker sometimes even has difficulty to catch on them. I myself also have listened too much foreign-English since I came here, at the airport custom, at super markets, at post offices, everywhere.

 

Most students of my class has been living in USA for years, still they can not speak English better, even worse then me, without paying attention to grammar. I met an old lady at a bus stop. She has been here for 10 years, and she can only speak several English words.

 

I used to listen to beasutifully articulated English video or audio materials while I was studying in the college. Although I myself could not pronounce English words as beautifully as these materials, but my ears are quite particular. Increasingly, I am getting concerned about the pure American English, though it is none of my business.

 

Now I am one among non-native-English-speakers. I hope I will not add to ruining pure English. I purpose I will never study and improve my English as long as I am alive.

Edited January 24, 2006 by Bessie (see edit history)

[msmckee]

Everyone that speaks English does so with an accent. From Boston to Baton Rouge there are a thousand different ones. You will likely never lose your Chinese accent anymore than I will ever lose my Alabama one. Don't let that slow you down

[Dan R]

Alabama accent????? Isn't that a dialect?

[Joanne]

If you consider how many Chinese cann't speak standard mandarin, you would not be so picky on having American speak standard American English. I think that Canadian Da Shan speaks better Chinese than I (and my spoken Chinese is way above average in terms of closeness to standard mandarin pronounciation).

[Joanne]

I would not be surprised that my daughter will speak English with an Indian accent. Close to half of the teachers in her kindergarten are new immigrants from India. Well, it is better than Chinese accent I guess , I have always restrained myself from reading English books to her.

[mercator]

I think accents are like the spice in food. Without them, it'd be bland.

 

I think my wife's accent is sexy... *shrug*

 

Western US 'native speakers' supposedly have the least accent. However, I am sometimes guilty of the canadian-like overpronounciation of words like about and out, but thats about it. When I go somewhere else, I tend to absorb that English accent like a sponge and I come home speaking like where ever I was. It is most obvious when I go to Canada, the south or Texas, but I can get a good Yankee brogue or even Spanglish if I am gone long enough. I don't even know I do it, but when I go to my second job after a trip, they laugh their tonbu's off at it. I've seen a few of my friends and acquaintances who travel from this area or Seattle do it too, so its not completely my being fafeng de. hehe

[mercator]

American has never been pure English. Only Oxford "Queen's English" is supposedly 'pure.' I think that is just being snobbish. hehe

[msmckee]

Alabama accent?????   Isn't that a dialect?

185413[/snapback]

Yes, ESL is taught in all the grade schools here.

[warpedbored]

Alabama accent?????   Isn't that a dialect?

185413[/snapback]

Yes, ESL is taught in all the grade schools here.

185715[/snapback]

Alabama is still in the US? We gotta do something about that.

[Bessie]

Obese America

 

Before I came into USA, my husband used to urge me to try to gain several pounds of weight, as in his eyes I was kind of "small". Anyway I did not want to gain weight but to lose some. I stand 5'6'' and weigh 130 lbs. Compared to normal Chinese women, I was quite "big"! But my husband told me that there were many very big persons. I doubted.

 

After I came here, I changed my mind. Oh, My, they are really HUGE! Utterly out of my imagination. Some of them even two or three times my size. One day, I saw the first huge man since I came here in a shopping center. I dare not say he was five times me. But he was moving like a hill. I did take five minutes to be aware of the discourteousness with my eyes widened and eyebrows raised at him.

 

I don't know if there is a statistic of obese American of the total American population. I feel like one out of five persons I ever saw are over-weighted, and many of them, obese. Surprisingly, many of these over-weighted or obese persons are small kids and juveniles.

 

But later on I found out American people are very concerned about nutrition facts in their everyday diet. For a fact, there are a great deal of low or zero calories, fat, sugar and cholesterol foods on sale. I also saw a lot of people exercise themselves hard by riding, surfing, swimming, running, jogging or walking.

 

I wondered why there are still so many obese persons in America?

Edited January 25, 2006 by Bessie (see edit history)

[mercator]

hehe my wife thinks the same thing. She sees alot of western people in GZ where they reunite with their adopted children. I'm an old football player, so I am 6'1 230. She is 5'2 110 and thinks she needs to gain 10 or 20 when she gets here so she fits in better and if she is 'a little fat, like my lao gong' her mother will be pleased.

 

I'd rather lose 10 or 20 myself, and have her stay the same, and healthy. I think the change in diet will inevitably lead to some weight gain though, and I love her regardless.

 

We are definitely as an average, overweight in the US.

[ptcrusier333rph]

Alabama accent?????   Isn't that a dialect?

185413[/snapback]

state of mind but at least it not a TN accent that a whole different language.

 

 

as for learning english my SO teacher been taught by both a australian and a brit. and has slaughter the english language, i must have corrected about 20 words spoken wrong in the first week we been together.

 

robert

[Bessie]

Intercultural Misunderstanding

 

On my last ICE Listening/Speaking class yesterday, we watched a video stuff. Rosa, originally from Mexico, has been living in the States for many years. One day, her boyfriend Miguel comes to see her on his way to New York for an international conference. Miguel is from Rosa¡¯s hometown, Puebla, Mexico. Miguel wants to marry Rosa and take her back to Mexico. Rosa agrees and stays up late to write plans for their future, happily and excitedly. But unfortunately finally they break up because of some disagreement, which is caused by intercultural difference.

 

However, it¡¯s just a fictional story. But from this episode, I learned a new sentence that Miguel asked Rosa, ¡°Don¡¯t you get home sick?¡± At first I did not understand it. I said to myself, ¡°What? Rosa gets sick for having been staying home?¡± But soon I figured out it means ¡°Don¡¯t you miss your home country or family¡±. It was the first time I heard this sentence in my life. I thought it was a good expression about missing something. Today I asked my husband if I could say ¡°I really get Chinese homemade foods¡±, I mean, ¡°I really miss Chinese homemade foods sick¡±. My husband laughed at me awfully.

 

So, that is the difficulty about learning a foreign language. You express something grammaticaly same way of an example but using different words. Which you think it is correct. But it expresses totally inversely. Sometimes maybe cause laughs, or, troubles.

 

I remember one day, around 1 month later after I entered into the States, I felt sort of headache, so I went downstairs to air my brain. There I saw two small boys on the sidewalk. They were throwing small pieces of rock onto the street. It was dangerous as it would hit passing cars. So I stopped them. I tried to talk to them in English. They were six years old and nine years old. They had a basketball. Then I must said something stupid about that ¡°big ball¡± as the two kids started laughing wildly and one of them patting in between of his legs with one hand. I was so embarrassed that I slunk away home quickly. That night my husband told me why the kids laughed at me.

 

I gotta be careful of my spoken English!!!

Edited January 26, 2006 by Bessie (see edit history)

[fewmgf]

Kids will be kids Bessie, you did the right thing by stopping them from throwing rocks, but you should not be embarrassed about their immature reaction to your mistake in phrasing.

 

Any mature person probably would not have reacted this way. Especially knowing that English is not your first language. Don't let that stop you in the future from correcting those numbskulls

[mercator]

hehe my wife thinks the same thing.  She sees alot of western people in GZ where they reunite with their adopted children. 

185779[/snapback]

Merc,

 

I'm laughing right now, told my wife how FAT Americans have become and it hadn't sunk in much until we saw the "baby briggade" in GUZ. Most every woman there exceeded 175-200 lbs and some were MORBIDLY OBESE- then when we hit LAX- on my god- two ton toni! She now understands what obese is!

 

 

Bessie, I believe I heard a few nights ago 55% of Americans are now considered "overweight".

185942[/snapback]

Yeah I noticed it too. I am straying from PC by saying this, but I think a number of those baby brigadiers are adopting because it is logistically impossible for them to conceive 'naturally.'

 

We saw a couple in the Chen Shrine in GZ that combined may have edged up on 800 lbs. She was easily 300+ and he made her look small.