Saturday, October 27, 2012
I speak no Americano.
Today in Bhutan if you aska kid from middle class family to speak english, probably he or she would immediately change the accent into an American one. The rate at which development is striking us is less than youth learning to speak english with that typical American accent. Funny to know this but audience also consider this children as good speakers when they have zero grammar, no syntax, lack of pronunciation and poor meaning of words. According to our revered teacher's all the above are essential items to be kept in mind while speaking english or Dzongkha.
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Hello! I just discovered your blog through Facebook. I'm enjoying reading your all your entries. You are such a lovely person to share you musings on life and your beautiful country Bhutan.
ReplyDeleteThis entry particularly caught my eye being an American, more specifically, Californian. The northern part of my state is where the "American" accent comes from. That is to say the American accent you hear on TV and in movies. I just wanted to share a little of my opinion of accents in Bhutan that I have heard and the accent and slang that my Bhutanese friends use.
I think you very much try to emulate the American accent because it is easy. I have heard from other non-native English speaking friends that most choose the American accent because it is much easier to pronounce and understand. I think it makes sense to learn the American accent because English is so difficult to begin with right? (My friends are from Thailand and Brazil that have said this).
The only thing I find it's not quite American English that is spoken by my Bhutanese friends. They use a lot of Indian slang in their speech and online chatting. Since you are right next to India this makes sense. So for an American sometimes it sounds a little strange to us.
It for the most part is just little things like the word "auntie" that is a very common example that sticks out in my mind. We don't really use that term here. We say "aunt" and we only really use "aunt" to describe our actual family member and it seems like "auntie" can describe older female friends, not just relatives.
I also as an American pick up a little tiny twang of the Indian English accent in Bhutanese speech. It's not a bad thing but certainly is a little different. I honestly find Bhutanese English speakers to be some of the easiest in the world to understand. Your accent is so clear and easy on my ears. It's really nice!!
That is except the zero grammar, syntax, and occasional mispronunciation and vocabulary mix up that you speak of. You have a sharp teacher to point out that flaw. We really should study and learn these rules so we know what's we're talking about. I find the worst of it really comes out in online chatting and messages on Facebook, sometimes I can't even tell it's English! :P I'm trying teach them all better English I promise! I've even been taught a little Dzongkha in return! So maybe my accent and speech will be okay if I ever visit Bhutan. <3 I will take your words to heart and continue to help my friends improve. We'll get them speaking proper American English yet!
thank you so much sir for kind words!
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