Huff...
...puff...
...got to practise me English...
...plenty visitors from Engerland is here for cricket, and to be hospitable, we the people must speak in a way that they can understand. Y’see, the truth is, English ain’t really we first language, though some snobby folks here might want to insist it is.
For plenty-plenty people here, the first language is Creolese. Try talking proper English to them. They gon look at you with their eyebrows knit-up to form hill and valley. Then when you talk Creolese, their forehead smooth out like Lake Capoie without wind and they smile bright like today.
If you ain’t want to believe me, ask them language experts (like Lis who got a Masters Degree in this whole business). They recommend that the best method to teach English here is to teach it as a second language.
So I gone to practise me best English, just in case I meet one o’ them folks from Engerland, and they ask me something.
Hm-hm, hmmm...practise...practice...
Teach taught taught
Preach praught praught
Spring sprang sprung
Bring brang brung
Drink drank drunk
Think thank thunk
The phoolish ghish laufed when it herd me.
(Hm, that ain’t look right).
The ghoolish phish laufed...
Sigh, you know what, I's tired of these ‘f’ sounds, I gone to drink some tee (though I prefer to say chai).
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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33 comments:
Hehehe, it's true. My mum was brought up to speak proper English and when she was there 2 summers ago she spoke to a little girl on the street who DID knit up she eyebrow to form hill and valley.
"Why are you not in school?" was like Greek to her till my cousin said, "No Aunty, she doesn't understand. You have to ask, "Wha ya nah guh school?"
They say America and England are two countries separated by a common language. Considering the way i hear so many people butcher the language today, it's not all that surprising.
Creole, eh? You would do well in New Orleans, GG.
As long as you remember where the rain in Spain falls, you'll be fine GG!
they say that learning English as a second language is one of toughest to learn, what with all its bizarre exceptions. a lot of other languages are much more cut and dry, so i'm glad i got to learn English first!
Cadiz, good news, someone told me that English is not half as tough as Japanese. I don't remember why Japanese is mor' difficulter.
Mr. Farty, is it rain or rine? Spain or Spine? Plain or pline? Oh, I must remember to 'old on to my h's too.
Mr. Nighttime, yes, people who butcher the language loose their grammar because their not careful...your lucky your not one of them.
Olivia, haha, I wonder why she nah go school. Did she tell your mum? Does your mum still understand really, raw, pure Creolese?
No worries GG. If you speak as you write everyone will be enchanted. I always want to join in:)
GG
Me na unerstan wha ya talkin bout but maybe ya can try explain this one far me:))
Mouse mice why me na can say
House hice???
Exotic gyal
Haha, no she can't. In fact I understand it better than she does. If they spoke it at home they'd be whipped, so as adults they'd get together and have fun with it, laughing like mad to say things that were once forbidden! I grew up witnessing this hilarity and it made for great happiness!
GG
While the English are there could you ask them which of these is the correct word for a certain part of our body:
bum, butt, behind, bahind, rear, ass, batty, trunk, asset, seat, booty, backside.
I would love to hear what other words are out there also.
Exotic gyal
Maybe they ( the English) need to learn creolese instead. Isn't that what we have to do when visiting another country like France, Spain, Italy etc.?
It's only since I started trying to help French people with English that I fully appreciated how illogical our spelling is and therefor, how inconsistent (or non-existent) the rules for pronunciation can be.
I agree with Pat. I love the way you write and would love to hear you speak like that.
ow, how meh wan see lil criket!..me ah prpa miss am...
btw..de odda day we tryin fuh teach cuz lil data how fee speak creolese...me tell she..seh" meh wey too pung...she seh me way tew peeung....how me an cuz liz laaafff...oooh meee mooomaaaa
KFM, me too, but I can't, too much to do, plus the new cricket stadium is too freakin' far...so ah practising sour-grapes technique - ah bad-talkin' cricket.
That po' li'l chile, what you all teaching she? You better watch out she don't learn to cuss in Creolese.
Sab, and the grammar too, oh gosh! I learnt English with ease because we were taught to read very early, it came as nothing to us.
Aww, thank you, I plan to buy a microphone soon, and record some very short pieces on the story-telling blog Pat pointed me to some time ago.
CG, you won't believe how quickly foreigners, coming to the Caribbean, learn Creolese...Patois or whatever else we call it.
Exotic Gyal, how me LAUGH. You forgot one: BAMSIE.
HAHA, yes, I forgot house / hice...every school child here knows that one. BUT WHY OH WHY did you have to remind me of MICE? aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Olivia, I can just imagine how they carried on! What we used to do was to translate Creolese songs into proper English, oh how we cracked up. Check out Exotic Gyal's comment.
Pat, speaking of speaking...well, you know what I mean...I always imagine that your voice is soft and posh and well-modulated. I must go on story-teller's blog one day to listen, and as I was saying to Sab, I will get me a microphone soon.
Why:) because I am a wutliss Exotic gyal.
hehehehe... girl i feel your pain... and your friend lis is def onto something with the esol teaching thingy... i been tryin to convince people of that for YEARS... sigh...
loving your blog way more than you're loving mine... :-P
ROFLMBO!
Batty!
:-D
i teach yuh nehfews dem to say...hall yuh rass an hall yuh bamsie an hall yuh battie....
man, me NE-VAH in meh barn life evah hear tak lika dis yah!...yankee tak wid creolese...hahahahhaaa
You accent is beautiful GG...
;-)
aeiiii! howling with laughter, gg! I completely agree - even with E. as my first (and only!) language it never made sense to me. I was lucky to be tutored by good books so I could fall into it naturally, for the rules never made sense to me either.
English classes: =
A in writing and in USING grammar
D in diagramming sentences and EXPLAINING grammar rules.
i hope ya enjoy having the barmy army around.
Jdid, I ain't seen not one o' them visitors. Town was nice and quiet. I think everybody, including Guyanese, was at the cricket stadium.
Ow, Hayden, that's so true, explaining the thing is a PAIN. Speaking of reading, I wish more folks were encouraged to read BOOKS and not just the local newspapers. In fact, I wish our newswriters would read books too.
Thank you, Caro :-) Oh wait, you know some Guyanese, don't you? I am fascinated by accents.
Olivia, stick around with Exotic Gyal, you'll learn lots :-D
Will, Lis wrote a manual for the Cyril Potter College here, a training college for teachers. The manual's gathering dust, as far as I know. Ain't that a shame?
What is it about C'bean people when it comes to education? Why can't we be more innovative? grrraaah
Exotic Gyal, I can imagine your wicked face, haha.
Mouse mice why me na can say
House hice???
Exotic gyal
Prince Charles does say hice. He's famous for it:)
LOL! GG you are too much!
Pat! You speak Creolese! I'm impressed!
Prince Charles does really say 'hice'?
Stunner, is true though, ain't it? Ask Will in St. Vincent.
Oh you mean 'proper' English like;
silly mid off and silly mid on, short leg, long leg, leg before , yorker, duck, leg by, etc;
are you going on Friday? I used to hate cricket, when my father came home from work and changed the t.v. channel from 'Top of the Pops', in favor of the latest test match, but then I saw and fell in love with
Viv Richards. The rest, as they say, is history.Come on West Indies.
good one. but isn't "chai" indian? or do u guys also use that word?
Hello Avinash, how are you? Yes, 'chai' is from India, I picked it up from my brother-in-law, the word got stuck into our [family's] vocab. I like this word 'chai'...it's so warm and soft and milky.
In Portuguese, tea is 'cha'.
Zooms, haha, I'd be upset too, if someone had switched from Top of the Pops to cricket, especially as a teen.
As for cricket, I like the old team, with Courtney Walsh and Michael Holding, etc...they were such gentlemen.
But that's not why I'm not going...I'm not going because I have to work.
tru dat! ...maybe we should dun do like Haiti ... reclaim de signs an' all.
I agree with CG; "When in Rome do as the Romans do", a famous saying from history.
I think the Brits should learn basic creole, like greetings etc, when visiting your country. It's good manners and shows that they are at least making the effort.
In Britanistan now it seems that we have to adapt to the immigrants language and lifestyle. The children in school now are learning Indian languages and learning about foreign religions and customs.
Keith, I'm thinking how I would be if I were to live in another man's country.
Hmmm...I wouldn't want folks to adopt my customs but it would be nice if they shared things with me.
For example, when I lived in the Caribbean island, I cooked my food and shared with friends.
Many people didn't ask much about my customs, some didn't want to know or sometimes, they laughed at the music and so on.
Some, on the other hand, were fascinated.
Most Guyanese have the ability to adjust to wherever they are, keeping their cultural / religious habits private. We already live in a multicultural place here, in Guyana.
As for children learning the customs of others...the high-school I attended, a Catholic school, made sure we learnt about other religions...not to force beliefs on us, but to foster tolerance.
If I were to live in another country, I would be exactly how I am here, not forcing my customs and beliefs on others, but sharing.
I just wrote a whole flippin' blog post here, hahaha.........
Indo, hello and welcome to Guyana if you're elsewhere. That's a new one for me, what they've done in Haiti...is that like Bombay becoming Mumbai again?
Keith, pleeeease forgive my wicked, wicked sense of humour...but the irony of Britanistan amuses me.
When I moved to Scotland I had to learn "Scotlish". ;-)
How are you G~G? I hope keeping well and good. I've been to busy to blog hop lately, but I do often think about all my friends out there in blogland. :-)
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