"You speak good English!"
Someone paid me this "compliment" in the middle of a conversation earlier this week. I understand that she meant it as a good thing, something that would lead up to other good things as concerns my trying to learn other languages, so I'm not particularly holding her to fault. But at the same time, immediately she said it I could hardly wait for her to get to a pause so that I could clue her in.
"No, I don't remember the first time I heard someone speak English."Yes, she hit a raw nerve. There are so many times I've heard:
"We speak English in Kenya. No, not as a second language. Many people are bilingual (and tri-lingual, etc) and if they aren't, it's because they speak too much English."
"You came to the US in 2008? But your English is so good!"To be fair, it doesn't always come from the stereotypical ignorant American. That last quote was from a Peruvian cab driver.
I was watching the Hague proceedings this morning. There were all manner of nationalities represented. French, German, British and US were just the ones that stuck in my mind. These are relevant because while I was watching, I thought, "Uh, she has good English" and "Oh, his English is not so good."
How do we judge "good" English? Is it vocabulary? Diction? Fluency? Is my English "good" when I use fifteen-letter words in place of five-letter words? Is my English "good" if I don't roll my R's? Is my English "good" when, even though it has one accent or another, it's my first language? Is it fair to misjudge the German judge (ha!) by his fluency and diction when his vocabulary is bigger than I can imagine?
I once joined a Facebook group, "I judge you when you use poor grammar," because I do, or used to. My feelings toward the group changed a little when I learned that because I have an unfamiliar accent, people are inclined to immediately shut out what I am saying. It sucks when you can see it in their eyes, too. It's as if the lights went out, and there's no one home anymore. It's as though, by virtue of having an accent, no one waits to find out if my grammar is on point -- it was drummed into me for 12+ years of school, it better be! And more importantly, they immediately assume that they will not understand me. Or I'm just about to ask for something that's so culture-specific, they are sure they don't have it at their store or whatever. Basically, I am judged, and dismissed, by my accent.
Back to the point, why I should take it as a compliment. In China, in Japan, in France, in Germany, in Spain, in Mali, in Senegal, in Brazil, in Peru, and all manner of non-Anglophone countries around the globe, the economy, the school system, life, everything - or almost everything - runs without the need for English. While in Kenya, that you don't speak English implies that you didn't go to school -- because that's the language of instruction -- and hints at you being illiterate, it is hardly the case in any of the other countries I mentioned before. So when someone says, "Oh. You're English is so good!" it doesn't always mean, "Oh, you are not as dumb as I thought!" Though it might. It's more a recognition of "Oh, look at you! You have such a good grasp of this language for which I assume, aside from speaking with me right now and your school work, you have no use." Which has its own world of implications.
Next time someone tells me I speak good English, I'll take it as a compliment because they imagine -- with some valid although inapplicable evidence -- that up until 3 years ago, I had no use for the language. And consequently, they imply that I can get by (fully) on Kiswahili or Luo. They assume that I could comfortably read a book in Kiswahili, or that my mum and I converse in Luo, or that at a funeral, I don't have a 9-year old translating what the preacher is saying. All good things of which English has gotten in the way. Yes, next time someone tells me my English is good, I'll smile before I add:
"I wish I could say the same for mymother tongueother languages."
