Recycled | "You Speak Good English" and Why I Should Take it as a Compliment.

I wrote this in September of 2011. Recent events have brought it back to memory, and I decided to edit it a little and post it here.

"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."
"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."

Yes, she hit a raw nerve. There are so many times I've heard:

"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 my mother tongue other languages."

For The Day I Move into My Own Apartment...

Now that I've graduated and I'm trying to figure out what next, the thing I envy most about being settled down is the ability to decorate my place as I would like it. A little paint here, a framed picture there. I find myself looking more and more lustfully at interior design magazines and tumblrs. I'm calling this part of  my life the research phase since I am internalizing all the information on the internet for future use. Yaaay!

Here's a post about a room I crave. Somewhere deep down, I'm a minimalist -- deep, deep down. I tend to be a little cluttered -- but Einstein's desk was a little cluttered too so... *shrug*. In a way, I see the appeal of minimalism as having something to do with my half-buried desire to be a better neater person. How else would you explain my being cluttered but loving that clean, free look?

Recently, I came across the very simple-looking bathroom of writer/stylist/social media manager Samantha Hutchinson. As far as I can tell, from the little that she showed, it's all monochrome with a splash of pink. Perfect! Her blog is aptly named Could I Have That. I stole some of her pictures to show them on here. I particularly adore the black and white rug.


 

Finally, happy new month! January feels like it's dragged on for ages! But I'm not particularly complaining. I tried to put the extra 60 days of January into good use.

Recycled | Random Thoughts pt. 3

I was just thinking about this rant. It's from a little over four years ago, when I was applying to college and trying really hard to convince my mum to let me go to Europe for university. It's interesting that all my reasons for wanting an accent still stand (but my perception of a US accent has definitely grown). I haven't edited it -- although I should -- I wanted to preserve my 18 year-old voice, comma errors and all.

I really should come up with a proper title...

I am shopping for an accent/twang (yes, the word is ‘twang’ – I looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary). Of course not the kind that suits me like a pair of purple contact lenses, which if you have, I'm sure look good on you and which BTW I am still going to get, just the sort that when I open my mouth to talk, any of the following happens:

1. I get a job at one of our bigger media houses, noticed how lately anyone in the media has at least an accent or a twang? What really blows my mind is the inconsistency of the pronunciations. The Kenyan-twang is a mish-mash of all available accents: American, British, Australian, French, Mandarin- you name it. Basically, what yours sounds like to others depends entirely on what phonetics you choose to borrow from whatever region.

2. I get prompt service at Java, especially the one in Adam's. What's with them? Do I have to look foreign to get service? And you wonder why I sit for several hours, use your free internet and leave without ordering anything- you owe me at least that much, you biased people!!! It’s not so much as to get prompt service, than it is about gloating. Clearly, being that the colour of my skin is very far from not-black, I would still get ignored. However, I would derive so much pleasure out of complaining to one of the waitresses in my foreign tongue- make her feel the pinch of losing that forex money, and make sure her manager feels the same pain, only three times more.

3. People try to remember my last name if I had introduced myself, try to learn it if otherwise, or befriend me because you never know what MP, Minister, Ambassador or other prominent person spawned me and paid ridiculous tuition so that I attend school in a foreign country. Even though on further exploration of the fact, there exists a miracle known as Financial Aid, which means that the tuition need not be expensive but who cares? It is quoted in dollars and pound sterling! There are added benefits to this get-to-know-you-better; complimentary tickets and invitations to lavish parties, where I have to sit through another session of mixed up twangs. On that note, I love those people who twang with a shrub. I mean “Wow W, tharr is such a rovery dress. I should nget me one of those sometime.”

So as I shop, I wonder, Kenyan English with a hint of British? Because granted, Europeans have more class. Ama I go for good ol' American and sound like I watched too many movies and listened to too much Hip Hop? Note, the point is not to come off as a fake but a more 'polished' form of myself.

Obviously, as with everything there are downsides to all this adaptation. It isn’t all too glossy. Because once I take on my new talk, I am bound to lose a few “friends”. People that are obviously cut from the same judgmental cloth as the new crowd that I will be hanging out with. You know the guys that claim I am not “down to earth, anymore” or those that think, “she feels hot and snubbish, nowadays”. Why would the way I talk change anything about the experiences we would have shared so far?

While I'm at it, I need a whole new wardrobe. What's the point of having a ka-accent if I lack the fashion sense of my peeps from whom I borrowed the accent?

I was so much funnier when I was younger. He he.