28-yr old nocturnal over@nal geekette Malaysian.
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My England veli good wan
The other night at the wedding cocktail reception, I was accidentally engaged in a conversation with two ladies in their late 30s or 40s. Because I was nicely dressed in a cheongsam, the compliment over the dress sparked a conversation that lead from the dress to the way I speak English.
You speak English very well! I can even understand you!!!
Honestly, that felt like an insult. But it was more reflective of the things she had already presumed about me before sparking a conversation. Could she have assumed I wasn't going to be a good conversationalist because I was Asian? As we went on talking about cultural experiences, she even proceeded to remark aloud to her mate,
She's not only pretty... She's intelligent and speaks English very well!!That was just rude. At that point I was tired of being a showpiece, and thankful that we had to disperse from the dance floor where we were standing in conversation, because the bride and groom were going to share their first dance.
I walked off with a bad taste in my mouth. After speaking to people who sterotypically presumed that to be intelligent you had to speak English, I was reminded of my own mum. She isn't a native English speaker herself. And a lot of Malaysian "friends" stereotyped her as being stupid because she couldn't communicate properly in the language. My dad told her to speak to them in Tagalog and see who was the stupid one. It's annoying to think that presumptions of language barriers as a measure of intellect is a communication hindrance. What's wrong with attempting or taking the time to understand a person based on broken language? I grew up with that, by necessity obviously.
I used to joke with Lee if I should "speak in bad England" or pretend I didn't understand just to get the last laugh. Or maybe I should just come up with a sarcastic retort saying that they don't speak English anyway, they speak strine.
I have purposefully embarrassed people over their presumptions before, particularly when they come up to me at work assuming I'm someone's assistant rather than the director/producer. So I probably just need to add another bit to my sarcasm repertoire. Because I'm sure there'll be more encounters like these to come.
(This entry was split from the previous one, and re-written)
Comments
I used to get it all the bloody time; majority from Americans (especially those in online forums). Sometimes for kicks, I just go "Yes, I had better speak good English because I spent my entire life studying the language."
=.=
Oddly enough, when I was in France, no one said anything about my English being great for a non-native speaker because there, you can be Asian and speak fluent French - so it's nothing to them. Then again, they have a thing against English/Brits. :P
Mei | December 12, 2006 7:21 PM
When I was studying, there were kids that laughed at other kids because they couldn't speak well in Malay. I've read on a few blogs about those who are chinese educated making fun of chinese who can't speak their mother tongue. The same goes for the Tamils who can't speak/read Tamil. Ironically, now I realize I've made the same mistake as well a few times. Not taking people seriously because of their inability to converse well. Hmm :(
BawangMerah | December 12, 2006 7:26 PM
Lin Peh Engrish also not bad what ? HAHAH !
Lin Peh | December 12, 2006 10:16 PM
Oh how tragic and unjust for such fine ladies to live out all their lives in the boondocks - er, outback, deprived of the privilege of living in a multicultural society, where the wonders of witnessing English being spoken by other than white faces is so common! Pray tell, what could be worse?
Giant Sotong | December 13, 2006 1:16 AM
G Sotong x_X quite contrary, the speaking one has been to SEA (except Msia)...
Lin Peh hehehehe...
redOnion, i've made those mistakes myself before too.
mei, yesh.. the French would never compliment you on ur English =P
midnite lily | December 13, 2006 1:12 PM
eh i got that when i was in melbourne too. only that remark came from an asian. a vietnamese, if u have to know.
hahahaha...
arboon! | December 14, 2006 12:14 AM
I had problems when I first returned to Australia from Malaysia, as people used to think I was English as I spoke like my mother (who is English and very well spoken). So I spent a lot of my childhood being called a 'Stupid Pom', even though I'm Australian. [Which says something about some people's intelligence.]
Then again, some people think complimenting a person on how good they speak is a compliment [provided they assume the person is naturally from a different language speaking back ground], so if they here a Non-Aussie accent over here, they might assume you've grown up in a foreign place. But, I would assume that might happen regardless of which language you're speaking provided your accent doesn't sound local.
Dabido (Teflon) | December 14, 2006 8:28 PM
My dad once told me that when people look at me, I don't look American. I was born in California. I graduated from UC Berkeley and Northwestern University. Now I live in Kansas and I'm still treated like I was born in another country.
At work, somebody asked me if my family celebrated Thanksgiving. I did my best to stop myself from chewing her out for such a racist attitude. I reminded myself that it was simply a display of her ignorance and upbringing...and she wasn't trying to be mean.
But I'm tired of having to prove that I am American and that I look American with my dark skin, black hair, brown eyes...Sigh.
queenkv | December 15, 2006 2:39 PM