Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How's your English?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • How's your English?

    Product of Hawaii DOE and UHM. When I worked and lived in Hawaii, I never felt a weakness to my command of the Englsih language. I was never uncomfortable, never held back, and never had to think twice.

    Now that I live in an area that is less diverse on the mainland, I noticed how bad my English education was in Hawaii. I know it's really my fault.

    Been gone for 15 yeas now, I know I lost my pidgen, and probably don't sound local.

    For those who lived on the mainland, did you feel a weakness in your use of the English language?

  • #2
    Re: How's your English?

    I travel to the mainland for work fairly often. It is not so much that I notice a lack of being able to speak "proper English" when needed, but I do notice that my speaking vocabulary is definitely ..... more restricted. I know/understand what others are saying, but when I talk I tend to use a more basic vocabulary.
    Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: How's your English?

      I had good English education in high school in Connecticut, then majored in English for my B.A. degree, but over the years, with fading memory and exposure to local dialects, some of it has faded.
      If I write and proofread, I'm generally on the money (when I'm reading, I inevitably find spelling and grammar errors in publications), but when I talk, I lapse into less-than-standard English. And then there is also age-related aphasia....
      Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
      ~ ~
      Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
      Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
      Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: How's your English?

        Unchanged. I'm not letting the island's poor speaking habits and lack of vocabulary and grammar skills influence (degrade) how I speak or write. I have a negative opinion of most dialects here, which tarnish the once respectable Hawaiian language. I see no pride in "sounding local."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: How's your English?

          I can easily toggle between standard, HCE, and some other dialects/colloquial forms.
          Twitter: LookMaICanWrite


          flickr

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: How's your English?

            For the record, there is a difference between the terms standard English (as Mike Lowery correctly uses it above) and proper English. "Proper English" is a context-based social construct, like the concept of "polite." What is proper in one context may not be proper in another. There are times when HCE is entirely proper.

            "Standard English" is still subjective, but not nearly as subjective as "proper." The rules of English as determined by its educated studiers, while often up for debate (to split an infinitive or not to split an infinitive? to use the comma before "and" in a list or not to?). All those rules you were forced to learn in grammar classes have to do with standardized English. Sometimes it is proper to stick to the standardized language and there are times when it is not.
            But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
            GrouchyTeacher.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: How's your English?

              Originally posted by scrivener View Post
              For the record, there is a difference between the terms standard English (as Mike Lowery correctly uses it above) and proper English. "Proper English" is a context-based social construct, like the concept of "polite." What is proper in one context may not be proper in another. There are times when HCE is entirely proper.

              "Standard English" is still subjective, but not nearly as subjective as "proper." The rules of English as determined by its educated studiers, while often up for debate (to split an infinitive or not to split an infinitive? to use the comma before "and" in a list or not to?). All those rules you were forced to learn in grammar classes have to do with standardized English. Sometimes it is proper to stick to the standardized language and there are times when it is not.
              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3rhQc666Sg

              Thanks, scrivener! 'preciate the clarification.
              Twitter: LookMaICanWrite


              flickr

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: How's your English?

                Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                "Standard English" is still subjective, (...) All those rules you were forced to learn in grammar classes have to do with standardized English.
                Indeed, at any given time we have spoken 'standardized English,' that is: the rules and forms in current acceptable use according to authority.

                Excellent distinction!
                \
                K
                Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
                ~ ~
                Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
                Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
                Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: How's your English?

                  How's my English? Better than my Japanese...

                  I was raised in Ohio, but my cultural background is somewhat similar, I guess, in that the dialect is not considered "proper" English. My mother still says Warshington and crick and all manner of "hillbilly speech" -- the Appalachian dialect.

                  My English is acceptable enough that I was able to get a waiver from taking English 100 at Manoa. But I do code-switch; when talking to my local family, I can utilize a rudimentary form of pidgin; when speaking to my rich mainland family I conform to much stricter rules of grammar. I actually have a difficult time speaking Appalachian, because for most of my life I've looked down on that particular dialect.
                  Four Thousand Miles (blog) | MacRatLove (comic)
                  Better Holes and Garbage (rats) | Perfectly Inadequate (music)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: How's your English?

                    Fonics Werkz for me!

                    Being in the retail market where being able to communicate effectively to your buying customers is crucial to getting a sale, I can switch the pidgin on and off. On the Big Island there are several versions of local kine talk. If from Pahala, the dialect is very different from let's say Hamakua. Honolulu Pidgin sounds like Caucasians attempting to speak pidgin to locals in Hilo. Honolulu Pidgin is watered down compared to Kau Pidgin.

                    So when selling cars to people from extremely rural Big Island to very cosmopolitan Waikoloa, you have to switch off in a heartbeat. My co-workers are amazed at the transformation from, "Wassup Cuz" to "Good afternoon welcome to Big Island Honda, what would you like to accomplish today in your visit?"
                    Last edited by craigwatanabe; May 3, 2011, 06:38 PM.
                    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: How's your English?

                      Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
                      Being in the retail market where being able to communicate effectively to your buying customers is crucial to getting a sale, I can switch the pidgin on and off.
                      This makes sense to me as someone who lives in Oakland. Lots of black people I know comfortably go back and forth in how they speak, depending on the environment. I had to learn a linguistic term for it: code-switching. Good skill to have!

                      I haven't felt any weakness related to my Hawaii schooling. Of course, I was a constant reader and language nerd...and I'm another English major, so maybe I'm not the representative sample.
                      Last edited by Pohaku; May 9, 2011, 02:22 PM.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X