"I want to learn to speak American," Tila said.
"You can't," I answered.
"Yes, I can. You are American. You can teach me."
"But, the thing is, there's no such thing as 'the American language.' We speak English."
"English? No American?"
"No."
"But I want to learn to speak like an American. Okay? You understand?"
Well. Hmm. Yes, she means, of course, English with an American accent. She means that she wants to speak in an American way, like the people in the movies.
But it's not as simple as that, is it. An American speaks in a variety of accents, depending on where he comes from--eastern, midwestern, southern, west coast, and so on. It is interesting that these are not readily discernable to the Indonesian speaker. Then again, I suppose that an Indonesian may discern a difference in the speech of a native of the island of Java, for instance, as opposed to someone who comes from Borneo.
Or perhaps Tila means that she wants to learn the common expressions and slang usage of an American as opposed to an Australian, for instance--as in Ga-day or mate (pronounced 'mite'). Although that, too, will be different according to where you come from. I was watching an interview of a woman from Louisiana who said 'But I will do tell you this.' Not something anyone outside the south would say.
In fact, I have met a number of Indonesians who've expressed the desire to 'speak like an American.' And that is a tall order indeed. Indonesian, for instance, does not have an I sound as in Itch or idiom or, indeed, Richard. (That's why I changed my name to Will--and even here, they say Weel. Moreover, we do not roll our R's, while in Indonesian they are rolled mercilessly.
So where to begin? I guess I can listen to what she says and then repeat it back 'in American', so that she might lose some of the beloved R's and Eeeee's.
We can start with 'Richard'. Or, as she would say, Rrr-eee-chad. She's a bright girl, a college student, and I rrreckon she's bound to succeed.
"You can't," I answered.
"Yes, I can. You are American. You can teach me."
"But, the thing is, there's no such thing as 'the American language.' We speak English."
"English? No American?"
"No."
"But I want to learn to speak like an American. Okay? You understand?"
Well. Hmm. Yes, she means, of course, English with an American accent. She means that she wants to speak in an American way, like the people in the movies.
But it's not as simple as that, is it. An American speaks in a variety of accents, depending on where he comes from--eastern, midwestern, southern, west coast, and so on. It is interesting that these are not readily discernable to the Indonesian speaker. Then again, I suppose that an Indonesian may discern a difference in the speech of a native of the island of Java, for instance, as opposed to someone who comes from Borneo.
Or perhaps Tila means that she wants to learn the common expressions and slang usage of an American as opposed to an Australian, for instance--as in Ga-day or mate (pronounced 'mite'). Although that, too, will be different according to where you come from. I was watching an interview of a woman from Louisiana who said 'But I will do tell you this.' Not something anyone outside the south would say.
In fact, I have met a number of Indonesians who've expressed the desire to 'speak like an American.' And that is a tall order indeed. Indonesian, for instance, does not have an I sound as in Itch or idiom or, indeed, Richard. (That's why I changed my name to Will--and even here, they say Weel. Moreover, we do not roll our R's, while in Indonesian they are rolled mercilessly.
So where to begin? I guess I can listen to what she says and then repeat it back 'in American', so that she might lose some of the beloved R's and Eeeee's.
We can start with 'Richard'. Or, as she would say, Rrr-eee-chad. She's a bright girl, a college student, and I rrreckon she's bound to succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment