Self-doubt about English vocab affecting native speaker

[MPhillips]

If Chinese-influenced Eng. bothers you, try Spanglish, just about every other day I get called "mami"(means what it sounds like) by people who think they're being friendly & polite. Anglos & African Americans do it too. My Mexican friends find it shocking too by the way.

[ChTTay]

I like Chinese infuenced English, and Indian... And all the rest. I say go for it, make up new words, new terms, new expressions, different ways of using English. Enjoy.

I wish I had been able to say I was a "middle school senior". We don't even have middle schools!

[Demonic_Duck]

I agree, I rather like Chinglish too, it has a certain charm to it in some circumstances. It depends on the situation though - you wouldn't want students to go around using Chinglish on college applications, in academic essays etc.

 

As for Englese (英式中文), I'm sure that there are certain phrases, grammatical structures etc. that English speakers will use but native Chinese speakers never would, but I think that's a lot more to do with language transfer than education. Bear in mind most of the English taught in Chinese schools is taught by teachers who are Chinese, who have often never been abroad for any significant length of time, who possibly themselves only ever had Chinese teachers, and the teaching materials used have also been written and edited entirely by Chinese people, and most likely not proofread by a native English speaker either.

 

On the other hand, English speakers are much more likely to learn Chinese from native Chinese speakers, and the teaching materials used will generally have been written and edited by Chinese people (or in collaboration between English and Chinese speakers). If a modern Chinese textbook hadn't been written, edited or even proofread by a native, no-one would take it seriously or want to buy it.

[metal.lunchbox]

There's nothing wrong with Chinglish, just like there's nothing wrong with the informal and regional slang variations of American English that I often use. Trouble is those varieties have a time and a place where they are appropriate. My job is to teach them the standard English that they can use to communicate with people around the world, so it should follow most international conventions, or failing that, at least follow the most popular variety (U.S. or U.K general standard English). There is nothing wrong with the Changde dialect that people speak where I live, but I would not be happy if my teachers were teaching me that instead of Standard Chinese. People should be creative with language and they should take ownership over it, make it there's, but they should also understand the necessity of conventions when trying to communicate with others.

 

Re: Kindergarten, I think "preschool" is a better translation for when I hear people use "幼儿园", but it depends on context, and I wouldn't fault someone for using "kindergarten" instead. Translating single words isn't an exact science.

[Demonic_Duck]

People should be creative with language and they should take ownership over it, make it there's, but they should also understand the necessity of conventions when trying to communicate with others.

 

Sorry, but the irony's just too perfect not to quote.

[metal.lunchbox]

I'm talking about speaking two different languages. I speak crazy slang with my friends but I learned how to speak standard English in the appropriate situations. Where's the irony?

 

I'd don't think I'd be the only one if I suggested that the great majority of my students would benefit from first mastering the standard vocabulary and structure of common English before attempting to remake the language in their own image.

[Demonic_Duck]

You wrote "there's" instead of "theirs" to mean "belonging to them" in the same sentence as saying it's important to stick to conventions.

[metal.lunchbox]

Indeed. I always tell my students that sometimes they're teacher is wrong.

[Demonic_Duck]

Well, it's important that there given the freedom to question authority figures.

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[Basil]

 

 

Well, it's important that there given the freedom to question authority figures.

 

 

Especially when authority figures make spelling mistakes...