- Joined
- Jul 7, 2013
- Messages
- 12,499
Just being curious, that's all.
I was born in Hong Kong and lived there until I came to UK to continue with my school in my mid teens, liked it here so much I decided to call it my home.
My first/native language is Cantonese, and I only speak it with my mum once every 2 to 3 months or so.
I can just about read the menus in Chinese (not the simplified version)!
I struggled with getting an English qualification when I was at school and failed every single English related exam that I took.
However, eventually, I managed to achieved a good enough grade in an exam that required for 3 essays to be written on general subjects in 2 hours. This was good enough for me to go to university, phew!
Many years later, I needed to do an exam at the end of a 5-day vocational training course, and the tutor informed the class that 30 extra minutes would be granted to those whose first/native language was not English (apart from me, there was an Eastern European lady in the class). I cheekily put my hand up, and got told off for trying, citing I had been in UK long enough with no sign of being disadvantaged in anyway.
When I went to school in UK in the late 70s, during the first lesson with my English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher, she informed me that in order to climb up the socioeconomic ladder and be a respected member of society, I would need to drop my accent and speak like I was announcing the news on BBC! And yes, I did work hard to drop my accent. Those were the teachings of the day.
I was very chuffed when I went on a holiday in Europe during the summer holidays 2 years later, to be recognised as being British/English due to my accent that I worked hard to achieve.
Friends and colleagues would notice a significant change in my accent whenever I came back after spending some time with my family in Canada, spending most of the time conversing in Cantonese with them, speaking in short syllables rather than round tones (ref: the elocution lessons in the film Singing In The Rain).
I have never felt being disadvantaged in anyway by not having English as my first/native language for all the years I have been in UK (over 40 years). I do make an effort in trying to make sure my spelling and grammar are correct - not doing so would look sloppy in my line of work and show me up as lacking attention in details.
Thanks for reading.
DK
I was born in Hong Kong and lived there until I came to UK to continue with my school in my mid teens, liked it here so much I decided to call it my home.
My first/native language is Cantonese, and I only speak it with my mum once every 2 to 3 months or so.
I can just about read the menus in Chinese (not the simplified version)!
I struggled with getting an English qualification when I was at school and failed every single English related exam that I took.
However, eventually, I managed to achieved a good enough grade in an exam that required for 3 essays to be written on general subjects in 2 hours. This was good enough for me to go to university, phew!
Many years later, I needed to do an exam at the end of a 5-day vocational training course, and the tutor informed the class that 30 extra minutes would be granted to those whose first/native language was not English (apart from me, there was an Eastern European lady in the class). I cheekily put my hand up, and got told off for trying, citing I had been in UK long enough with no sign of being disadvantaged in anyway.
When I went to school in UK in the late 70s, during the first lesson with my English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher, she informed me that in order to climb up the socioeconomic ladder and be a respected member of society, I would need to drop my accent and speak like I was announcing the news on BBC! And yes, I did work hard to drop my accent. Those were the teachings of the day.
I was very chuffed when I went on a holiday in Europe during the summer holidays 2 years later, to be recognised as being British/English due to my accent that I worked hard to achieve.
Friends and colleagues would notice a significant change in my accent whenever I came back after spending some time with my family in Canada, spending most of the time conversing in Cantonese with them, speaking in short syllables rather than round tones (ref: the elocution lessons in the film Singing In The Rain).
I have never felt being disadvantaged in anyway by not having English as my first/native language for all the years I have been in UK (over 40 years). I do make an effort in trying to make sure my spelling and grammar are correct - not doing so would look sloppy in my line of work and show me up as lacking attention in details.
Thanks for reading.
DK
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