Language Issues

The issue about Manglish - when people get sensitive about being ridiculed for their poor english, the topic sometimes gets hot. My contention is that if you’re poor in a language, it doesn’t make you any lesser as a person. It is another of those things called talent if one can speak well and pick up a language easily. Those who learn languages easily usually talk a lot and don’t mind being wrong some of the time. They laugh and get themselves corrected and they learn and improve their command of the language. To them, it is no big deal. It is the sensitive or shy individuals who find it difficult to learn when they take every criticism too seriously and personally. They should be willing to take every step possible and keep going. Kids would never walk if they are afraid to fall again after taking the first few steps.

Many of us had to fall off a bicycle countless times before we managed to stay on it. We just concentrated on mastering the balancing act and ignored the aches and scratches from the falls. Being able to ride the bicycle with ease was the ultimate goal. Of course, nowadays the kiddy bicycles come with extra wheels for learners. Similarly, language learners nowadays have lots of help from videos and audios and what-nots to help them. No excuse if you can't learn another language unless you don't like to open that gap!

I also found that no matter what language it is, there is always the local version. Which means that any spoken language has to evolve into a different version whenever it leaves it original location. Therefore, we would be only kidding ourselves to think that we can maintain and speak perfect Queen’s English on Malaysian soil with everyone we meet.

Each person has his own strengths or weaknesses and each should take learning in his own time and mark his own progress. This real-life situation is not a school where you need to pass to certain standards within a certain period. I was schooled in English but I had to speak and improve my Mandarin when my kids started school. My eldest came home from school and switched on to Mandarin and the younger girls just followed. And I had to keep up with them. No choice lah. Their mother suggested that I spoke English with them so they can be better at it. But it doesn't seem to work. Brain can't switch, tongue can't switch. Selector jam. so, we're stuck with Mandarin with the kids, Hokkien with wife, and Teochew with my side of the family, and campur with all the rest of the population.