Friday, August 30, 2019

Several Kinds of English that I Speak of

My family and I lived in several places and so as we move from one place to another, I have learned to speak several kinds of the English language as well.For instance, I am a little familiar with West Indian English, wherein one of the major characteristics of their grammar is the absence of â€Å"-s† if its state is singular and is in the present tense, and so sometimes instead of stating â€Å"Cleavon loves music†, I would only say, â€Å"Cleavon love music†Ã‚   (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.).In addition to that, another grammatical characteristic of the West Indian English is the elimination of the word that connects the subject and the predicate or what is technically referred to as the â€Å"copula† (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.). For example, â€Å"Cleavon extremely passionate†, instead of â€Å"Cleavon is extremely passionate† or â€Å"Cleavon my cousin† instead of â€Å"Cleavon is my cousin† (Oxford Univer sity Press, 2008, n.p.).Furthermore, when we moved to Canada and stayed there for about two years, I managed to acquire a little bit of Canadian English as well which is sometimes evident in the way I pronounce words, for example, my classmates would be confused even if I meant â€Å"caller† because what they heard from me was â€Å"collar† (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.). Similarly, if I say â€Å"caught†, they would misunderstand it since it sounded like â€Å"cot† (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.). I also got the nanny confused one time when I said, â€Å"May I please just have porridge for breakfast?† I forgot that in U.S. English, it is known as, â€Å"oatmeal† (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.).Last but not least, since we now moved back to the United States, my U.S. English is back as well (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.). Nowadays, I would jokingly say â€Å"My seatmate is such a nerd; she would spend three sleeple ss nights for our science project and would not even complain a bit† (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.). Nobody would be confused by my statement since this is the Standard English that they utilize also (Oxford University Press, 2008, n.p.).ReferenceOxford University Press. (2008). Types of World English.Retrieved April 7, 2008 fromhttp://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/types/?view=uk

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