4 ms·

Funnily enough I’ve had to explain this to my friends when ordering in Chinese or other ethic restaurants. Something like “hi, how are you? I’d like the roast d

Funnily enough I’ve had to explain this to my friends when ordering in Chinese or other ethic restaurants. Something like “hi, how are you? I’d like the roast duck with rice please, oh and with a Diet Coke too?” is actually quite confusing and a lot to parse when you’re a native Cantonese speaker rushing to serve 30 people. Instead “roast duck with rice, Diet Coke”, while rude sounding, is much preferable. It may seem a little condescending but learning to speak broken English is a rather useful skill.

poglet 5y ago
I ended up with the prawn burger (KFC Japan) because I made the mistake of mentioning that I dont want the prawn burger.
- megablast 5y ago
  You started to list the things you didn’t want?? That’s odd.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
    Not at all, it's similar to a proof by refutation. Assuming there was a finite number of dishes that could be ordered, it should be easy to prove it a sound and complete ordering rule.
- bonoboTP 5y ago
  I once had a sore throat and tried to order a drink that wasn't cold in a language I could barely speak, but I really tried to emphasize the not, and I ended up with an extra cold drink. It's difficult to communicate effectively and you need the experience of failing several times in order to learn.
phreack 5y ago
If you're in, say, Japan, where most people know a bit of English, it's important to be able to break yours so they understand you better. Even more so, being able to speak broken Japan-flavored English would be perfect if your goal is to convey a simple message by any means. Most tourists don't realize accent and pronunciation could make a word unrecognizable to non native speakers.
- sebmellen 5y ago
  To give an example of the difference: "Robot" in standard middle American would probably yield a confused stare. "Roboto" pronounced like an overly effusive Italian would most likely be understood.
  - eatonphil 5y ago
    That was my experience too. I got into a taxi with my wife and I tried to make sure he took credit card. I asked "credit card" in as clear English I could. The driver was confused. Tried again. My wife asked "curedito cado" and he said yes immediately. (Caveat, wife is Korean but Korean transliteration of credit card is not that same as Japanese.) I thought people would understand clear, slow English (I assumed after school they'd most pick up from American/British movies?) but I guess after a while they only hear the local transliterated version of words. Or only remember that version? I don't know.
    - YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
      Nothing to do with Japan and Japanese, but in my experience the way that consontants sound in most English accents makes them hard to identify correctly for most non-native English speakers. And the same goes for French also - except in French the vowels also are weird. But now that I think of it, actually, so do the English vowels. "eoouhw" for "o"? What? Other European languages have idiosyncratic pronounciations of consonants, and Danish in particular is unpronounceable and undecipherable by anyone but the Danish (Source: my friend learns Danish and says the Danish have telepathy, which is apparently a standard joke in other Scandinavian countries with languages derived from Old Norse. Also :P). What makes English consonants sound weird to my Greek ears is the way they are always a bit... airy? An "r" is an "aahh'r". An "s" is an "ehssss". A "d" is a "dheeh". And so on. In Spanish, "r" is "RRRR", "s" is "SS" and "d" is "D'". And so it is in Greek and in Italian also. And in most Balkan or slavic languages, etc. The Germans say "krchhh'" when they want to say "r" but OK, it's German, they don't mean you no harm. The French say "erggh'", I guess, I can't really do it justice in writing. But try imagining how it is to be a native of a non-Indoeuropean language and trying to understand the airy consontants and drawn-out vowels of English. Hell. Or, well... 'eohll. Speaking of the French, guys, I speak French since I was 2 and I also speak English. I assure you, they are not supposed to sound the same. Please believe me. (big :p in this comment, OK?)

poglet 5y ago

I ended up with the prawn burger (KFC Japan) because I made the mistake of mentioning that I dont want the prawn burger.

megablast 5y ago
You started to list the things you didn’t want?? That’s odd.
- YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
  Not at all, it's similar to a proof by refutation. Assuming there was a finite number of dishes that could be ordered, it should be easy to prove it a sound and complete ordering rule.
bonoboTP 5y ago
I once had a sore throat and tried to order a drink that wasn't cold in a language I could barely speak, but I really tried to emphasize the not, and I ended up with an extra cold drink. It's difficult to communicate effectively and you need the experience of failing several times in order to learn.

phreack 5y ago

If you're in, say, Japan, where most people know a bit of English, it's important to be able to break yours so they understand you better. Even more so, being able to speak broken Japan-flavored English would be perfect if your goal is to convey a simple message by any means. Most tourists don't realize accent and pronunciation could make a word unrecognizable to non native speakers.

sebmellen 5y ago
To give an example of the difference: "Robot" in standard middle American would probably yield a confused stare. "Roboto" pronounced like an overly effusive Italian would most likely be understood.
- eatonphil 5y ago
  That was my experience too. I got into a taxi with my wife and I tried to make sure he took credit card. I asked "credit card" in as clear English I could. The driver was confused. Tried again. My wife asked "curedito cado" and he said yes immediately. (Caveat, wife is Korean but Korean transliteration of credit card is not that same as Japanese.) I thought people would understand clear, slow English (I assumed after school they'd most pick up from American/British movies?) but I guess after a while they only hear the local transliterated version of words. Or only remember that version? I don't know.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
    Nothing to do with Japan and Japanese, but in my experience the way that consontants sound in most English accents makes them hard to identify correctly for most non-native English speakers. And the same goes for French also - except in French the vowels also are weird. But now that I think of it, actually, so do the English vowels. "eoouhw" for "o"? What? Other European languages have idiosyncratic pronounciations of consonants, and Danish in particular is unpronounceable and undecipherable by anyone but the Danish (Source: my friend learns Danish and says the Danish have telepathy, which is apparently a standard joke in other Scandinavian countries with languages derived from Old Norse. Also :P). What makes English consonants sound weird to my Greek ears is the way they are always a bit... airy? An "r" is an "aahh'r". An "s" is an "ehssss". A "d" is a "dheeh". And so on. In Spanish, "r" is "RRRR", "s" is "SS" and "d" is "D'". And so it is in Greek and in Italian also. And in most Balkan or slavic languages, etc. The Germans say "krchhh'" when they want to say "r" but OK, it's German, they don't mean you no harm. The French say "erggh'", I guess, I can't really do it justice in writing. But try imagining how it is to be a native of a non-Indoeuropean language and trying to understand the airy consontants and drawn-out vowels of English. Hell. Or, well... 'eohll. Speaking of the French, guys, I speak French since I was 2 and I also speak English. I assure you, they are not supposed to sound the same. Please believe me. (big :p in this comment, OK?)