This is a great letter from Patricia R., a
LEP subcriber who lives in India. She is Brazilian and as such she is finding Indian culture
quite different and interesting, and so the Indian English accent! You may learn new words and expressions
here, plus a few details about culture and life in India.
Check out the editing I did in red, so you
too can improve your English with her letter! Words and letters between brackets [
] mean they shouldn't be there.
If you want, send me your thoughts and
comments, as well as your English questions if you have any. Use the LEP form below and
LEP will gladly give you a feedback about your writing.
Thank you Pat, for your
contribution! ;)
Hi there Dear Teacher,
Finally, I am back to my English studies after a long and amazing vacation.
Now, it's time to catch up with(Br)
/ to (US) all my lessons. I will do that, for
sure. Bear with me...;)
As you know, I live in that interesting and quaint country
called India. Being in India is not that easy due to tremendous cultural shock. In India there are 16
official languages, including English. Also, there is a large number of dialects. In each state of India
people speak a different language, that's why I say that an Indian may also be considered a foreigner in
their own country. For instance, my husband is from North of India, where the majority of people speak
Hindi, when he goes to South of India, where people speak Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, he is not able to
understand a single word, and he has to ask the person if she/he speaks English. Believe it or
not!
Only the so-called educated Indians are able to speak English
as in school and college all subjects are taught in this language. However, due to different
Indian[s] languages, even local
people have different English accents. For that reason, Indian
English [accent] sounds pretty peculiar.
Moreover, there are many expressions and words that Indians say [which]
that seem to be quite unfamiliar to
other[s] English
speakers. For example, when they talk about cousins they often say: my cousin sister or my
cousin brother to differentiate [one from another] the female from the male cousin. Also, when they have a sore throat they say "my throat is paining." Well, I might
be mistaken, but it sounds very odd. Please teacher, correct me if I am
wrong. Patricia, there is nothing
that should be corrected about your feelings... if you feel that it's odd, it is odd for you!!!!
There is no right and wrong when we talk about cultural aspects, what there is is judgement. And that
is not very favorable to our growth if we judge using parameters of right and wrong. Yes, it's
different to say "paining", but it has its charm, don't you think? I think it's cute! :) Likewise, we
say in Portuguese "minha garganta está doendo" (making the "dor/(pain)" noun as a
verb, too! Would an English
native speaker say it is odd because we transform the noun "dor" in a verb "doendo"?? It's just how
the language is structured, and that comes from far back when the language was settled and then
modified, centuries after centuries... I, personally, see the oddities more like beauties! Maybe just
because I am a language lover! ;-)
It's like "céu da boca" or "peito do pé"
or "barriga da perna" -- it's so peculiar to the Portuguese language and so "picturesque", as my husband
says! When he first started learning Portuguese with me, he was in awe all the time with the new colorful
expressions we would learn in Portuguese. It may be odd to an American to call the top of their foot
"breast of the foot" or "chest of the foot", whatever! What about "belly of the leg"? ahahah But to
Portuguese speakers there is a lot of sense in that, isn't there? ;)
To tell about some of my experiences with Indian
English, one day an Indian friend invited me over for dinner, and I really had a lavish and delicious
dinner, I must say. While having my meal my friend [asked] invited me to help myself once again,
and I thanked her and said I was fine. To my surprise, another friend asked me if I was full. That time I
thought in Portuguese and got really uncomfortable by her question as according to Brazilian etiquette if
one says "eu estou cheia" (I am full) it is a definite no-no, and then I
replied to her [by] saying
that I was satisfied, and people around me, including my deeeeear hubby, burst out laughing. I asked
my husband what was wrong with my statement, and he said that "satisfied" has a sexual
connotation in
India. Oh gosh! It is hard to
believe!
Despite his explanation, I still prefer to say that "I am
fine" other than saying that "I am full." It really sounds weird to me.
An American friend of mine said that it is OK if I say "I have
had enough." Now, I want to know what you have to say to me...;)
"I am full" fits the colloquial speech.
You can say that if you are among close people. I say that sometimes to my husband at home, but not at a
business lunch, for example. I too prefer to say "I am fine, thanks" or "I've had enough, thanks!", or
even, depending on whom I am with, I would say "I am satisfied, thanks!" - but now... I will NOT say that
if I ever visit India! :-p
Speaking of food, there is another expression that many
Indians usually use. When the food is not tasty they say that the food is boring. hmmmm....Is it
correct? Again, it is
not a matter of correct or incorrect! It's just the way they see the world! Words/languages represent the
way we see the world -- that's why language is culture! It's based on living experiences, environment,
customs, habits, relationhip models, etc.... AND yes, I totally agree with their picturesque way of
depicting tastless food!!! "Boring" represents it very well in my humble opinion!
:-D I am a
very good and creative Chef (at home!) and a fantastic eater! And I will
tell you: food should never be "boring"! If they are, they deserve the
name!
Incredible India! A country full of varieties, diversity
and the funniest things in the world. I hope you like my
story!
I believe that I have made some English mistakes. Please, do
correct me.
Thank you!
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