Speaking and listening

22nd Oct 2004

ACCENTS: THE FAKE, THE AUTHENTIC AND THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE

I have always been a little peeved by people with fake accents. I mean, you can identify the Indian, the Chinese, the Japanese, the French, the Italian, the Australian etc when they speak English. They don’t try to adopt another accent. Why should we?
Ok, maybe I’m just jealous of their linguistic skills.

But I was once guilty of it.

I used to be able to fake an American accent. It was a one-day rafting expedition in Cairns and I was grouped together with five other American girls. I figured that above the thunderous sounds of the rapids and the booming voice of the leader in front, I needed to adopt an accent quickly accepted by them. I faked it so well they thought I was American. I think it’s just too much American TV.


Now, I am guilty of it again. But of course, like all normal human beings I try to justify my actions. I think it’s much easier for the Brits to understand what I am saying if I try to sound like them. Hmmm, maybe I’m also trying to impress myself

But, I’m not doing so well. I cannot do the Brit accent. Now and then, I break into it quite fluently, like when I am ordering food or something like that. But I cannot sustain a conversation. Just goes to show that I can never be a stage actress.

HOW DID SHAKESPEARE SPEAK?
I have taught Shakepeare’s texts before. When I read the text to the students, it was Shakespeare from Singapore. Of course, my students didn’t mind the accent (or the lack of it, rather) and they did not find it funny at all. They’d probably preferred the Singapore version to the authentic one shown on video.

Yesterday, Martin (our tutor) asked me and Georgie (classmate from UK) to read a dialogue from Measure to Measure. We were not given any time to prepare and I was facing it for the first time. MY GOODNESS. I did understand the general gist of the scene but to read it with emotion, with the right rhythm, in Shakespearean English is quite different.

I was supposed to be Isabella who’s telling her jailed brother Claudio (who’s sentenced to die) that the acting Duke would release him only if she spent a night with him. So, this Isabella character is trying to break a piece of bad news to the brother – either he dies or she would have to go to bed with the duke.

The scene lasted about five-minutes. Twenty-five percent of the time, I was trying to guess the meaning of the sentences. The next-twenty-five percent, I was trying to keep a consistent accent. I knew I could not do the British one. So, I spoke with what I knew best – the Singaporean one. Another twenty-five percent was spent wondering if my classmates understood what I said. The final twenty-five percent, I was laughing inside to witness this Singapore Isabella and the British Claudio speaking. And they are siblings!

LISTENING
I do like listening to the radio though. The clear, crisp accent. Lovely. I like listening to the radio so much that I have to switch it off when I’m doing my readings. I cannot focus at all because I would be too distracted by what the presenter is saying.

Updates of Dr Pam’s programme
It is like the Oprah show, man. Sob, sob, console, console. Commiserate and unite! I exaggerate on the last bit.

There was this African woman who was forced into marriage when she was 14 and suffered immense physical and psychological abuse. Someone helped her escape to UK and now she is afraid of men.

Men write in to tell of their trauma of being raped.

And there was this man who was vexed because he is shy and he wanted to meet more people. Dr Pam asked if he was intimidated by other men who would vie for the ladies’ attention.

He replied, “Yes, I envy men who are more outgoing. But women love me anyway. Because I’m gay.”

Updates of Clive Bull’s programme
If you text (sms) a landline (not a mobile phone line) and the owner of the phone calls a particular number, the service providers could actually turn the text message into a recording. So, the owner can actually hear the text message being read out!

Wonder if M1/singtel/starhub have this service?

Of course, some listeners tried “texting” foul words and found that they were read too…

I have also found out that I can watch TV in the library. This is one of the initiatives of the language advisory centre. International students can watch UK TV programmes to improve their English. This is available whenever the library is open. So, I could watch cartoons at 10am if I wish to. At the same time, students who want to know more about other languages like French, Spanish , Greek and ermm… cannot recall the rest, can tune to certain channels.

If I’m not hungry (I tend to be by 6pm), I could watch the 6pm news on BBC! More clear, crisp English!