We will talk about what it means when we talk about language - for example, what is "pure" English? Is it the English they speak in England? But the United States has more speakers... Why not Jamaican English? Check out the video HERE and learn a little bit of Jamaican Patois then answer ONE of the questions below.
1. What is your impression of Jamaican English?
2. What is your experience with different types of English? (i.e. did you have an Australian teacher, but then went to Canada for a homestay?)
3.Do you have an opinion about what "pure" Japanese is?
4. In France, the French Academy is a group of scholars that decides what "pure" French language is. What is your opinion? Should Japan have an academy like this? Is it possible to control a language? Should we try to keep our languages "pure"?
I'd like to answer Q1.
ReplyDeleteJamaican English has unique word order, and some words of Jamaican English have different pronounciation from American or British English.
Therefore if I was not told it was a kind of English, I would misunderstand that it is some language exept English.
Without subtitles on the video, I could hardly understand what the man said. But though it is difficult to listen to Jamaican English, I can understand the meaning if it is written.
Yuko
My question to Q2: when I went to Australia, I had a chance to hear many types of English in one day. I lived with housemates from Australia and Malaysia and took a class taught by Australian teacher with my Malaysian friend, who had a bit of Chinese accent and ate dinner with friends from Singapore who speak “Singlish” etc...
ReplyDeleteI didn’t get confused with different types of English. However, it was difficult for me to understand Singlish for a few months...
Eri
I wanna answer question1. This is my first time to listen to Jamaican English. At the biginning of their conversation in this video, it sounded totally different from my image of the English. However, I tried to listen carefully and tried to pay attention to the subtitles on the screen, then I could find some words that is similar to English which I heve studied since when I was a junior high school student. Although I know that languages that are spoken in Jamaica, America, and England are all English, still my impression of Jamaican English is that it is different from what I recognize as English.
ReplyDeleteT1 Rina
My answer to Q4: I think it is nonsense to keep the language "pure" because we cannot prevent it from changing. However, I understand why French Academy wank to keep French "pure", because nowadays more and more English words are becoming a part of other languages. It depends on which viewpoint you are on. if you regard the change negatively, than it is a tragedy; if you think it is no use to try to keep it "pure", than you might think the change isv "evolution".
ReplyDeleteI will answer #2. When I was in UK I had a friend from Greece. At that time everyone said that Greek English was the most incomprehensible one. One day we went some casual music party but no one could understand her english at first hearing. Although her English grammatical skill was greater than mine, I always converted her Greek English into my poor British English. For English people, my immature "British" English seemed much easier to follow.
ReplyDeleteSatomi Yoshida
To Question #4:
ReplyDeleteFYI, there is actually an institute (half independent from the government) in Japan of "the Japanese language".
http://www.kokken.go.jp/en/
They don't have any authorities to have controls over colloquial or written Japanese. Rather, their main purpose is to take records on various Japanese dialects and many changes having been happening in the language.
I think it's impossible to determine which dialect is "pure", since standard Japanese spoken currently was originally a small dialect around Tokyo area. On the other hand, it is also true that more and more young people choose the standard over their own dialects. In such a meaning, there might be a vague notion of the standard Japanese as "pure" and thus useful and indispensable to live out.
Nike
I'd like to answer question 2. When I was a freshman, we have two native speakers. One is American, the other is British. It was easy for me to hear American English because it sounds casual and I love the intonation. On the other hand, British English sounds a little bit affected manner of spaking and sometimes difficult to catch some words. It's interesting that originally English was spoken only in Britain and some of them went to America and made a new type of English.
ReplyDeleteAkiko Yamaoka T1
I will answer question 4. I think it is impossible to control a language, because it is continually changing. In Japan, some people say that the Japanese language has become corrupted recently, and we should return to "pure" Japanese languge. But, the "pure" Japanese itself has undergone a gradual change. Japanese has borrowed a lot of foreign words, for instance, those from Portuguese. I think it is normal to accept the change of a language.
ReplyDeleteRie Nishimura
I would like to anwer Q2.
ReplyDeleteLast summer, I stayed Malta for a month to study English. I lived with Maltese family and they had some Maltese accents.
At a language school, I met three teachers, two is from UK, one is from Malta. I realised some difference between Maltese English and British one but I did not confused or annoyed about that.
Misato Noto
For question 3.
ReplyDeleteBy definition, as for language, so called pure Japanese has not existed from the origin. Because in the ancient times we use Kanji which originated in China. Olden Japanese made Katakana, Hiragana from Kanji but they were made from Kanji, chinese.
As for speaking, it seems that ones spoken by the newscasters belong to NHK are sort of a barometer of "standard" Japanese. Although "standard" doesn't always refer to "pure".
I would like to answer question 3. I think most people, including me, have the idea what "the pure Japanese" is. The pure Japanese is the Japanese spoken in Tokyo because now Tokyo is the capital of Japan. Japanese in Tokyo are said to be standard so people think that Japanese is correct and pure and others are thought to be "dialects."
ReplyDeleteWhat the "pure" style of one language depends on which place is the strongest in that age. The fact that American English is taught in most of the school in Japan is one of the examples.
The video was easy to understand thanks to the Jamaican English subtitles. I could know how to spell the words.
T1 Yumi Mizuno
I would like to answer the question 3.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to America, I heard many types of English. For example, a middle aged man pronounced Chicago /t∫ikagou/. He was a staff of an airport in New York. At first, I could not catch the word. And I was surprised at his pronounciation because it was different from one which I studied at school.
This difference might depend on individuals, not regions. However, I knew there were many differences not only between regions but also between indivisuals.
Satomi Yoneyama
I would like to answer question 1.
ReplyDeleteJamaican English grammar is different from English grammar that I studied at school.So it was really difficult for me to catch the words that spoken in the video. I think Jamaican English is not a kind of English but a new language similar to English.
T1 syunta
I will answer question 1.
ReplyDeleteI found two points about the difference between Jamaican English and American Engrish. Firstly, the grammar of Jamaican English is different from that of American. In Jamaican English, that is, they represent the nominative and the accusative with a same word,"mi". Secondly, their pronuncation is unlike American Englsh. I felt that he was articulating vowels, so Jamaican English may be easier for the Japanese to pronounce.
Yusuke
Q4
ReplyDeleteI think language is more or less controlled politically. In Japan, we are taught 'standard' Japanese which is mostly spoken in Kantou area, but there are various dialects in Japan, such as Ainu, Tohoku, Kansai, Kyushu, Okinawa, and people there speak their dialects, even they know the 'standard' version of Japanese. It is just because the government has decided to use the dialect spoken in Tokyo as a standard language, but dialects are easier to use when you live in the district where a dialect is spoken, so we should respect that. Rather than making an academy studying the 'pure' version, we should make an academy which studies dialects, to respect the variety.
I would like to answer question 2.
ReplyDeleteA student from Australia once told me that my English had an American accent. I was surprised to find that there could be such thing as an American "accent" because the American English was what I had always learned and studied, and because I unconsciously regarded it to be the standard type of "English." To me, the English(es) spoken in Australia or England were the ones that had particular accents.
However, from their viewpoint, it was the English I had learned that had an accent. This realization now makes me a bit aware of how the Jamaicans must similarly feel that their English is "the English," and all others are the ones that are irregular.
Kaori Itakura
I would like to answer Q3.
ReplyDeleteI think "pure" Japanese is what we learned at school. Today we have national language classes called "kokugo" in japan.We are obliged to learn "pure Japanese" for at least 9 years in elemntary schools and junior high schools. I think the japanese which is spoken in Tokyo is not always pure because nowadays lots of new words are created by the younger generation, so today's japanese spoken in Tokyo is a little different from the japanese spoken by anchorpersons,imperial families,prime ministers,etc.I think such persons who speak in public speak "pure" Japanese because their Japanese seems to come out from a japanese textbook.
Saki Ito
I'd like to answer the question 1.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard Jamaican English before, and I felt it is hard for me to underestand what the speaker in the video said. I think that Jamaican English is really different from American English or British English. It has different grammer, pronounciation and words. Therefore, I wonder how people decide one variation of English is classified as English, not as some language other than English.
Minami.
I'd like to answer question 4.
ReplyDeleteLanguage doesn't like exist on its own. It is always hugely effected by culture, society, the governments, economic and so on. So when all these effecting factors are changing so much, it is almost impossible to keep the language 'pure' or as it is now.
Yurika
I would like to answer Q2. Four people from Singapore have been staying in my home from a few days ago and they speak Singlish. Their English(I rather call it Chinese English) sounds very different from American english because of pronunciation and accent. It's hard to communicate with them but this is very interesting experience for me.
ReplyDeleteMickie Yamanari
I'd like to answer Q2.
ReplyDeleteMost of my friends who are English native speakers are from like America,England,Canada. Though I know they have different accent, I can still generally understand them. And the movies and news I watched are generally of American or British English accent.That's the way how I think about English. However, during my journey at South Africa, I met a lot of black people who speak English with strong African accent that I hardly understand.
Ren Liu
I would like to answer question 3.
ReplyDeleteI do not think we have "pure" Japanese. We often use a variety of words introduced from foreign languages. Besides that, just as people speaking other languages, young people in Japan create new words and phrases as slang. We use these new Japanese words and foreign words, so it seems to be difficult to define what "pure" Japanese is.
I again made a mistake. I forgot to write my name at the end my comment.
ReplyDeleteFutoshi
Q.3
ReplyDeleteI do not think there is "pure" Japanese in Japan or even in Japanese dictionary because language is always changing as you all know.
I do think there is standard Japanese. But the condition for standard Japanese does not exist in the language itself but in how many and often and in what situation the language is used.
Sentaro
I want to answer the second question. When I was a freshman, I had to watch a video and make a short summary in English class. The teachr was American, so I could understand his English with ease. But the speaker in the video spoke English with Chinese accent. It was very hard for me to understand what he said.
ReplyDeleteT1 Hideto Takamura
I would like to answer the first question. Jamaican English seems to have different orders of words, different pronounciations and grammer from the English I was taught at school. So, if I watched the video without subtitles, I will think it isn't English at all.
ReplyDeleteNana
I'll answer Q1. I listened to Jamaican English for the first time. It sounded like a different launguage from English we are tought in schools. Even the inteviewer who can fluently speak English we know had hard time to speak Jamaican English. It was very interesting. Although I know there are various kinds of English in the world, I have never listened to most of them. I want to listen many sorts of English.
ReplyDeleteT1, Akihiro Yamaguchi
To answer the question 4, I think it is possible to control language. Actually in some countries governments make effort to preserve particular valiations of their languages while excluding other valiations by means of education or broadcasts which give particular variations higer status. Some languages disappeared because of colonialism, dictatorship, and globalization. However, I think we should not control language giving particular languages privilege and excluding other languages as minor. Language is dynamic system of human activity and we should not be allowed to restrict it.
ReplyDeleteT1 Yoshihiro
I will answer the question 4. I think there isn't "pure" Japanese. Language is what is used by people and people differ from one to another. Every individual has own way to think, speak and write. Consequently, no one speak exactly the same language. Terefore, I think it's impossible to keep language pure. Language keeps changing.
ReplyDeleteMinami.O
I'd like to answer Q4.
ReplyDeleteLast spring, I went to England to study for one month and I was confused by British English because I was accustomed to American English. For example, in a elevator (in England it is called "lift"), a kind man asked me "Which floor?" I want to go to 1st floor so I said "1st floor please." Then, he pushed button of 2nd floor! Then I recalled that 1st floor is "ground floor" and 2nd floor is "first floor" for British people!
Yoshiki Yajima
Question 2,
ReplyDeleteI had lived in Canada for a year, and then went to the U.S. I was used to say "washroom" for a bathroom in Canada, and I remember I was very embarrassed in the U.S., when I said "Where is a washroom?".
Also, I often used the word "eh?" in conversations in Canada, but I tried not to say that in the U.S.
I found that was a difference in Canadian and American English.
Miho T1
I'd like to answer Q4. I think Japan should not have an academy like France. I feel it is useless to decide what the pure language is because a language that is spoken in a certain region is their own identity.
ReplyDeleteSayaka U
I would like to answer the 2nd question. I have been to New Zealand and stayed there for about a week. Since English spoken there has an accent unfamiliar to me, it actually took me a few days to get used to it. That accent seemed to be almost the same as the one English spoken in Australia has. Interestingly enough, almost everyone I first met there pointed out that my English had an American accent.
ReplyDeleteAyaka. M
Q1:
ReplyDeleteI had a Jamaican friend once and surely it was hard to communicate with him from time to time.
Their accent was as if it is not English and sounded very weird for me.
However, I still managed to respect his accent and his culture and the place where he's from.
Also they have this their own way of putting words together, meaning that the grammartical order is somewhat different from what we use.
I
Q1
ReplyDeleteJamaican English is very interesting and funny. Probably I will learn some and use it with friends. The way English is being changed all over the world is very interesting and I don't think it is bad. It absorbs cultural features of each country/nationality and becomes something special, extraordinary. The same is with Japanese curry - not curry (as my Indian say) but still very delicious dish.
Anna
I'd like to answer Q1. This is the first time for me to listen to Jamaican English and I was surprised to know how much different it is from American or British ones. Since all their pronunciation, vocabularies, and grammar differs from British or American English, they seems to be mistaken to be a completely different language.
ReplyDeleteASSAN(Asami.S)
I would like to answer question 1.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is really difficult to understand Jamaican English. If I read subtitles, I can understand what the Jamaican man is saying to some extent. I was surprised to know that there are so much differences among English languages all over the world. When Japanese people speak English, their use of words and grammar is not so different from native English speakers, but Jamaican English is completely different from English we usually hear and read.
Takuya Imai
I will answer Q1. Jamaican English seems to me a different kind of language from American or Britain English. Its grammar seems less strict and freer than that of those Englsh. The pronanciation is also different, and it sounds like other European language like Italian or Spanish.
ReplyDeleteShiori
I'd like to answer question 1.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time to listen to Jamaican English and I am very surprised that the grammar and pronunciation of Jamaican English are far from that of American or British English. If there weren't any subtitles in the screen, I couldn't understand what he was saying. Considering the history that Jamaica had been colonized by Spain and England, it is very interesting to know the reason why Jamaican English has become different from American or British English.
T1 Takaho Mikami
I would like to answer the question No.2.
ReplyDeleteOnce I confidently believed that I'm speaking standard Japanese because I grew up in near Tokyo. However, after entering the university, some friends from other parts of Japan pointed out that I use some expressions which people in other parts of Japan never use. So basically people believes that Japanese used in Tokyo is pure Japanese, but there are a lot of dialects in Tokyo. Therefore, I think there is no pure Japanese.
T1 Yumiko Nomura
Question 1: I had an impression that the Jamaican English is “very assertive” than the American English---maybe because of its rhythm and its sound explosions.
ReplyDeleteI guess Jamaican English was developed from the slave trade, which made English and African languages mix. In the video, Jamaican English was very brief and plain. The rhythmical intonation was kind of like African English. Most of the words in the Jamaican language were English, but I think the sounds and many of the grammatical structures makes it hard to understand.
I wonder everyone on the island understands “pure” English or do they have any kind of “pure” English education, like in Japan.
Ayaka Kawashima
I will answer the Q3. In my opinion, 'pure Japanese'or 'absolutely correct Japanese' doesn't exist. I often hear that 'tabereru' is not a correct expression and 'taberareru' is correct. If this is concerned with written language, I agree to this opinion. But in speech, I can't agree. Colloquial language is easy to change.
ReplyDeleteYohei Yasuhara