View Full Version : How do you keep your English sharp?
Hello all,
I've lived in Indonesia now for almost 10 months now. I notice I begin to forget quite a bit of English words already While Indonesians around me still think I speak very well, I think (or know?) my fluency is slipping. At least I have this forum to write in English, and at home I watch mostly TLC, Discovery and other American TV channels I watched back home...although sometimes I get distracted by the Indonesian subtitles..or even all the menus have been translated to Indonesian or some made up words (just like today, I found out realized 'potato poms' was actually btater tots..hahaa very important NOT to forget, I know! :biggrin:) The biggest impact I think is to switch my brain into thinking in "Indonesian" especially when explaining things to employees, servers at restaurants, maid, etc. A friend of mine still thinks I'm fluent enough (lol thanks Sam...),but I still wonder if there's anything one can do to maintain the English fluency...I'd like to think my fluency is at least 70% compare to native speakers. I think living in Asia for many years won't affect the English native-speakers that much, so probably my question is directed to the ex-Indonesians...what do you guys do to maintain your English fluency? or English native-speakers, what would your suggestions be?
I think living in Asia for many years won't affect the English native-speakers that much
Oh but it does mate!
I've lived in non English speaking countries since 1993 and my English is mangled enough for my fellow compadres to immediately notice.
TheRuralJuror
27-02-12, 06:05
'potato poms' was actually btater tots..
It really kinda bothers me that they're not called tater tots, where did this 'potato poms' thing come from anyway?
Anyway, I definitely have the same concern you do, that I'm slowly gonna lose my fluency. Even back when I was living in the states, my friends could tell if I had been hanging out with other Indonesians during vacations and stuff, because I would sound different. What I'm trying to do right now is keep in touch with my friends and talk to them on the phone. And since I used to act anyway sometimes I read scripts and practice monologues and dialogues just for kicks. It also helps that I teach in English so I have to keep speaking it. I practice doing my lectures and presentations at home as if I'm doing them in front of my old professors instead of my Indonesian students. This forum definitely helps.
I think the biggest temptation for me would be to speak English with an Indonesian accent and with limited vocabulary. I used to not even be able to do this (it sounded fake as hell), but after hearing my students talk all the time and then them telling me that they can't understand me when I speak with an American accent (I'm guessing it's the Utahn accent, really), I have resorted to using simpler words and using an Indonesian accent at times. I'm thinking this would be one of the biggest things you can do to kill your fluency even faster and I'm trying to keep myself from doing that. It's just... that helpless, confused look on my students' faces...
Missnaughty
27-02-12, 06:51
It happens to my Indonesian as well. I have been living abroad for quite a while, not being funny.. That sometimes I have to mix both language when speaking Indonesian.. because I couldn't remember the words. Problem is.. my english isn't good either. I am loosing both ways.. :D
It really kinda bothers me that they're not called tater tots, where did this 'potato poms' thing come from anyway?
Maybe because that's what Aussies call them.
I think the biggest temptation for me would be to speak English with an Indonesian accent and with limited vocabulary. I used to not even be able to do this (it sounded fake as hell), but after hearing my students talk all the time and then them telling me that they can't understand me when I speak with an American accent (I'm guessing it's the Utahn accent, really), I have resorted to using simpler words and using an Indonesian accent at times. I'm thinking this would be one of the biggest things you can do to kill your fluency even faster and I'm trying to keep myself from doing that. It's just... that helpless, confused look on my students' faces...
Wait, other people pay good money so their kids can learn English from an imported Yankee, and here you're teaching them with Indonesian accent? :twitch:
It really kinda bothers me that they're not called tater tots, where did this 'potato poms' thing come from anyway?
Potato poms poms are from Australia and New Zealand, it kinda bothers me when they're called tater tots. hahaha Just winding you up mate :dance:
Missnaughty
27-02-12, 07:37
Potato poms poms are from Australia and New Zealand, it kinda bothers me when they're called tater tots. hahaha Just winding you up mate :dance:
I had to google it! and it's harsh browns.. poms or not poms.. it is harsh browns. ha.. 'tater tots!'
sweetmaria
27-02-12, 08:43
How do I keep my English sharp???
1. marrying an English teacher
2. Ken Follet, Sidney Sheldon, and Charles Dickens (if you know who they are)
3. some duct tape applied at the bottom of my telly to stop me reading the subtitles of the show.
4. joining this forum. This really helps because even when we meet the forum members personally, we still converse in English.
I think the biggest temptation for me would be to speak English with an Indonesian accent and with limited vocabulary.
A new friend of mine told me that he could speak normally to me and not to his colleagues. He did not use Indonesian accent but he speaks slower to them. Perhaps you can do the same too.
Oh but it does mate!What kind of Yank uses "mate"? :confused:
TheRuralJuror
27-02-12, 21:44
Wait, other people pay good money so their kids can learn English from an imported Yankee, and here you're teaching them with Indonesian accent? :twitch:
Basically it's cause they've only learned English from Indonesians who speak with an Indonesian accent, so if I were to speak regularly they would have a harder time understanding me. Sometimes when I'm trying to explain more difficult concepts it's just not worth it.
Potato poms poms are from Australia and New Zealand, it kinda bothers me when they're called tater tots. hahaha Just winding you up mate :dance:
Now I know where it comes from. Wait, actually, don't Australians call the Brits 'poms'? Is that somehow related or does 'potato poms' just refer to the cheerleading pom poms?
3. some duct tape applied at the bottom of my telly to stop me reading the subtitles of the show.
That is a fantastic idea. I'll definitely do that next time I own a TV. Now if only we can somehow make special glasses or something that blocks out the subtitles when we go see a movie at the cinema
werjin1029
27-02-12, 22:01
confused look on my students' faces...
HAHAHAHAHA i can imagine how were the students' faces like
Now I know where it comes from. Wait, actually, don't Australians call the Brits 'poms'? Is that somehow related or does 'potato poms' just refer to the cheerleading pom poms?
Yes, Australians do have a word for Brits but its spelled POME not POM and its often pronounced POMMIE as in POMMIE bastard or "He's a right pommie bastard he is" :dance:
POME has been said to stand for Prisoner Of Mother England which is odd as that would be referring to the convicts the Brits sent over to Australia
While on the subject of what Australians call ...
French Fries = Chips
Potato Chips = Crisps
Beer = Piss
Drunk = Pissed
The last two creates a lot of confusion for Americans and a lot of amusement for Aussies.
America has an Australian themed restaurant chain that is so not Australian and a few years ago I had a lot of fun with the wait staff.
The waiter asked if I would like an Oil Can, which I know he is referring to the large export Fosters beer can which is about the size of a auto quart oil can.
I asked him "what is an Oil Can?"
He replied "That's what Aussies call beer"
I said "No it isn't"
He insisted it is, because the beer can is the same size as an auto Oil Can
"No it isn't" I retorted, Australia never sold Oil in cans it was sold in glass bottles and later in plastic containers, and I showed him my Australian driver's licence. (At this time my sister was mid face palm because she knows what's coming next)
The waiter, now impressed, asked me "So what do they call beer in Australia"
"Piss" I replied
ba dum tsssss
icantfindid
28-02-12, 06:10
My parents call them french fries pommes frites. That's what German uses for sure though many other languages use the same name too. Pommes frites is pronounced like pom fritz. I wonder if that might be why.
What kind of Yank uses "mate"? :confused:
The kind that lived in Australia for a long time, mate :D
I identify more with Australia than I do with America because I was still a young man when I left the states.
My parents call them french fries pommes frites. That's what German uses for sure though many other languages use the same name too. Pommes frites is pronounced like pom fritz. I wonder if that might be why.
Potato = pomme de terre (French) me I just say "frite"
2 year without talk at all french... hopefully something I do "cam" with my family, but I can feel I start to forget it...
For people who know how is my English and even worse, my bahasa... I let you imagine how I'm in deep sh*t!
icantfindid
28-02-12, 12:54
Oui oui oui...I was getting extensive French lesson *wink* and was starting to able to follow a conversation in French, but now? Un deux trois?? Yo habla pokito Frances y Espanol?!? :biggrin:
Out of practice, what a shame.
Applying duct tape to your TV seems a tad excessive. Why would you ruin a perfectly good appliance that way?
I'm fortunate to work for a multinational company that uses English (and French) as the primary languages, so I use English on a daily basis.
Also play a lot of online games, so I type a lot of English there too.
Ah the pomme from French makes sense.
Yeah, as far as written English goes, I get enough practice from this forum....facebook...and email to my friends (and a couple emails here and there that I have to do for the company and have co-written three published articles so far)...it's the speaking part that I fear might be suffering a bit...we shall find out in about a month when I travel back...
TheRuralJuror
28-02-12, 18:17
POME has been said to stand for Prisoner Of Mother England which is odd as that would be referring to the convicts the Brits sent over to Australia
Maybe because in their minds, the Brits are still imprisoned back in the motherland while they're kickin' back down under with their shrimps on the barbie and whatnot? :bowl:
Drunk = Pissed
Don't we also say 'piss drunk'? Or am I just imagining that?
Applying duct tape to your TV seems a tad excessive. Why would you ruin a perfectly good appliance that way?
Well, I do find subtitles to be very distracting when they're not necessary. I get 'lazy' and end up reading the subtitles instead of listening to the dialogue. Same thing happened when I watched all these Indonesian films for my thesis, the DVDs I got from the cinematheque had embedded English subtitles and I ended up reading them instead of listening to the dialogue in Bahasa.
Although, if I end up doing this I'll probably use masking tape (or gaff tape, if I can find some).
sweetmaria
28-02-12, 21:02
Applying duct tape to your TV seems a tad excessive. Why would you ruin a perfectly good appliance that way?
Maybe, but mine is not the most expensive kind anyway. We care more about our food and what's in the kitchen than getting the latest entertainment appliances.
You might want to cut a piece of cardboard or carton the length of your telly screen and secure it with removable tape so that it won't ruin the screen and easier for your to take it off when you don't need it.
Don't we also say 'piss drunk'? Or am I just imagining that?
Sure, and "on the piss" is another one as well as "on a bender" heaps
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