Worst nightmare - Daughter Speaking American!

[drbeach]

Neeranam, I doubt Europeans would want their children to have thick European accents when speaking English but would rather they have American, Australian or British accents. I want my children to have the accent of native English speakers too, not the comical "zees is a tabul" (this is a table) accent a German speaker has. And no, I'm not talking about myself as I'm not German.

[AgMech Cowboy]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:14 AM, Jingthing said:

Americans don't say when I graduate school. Rather we would say 

After I graduate from school 

or

When I graduate from school 

or actually more commonly 

you could just leave out any mention of school. 

School is implied by the word graduate. 

Also Americans if they were to mention school would usually be more specific. 

As in

high school 

college 

graduate school 

cosmetology school 

bartending academy 

Bingo!! Thank you @Jingthing

I read all this criticism, but none of these so called native speakers (and writers) seem to want to stick there heads out and give us a corrected English phrase.

[shy coconut]

On 4/6/2020 at 5:12 AM, Neeranam said:

What I thought, but wasn't sure. I learned proper English, going to the same school as Lord Byron, although a few years later. 

https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2014/04/graduate-school.html

You went to Harrow?

 

I wonder if I, at one time used your boater as a frisbee. Back then the Harrovians

were not allowed to retaliate, they would get their revenge against the poor in adulthood!!

 

 

 

[khunPer]

On 4/6/2020 at 5:54 AM, Neeranam said:

I suppose we all want our offspring to have an accent similar to ours, or at least from the country where we come from.

Sounds like you are British, makes me think of professor Higgins...????

Quote

There even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven't used it for years.

I certainly don't want my offspring to have an English-language accent similar to mine...

[RANGER55]

3 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

No worries mate, all our US student visas are spoken for by Indians and Chinese.

Translation: I can’t afford to send my child to a US University.  I think that is more in line to what he is saying.

[BigStar]

30 minutes ago, whimsicalmike said:

At least the convicts remembered to take a dictionary with them. Stupid yanks can't spell for <deleted>. Bad pronunciation and spelling makes the yanks speak some sort of pigeon English at best ????????

yanks Yanks; makes make. But your belief that pigeons speak English calls your judgment into question anyway. Did you remember to bring a dictionary? 

[BigStar]

6 minutes ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

Bingo!! Thank you @Jingthing

I read all this criticism, but none of these so called native speakers (and writers) seem to want to stick there heads out and give us a corrected English phrase.

Wrong. And my earlier post mentioned the more traditional usage quite clearly.

[AgMech Cowboy]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:24 AM, Neeranam said:

Being Scottish, graduating from school is alien to me, unless it was "medical school" etc.

Graduating from kindergarten/primary school is just ridiculous.

1st time I encountered graduations from kindergarten, elementary (primary) and Jr High was in Thailand. My 37 yr old daughter never had those in the US. My son (17) had them here.  It's part of that 'recognition' thing where everybody gets a trophy (or prize) just for participation, which sort of explains all the snowflakes in society.

[tropo]

On 4/6/2020 at 10:54 AM, Neeranam said:

On speaking to my daughter today, she said, "when I graduate school, I want to get outta Thailand".

 

Getting out of Thailand is fine and I understand that, but "when I graduate school" is incorrect where I come from, but she insists it's what her US teacher says. Is this proper US English? "Outta" is fair enough, unless it was in writing. 

 

Good to be exposed to different English types, or is it?

 

I suppose we all want our offspring to have an accent similar to ours, or at least from the country where we come from.

This is a great example of what makes English special. It can be used and abused a thousand different ways, yet everyone understands.

 

What is proper English even eludes scholars.

 

 

 

 

[AgMech Cowboy]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:45 AM, RichardColeman said:

quite sure all the EVA air staff  on the Bangkok / Heathrow planes have all been taught English by Americans. Drives me nuts all these Chinese ladies walking up and down the plane saying 'would you like more cAAffee'

I've not been on an EVA flight, but that ain't American from where I come. We say "More COUghfee"?

[AgMech Cowboy]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:58 AM, Muzzique said:

I lived in NYC for about 4 years and my daughter attended nursery there. During that time she picked up a god awful American accent.

 

Worst was when I visited her school on graduation day and to my horror she started to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States!!!   5 years old and she was already being brainwashed with that all that USA tripe.

 

Needless to say I packed up everything in an instant and came home.

 

Thankfully she recovered her English. Yours will too once she's away from those bad linguistic influences.. 

I stand for the King, even at 6 pm when  music comes on the TV. ???? 

[BigStar]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:14 AM, Jingthing said:

Americans don't say when I graduate school. Rather we would say 

 

After I graduate from school 

 

or

 

When I graduate from school 

 

Actually they do, as pointed out by two authoritative sources I gave earlier.

 

In fact, one of our members used it just today, quite routinely:

 

7 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

I'm happy with it as a vacation place, maybe not every year as I envisioned, but certainly after our son decided not to return to Thailand when he graduated college, that sorta sealed it for us

So I dunno why some of our old farts want to stay in denial. Laughable, really. Here Neeram's daughter's upping her coolness factor by multiples of 10 yet being held back by the quaint antique beliefs about English learned in some pretentious backwater in the North Atlantic. 

 

[erinsf]

You must be an easy-going parent if your 'worst' nightmare is, your daughter speaking with a US accent?  

[BigStar]

20 minutes ago, tropo said:

What is proper English even eludes scholars.

What starts being commonly used eventually becomes "proper." Change is often resisted, however, as in the OP's case.

 

We have much confusion here arising from an overly simplistic binary distinction between right and wrong when it comes to something as fluid as language. In reality what's right is what works, i. e., communicates best in the context. "Toilet" works internationally, not "loo." "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" works beautifully and lucratively. "Trunk" works partly because a kid can find it in a dictionary (Google, where most of the dicts are American) by its sound. He can't find anywhere the Geordie "byeut" or the Scouse "bewt" he's been taught from some provincial accent.

 

Well, this could go on forever, so--I'm outta here. ????

[Gandtee]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:08 AM, Neeranam said:

One gran lives in Edinburgh and the other Bangkok.

So there you go. A year with either and no one will understand her, even you, ma wee laddie.????

[meinphuket]

Yes, it is a shocker...American English, as spoken by most, has a very limited vocabulary, and a lot of slang.and shortcuts, kids take to that easily. Americans have violated the English language. Keep pointing out the errors, and make your child proud of 'her' country and language, it worked for my kid, who went to an American curriculum school here. Its not labor, its labour.......

[Neeranam]

4 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

So there you go. A year with either and no one will understand her, even you, ma wee laddie.????

Why would I not understand her?

 

[Neeranam]

22 hours ago, moontang said:

There is no such thing as an American accent.  There are about a dozen regional dialects, and ironically, the hardest to understand and most despised is the New "England" accent.  Pak ya ca at the pizza pala...100% Bastan.

Really, I a pretty sure I can spot a US person when they speak. BTW, I never use the word American when talking about people from the US.

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I only converse with my son in English which his mother can't understand so he continually has to switch between Thai (which I speak) and English so when he starts to use an American accent I tell him if he can't speak English then he should speak Thai with me, this seems to shame him into self correction but puberty is subversive, he is 12 yrs old so a natural resistance is starting to show  "I can speak the way I want", I then remove his cable from my modem to his laptop and he suddenly remembers his love for the queen's English again. 

Good idea and similar to me. I take away certain privileges when they talk Thai to me. However, my kids are teenagers and they rebel, which to be honest, I am happy about, it is normal. When I was younger than my youngest, I was drinking, drugging and listening to the Sex Pistols! 

[AgMech Cowboy]

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

No I am p*ssed off,and I don't need your help, it's condescending .

get a life.

regards Worgeordie

 

Chill Worgeodie, he's just taking the <deleted>. No need to let 'em.

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, thailand49 said:

This isn't one bit a nightmare!  The nightmare you think you have really isn't!  The fact that your daughter want to get the hell out you should be proud jump for joy instead of worrying how she says it!  You might want to expose yourself too?

Expose myself? 

 

I'm not upset my daughter wants out of Thailand.

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, toper3jr said:

Grammar rules change, how we Americans speak also changes depending on who we're speaking with. 

Here's a novel idea, WHY DOJT PARENTS demand to speak to the foreign teachers during parent/teachers conference? Thai students are notorious for leaving words out.  Don't judge a teacher You never met! 

I've met every single teacher at my daughter's school, Thai and foreign, on multiple occassions.

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, Andyfez said:

Yes. Many kids start speaking Philipino/American English.

The word I always question is 'gotten'.

They'd be gettin scolded if they said "gotten".

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, Knocker33 said:

Does she shout as if she is talking to the whole room instead of just you? Now that's proper American 

How true that is. I've worked with Americans in Thailand for over 25 years.

[ChouDoufu]

On 4/6/2020 at 11:54 AM, Neeranam said:

On speaking to my daughter today, she said, "when I graduate school, I want to get outta Thailand".

 

Getting out of Thailand is fine and I understand that, but "when I graduate school" is incorrect where I come from, but she insists it's what her US teacher says. Is this proper US English? "Outta" is fair enough, unless it was in writing. 

 

Good to be exposed to different English types, or is it?

 

I suppose we all want our offspring to have an accent similar to ours, or at least from the country where we come from.

y'all should be proud.  lemme 'splain.

 

y'all englanders may've invented english, but us 'merkans done perfected it.

 

yore welcome!

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, EricTh said:

You should seriously consider changing your daughter's teacher to another.

I don't have that power and anyway she's only got Mattayom 6 to go, which is only really one more term.

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, Expat Tom said:

Only Brits and the like omit articles in front of words like school, hospital, university and bank. An American or Canadian would say that I go to "a university" or "the university" and not simply "university".

The Brits suffer from the delusion that they are still an important dominant nation in the world, something that they have not been in the last 150 years. Most of the world today wants to learn North American English and not "marbles in the mouth" <deleted> English, a.k.a. "the Queens English"

US people(persons) add the article, Brits don't omit.

 

They also omit prepositions, even on national TV - "President Trump tweeted Thursday" etc.

 

The only reason some learners(esp. Chinese)want to speak North American English is because Canada is an easy country to get into. 

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, Srikcir said:

I'd like to know about this "US teacher." His or her origin, education, where raised, etc. "US teacher" itself is somewhat an odd label, ie., versus "American." The two are not necessarily synonymous; the former designating location while later designating citizenship.

American teacher could come from Brazil, Uruguay, or Costa Rica.

 

The teacher comes from Wisconsin, wherever that is and has a bachelor's degree in History. 

[moontang]

9 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

How true that is. I've worked with Americans in Thailand for over 25 years.

It is actually more like the Brits constantly mumble, because so many feel obligated to play the role of a commoner.  It is usually a class thing.

[moontang]

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

American teacher could come from Brazil, Uruguay, or Costa Rica.

 

The teacher comes from Wisconsin, wherever that is and has a bachelor's degree in History. 

Schools are good in Wisconsin, but they do have a fairly nasty Great Lakes accent, which isnt nearly as bad as the New England accent, but not neutral by a longshot.