Difficult time understanding Indian accents

rangss · Nov 20th, 2007, 23:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by global_yatri

hey - what was that british show with an english teacher and a bunch of "foreigners" trying to learn english - pretty ridiculous and outlandishly funny... there was definitely an indian in the class.

Mind your language!

The show I mean...

kalyani68 · Nov 28th, 2007, 06:40

I still crack up every time my poor multilingual hubby pronounces the word "intestines" with the stress on the last syllable!

global_yatri · Dec 18th, 2007, 09:44

i know just what you mean about intestines... i taught for a while in the states and had the complete attention of my students anytime we got into technical jargon in science hah!

nomad · Dec 18th, 2007, 11:35

here in singapore.
yesterday i asked a shop owner if they sell umbrella. i got this reply
"also can not"
it was clear but certainly not english

Nick-H · Dec 18th, 2007, 11:54

Baffled by this intestines business.

for a start, are you guys saying it to rhyme with mines or teens?

Aishah · Dec 18th, 2007, 12:39

Really interesting thread this! Indian English - causes the biggest problems between myself and Mr K. This morning he announced some people here had an 'undercar'. Had no idea what he was saying.. by degrees discovered it was Honda Car.There's this habit of joining words rapidly together so they sound like one word, plus to my ears, mispronunciation. Also using words in the completely opposite context to what they mean e.g. huge problems with the use of 'owing'. Best English, easy to understand is on NDTV, Jennifer from South India has a beautiful voice! Also many well-educated city people speak excellent English. Don't worry OP, I've been here 8 years and still having troubles with understanding Indian English. Also if I can't understand Irish English,German English, many European countries English, Spanish English, French English etc. and they can't understand my NZ/Oz English, best not to fret about it, just keep on trying!

Nick-H · Dec 18th, 2007, 14:03

Undercar!

Some TV people have a most peculiar way of speaking English. They do so in a very correct way, but put the stresses on the wrong parts of words. It causes me to concentrate on how they are talking to the extent that I end up having no idea what they actually said

(eg.. It causes me to conCENtrate on how they ARE talking to the EXtent that I end UP having no idea what they actUally said)

Here's one of Mrs N's that took me a long time to get to grips with: Under repair. In English, one would assume that it means it is sitting on a workman's bench somewhere. No: it means broken!

machadinha · Dec 18th, 2007, 14:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aishah

This morning he announced some people here had an 'undercar'. Had no idea what he was saying.. by degrees discovered it was Honda Car.

...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H

Here's one of Mrs N's that took me a long time to get to grips with: Under repair. In English, one would assume that it means it is sitting on a workman's bench somewhere. No: it means broken!

Aishah · Dec 18th, 2007, 16:16

You're right about the Perfect English by TV announcers too , Nick! The other frequent one is misuse of 'v' and 'w', also total lack of definite or indefinite article. Beautifully spoken English on the news and then something like 'Today government decided....' not 'the government' which English speakers would normally say. Mind you, I am so used to this I'm starting to speak same way...Liked your 'under repair' story - and it could be for a very long time too...describes the broken state perfectly, here repairs are notoriously slow.
Another euphemism used here for someone has died I find funny is they have 'expired'. In other words their use by date has run out! this is probably fairly widely used, but the first time I heard it was when I came here.

vireya · Dec 18th, 2007, 17:06

On my recent trip to India I saw a snake in the grounds of a hotel where I was staying. Later I asked an Indian, "Are the snakes here likely to be poisonous?" He got a bit upset, and asked me why I would think that, did I read that in Lonely Planet or something? I explained that in Australia there are many poisonous snakes, so I expect snakes to be dangerous, and stay away from them, but I didn't know what the situation in India was. He became somewhat puzzled. Apparently he thought I had asked about the "snacks".

So I guess the misunderstandings work both ways!

karuna · Dec 18th, 2007, 17:23

I was thinking about my own use of English, tainted by my London upbringing, stint in the north-West and now Wales.

I realised I was using "Faaasand" for "thousand", and have been known to use "awrigh" and "wotcha" for "hello". I run words into each other, so that "where are you going?" becomes "air y' gun?" and "what's the time?" becomes "ossetime?", and, probably quite confusingly to the Hindi speaker, "at you" becomes "achha". Don't even start with "owt" and "nowt" which I picked up, or how utterly baffling a deep Welsh Valleys accent is (or how it changes from valley to valley).

Given all that, I'm fairly sure most of what I say must be utterly incomprehensible to people in India. Actual speech is just so different from the theory, isn't it?

Nick-H · Dec 18th, 2007, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by vireya

On my recent trip to India I saw a snake in the grounds of a hotel where I was staying. Later I asked an Indian, "Are the snakes here likely to be poisonous?" He got a bit upset, and asked me why I would think that, did I read that in Lonely Planet or something? I explained that in Australia there are many poisonous snakes, so I expect snakes to be dangerous, and stay away from them, but I didn't know what the situation in India was. He became somewhat puzzled. Apparently he thought I had asked about the "snacks".

So I guess the misunderstandings work both ways!

Love it!

Aishah · Dec 18th, 2007, 20:08

Snakes are very big on menus in many eating places here! Loved that story, Vireya!
Karuna - I think we would both need an interpreter to understand each other! Your expressions and my funny NZ/Oz vowels!!!
We have 'Ow yer goin'mite?' for How are you, mate? and 'whazza time?' so some similarities there!

Nick-H · Dec 18th, 2007, 20:40

Quote:

Snakes are very big on menus in many eating places here!

.

capt_mahajan · Dec 18th, 2007, 20:51

Vireya, hilarious

Nick, I think Aishah is referring to the menus in some places in India which serve snakes (for snacks)

Dec 18th, 2007, 11:35	#34
nomad Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Singapura Posts: 588	here in singapore. yesterday i asked a shop owner if they sell umbrella. i got this reply "also can not" it was clear but certainly not english __________________ Rahul Verma http://rverma.smugmug.com www.pbase.com/rverma

Dec 18th, 2007, 11:54	#35
Nick-H Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 22,874	Baffled by this intestines business. for a start, are you guys saying it to rhyme with mines or teens? __________________ . IndiaMike Mod Team (The Grumpy One)

Dec 18th, 2007, 12:39	#36
Aishah She-who-must-be-obeyed! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jaisalmer Posts: 3,506	Really interesting thread this! Indian English - causes the biggest problems between myself and Mr K. This morning he announced some people here had an 'undercar'. Had no idea what he was saying.. by degrees discovered it was Honda Car.There's this habit of joining words rapidly together so they sound like one word, plus to my ears, mispronunciation. Also using words in the completely opposite context to what they mean e.g. huge problems with the use of 'owing'. Best English, easy to understand is on NDTV, Jennifer from South India has a beautiful voice! Also many well-educated city people speak excellent English. Don't worry OP, I've been here 8 years and still having troubles with understanding Indian English. Also if I can't understand Irish English,German English, many European countries English, Spanish English, French English etc. and they can't understand my NZ/Oz English, best not to fret about it, just keep on trying! __________________ "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

Dec 18th, 2007, 20:51	#45
capt_mahajan Reproof of life Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 7,691	Vireya, hilarious Nick, I think Aishah is referring to the menus in some places in India which serve snakes (for snacks) __________________ . The cynic must remember that he is a spy (Epitectus) Customised moderating

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Nov 28th, 2007, 06:40	#32
kalyani68 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Midwest USA Posts: 174	I still crack up every time my poor multilingual hubby pronounces the word "intestines" with the stress on the last syllable!

Dec 18th, 2007, 09:44	#33
global_yatri fellow traveler Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: west coast Posts: 110	i know just what you mean about intestines... i taught for a while in the states and had the complete attention of my students anytime we got into technical jargon in science hah!

Dec 18th, 2007, 14:03	#37
Nick-H Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 22,874	Undercar! Some TV people have a most peculiar way of speaking English. They do so in a very correct way, but put the stresses on the wrong parts of words. It causes me to concentrate on how they are talking to the extent that I end up having no idea what they actually said (eg.. It causes me to conCENtrate on how they ARE talking to the EXtent that I end UP having no idea what they actUally said) Here's one of Mrs N's that took me a long time to get to grips with: Under repair. In English, one would assume that it means it is sitting on a workman's bench somewhere. No: it means broken!

Dec 18th, 2007, 16:16	#39
Aishah She-who-must-be-obeyed! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jaisalmer Posts: 3,506	You're right about the Perfect English by TV announcers too , Nick! The other frequent one is misuse of 'v' and 'w', also total lack of definite or indefinite article. Beautifully spoken English on the news and then something like 'Today government decided....' not 'the government' which English speakers would normally say. Mind you, I am so used to this I'm starting to speak same way...Liked your 'under repair' story - and it could be for a very long time too...describes the broken state perfectly, here repairs are notoriously slow. Another euphemism used here for someone has died I find funny is they have 'expired'. In other words their use by date has run out! this is probably fairly widely used, but the first time I heard it was when I came here.

Dec 18th, 2007, 17:06	#40
vireya Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 153	On my recent trip to India I saw a snake in the grounds of a hotel where I was staying. Later I asked an Indian, "Are the snakes here likely to be poisonous?" He got a bit upset, and asked me why I would think that, did I read that in Lonely Planet or something? I explained that in Australia there are many poisonous snakes, so I expect snakes to be dangerous, and stay away from them, but I didn't know what the situation in India was. He became somewhat puzzled. Apparently he thought I had asked about the "snacks". So I guess the misunderstandings work both ways!

Dec 18th, 2007, 17:23	#41
karuna Undeserving of a title Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: UK Posts: 768	I was thinking about my own use of English, tainted by my London upbringing, stint in the north-West and now Wales. I realised I was using "Faaasand" for "thousand", and have been known to use "awrigh" and "wotcha" for "hello". I run words into each other, so that "where are you going?" becomes "air y' gun?" and "what's the time?" becomes "ossetime?", and, probably quite confusingly to the Hindi speaker, "at you" becomes "achha". Don't even start with "owt" and "nowt" which I picked up, or how utterly baffling a deep Welsh Valleys accent is (or how it changes from valley to valley). Given all that, I'm fairly sure most of what I say must be utterly incomprehensible to people in India. Actual speech is just so different from the theory, isn't it?

Dec 18th, 2007, 20:08	#43
Aishah She-who-must-be-obeyed! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Jaisalmer Posts: 3,506	Snakes are very big on menus in many eating places here! Loved that story, Vireya! Karuna - I think we would both need an interpreter to understand each other! Your expressions and my funny NZ/Oz vowels!!! We have 'Ow yer goin'mite?' for How are you, mate? and 'whazza time?' so some similarities there!

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