Slip of the tongue

By The Scribe

It's been quite a while since I've opened my cynical (I'd rather refer to it as "forthright" actually…) gab huh? Well… amidst the general chaos and mayhem that's been taking place over the past couple of months, I've been thinking about yet another uncanny phenomenon which is seemingly unique to our fellow countrymen alone! I've been to a few countries around the world, I've met and associated with many people of many nationalities but, never have I come across a 'lingual hang-up' quite like this…

Sri Lankans across the board, have this rather annoying habit of discussing AT LENGTH grammatical/pronunciation errors of other fellow Sri Lankans and having a good laugh at their expense. "Did you hear so and so's vote of thanks/victory speech last night on the news? Damn shame men…he was right royally 'murdering the Queen,'" we say. This sort of statement is wrong on so many different levels! For starters, what Queen are we actually referring to here? The Queen of England??? Correct me if I'm wrong, but, haven't we been independent of the British Empire for over 59 years now? If that is in fact the case, to what extent are we still obliged to "Her Majesty" to ensure her well being and peace of mind? What is this inexplicable compulsion to adopt a foreign tongue and claim it as our own? Worse yet, poke fun and ridicule those who fail to meet the 'proper' benchmark set for English speakers in our land!

A typical example would be how people will rant on and on after a cricket match about how one of "our boys" spoke when interviewed after the match. Not only will they ramble on, many will even make impersonations of the cricketer in question and send his/her audience reeling backwards hysterically! Irrespective of the excellent performance of the cricketer or him having 'saved the day' for us, if he stumbles over his words or fails to comprehend the crux of the question asked of him, woe be unto him! He must therefore prepare himself for a general onslaught and tearing apart of his language skills, by the masses.

Another famous phrase used by the likes of us, is the ever infamous 'Not-Pot' types! It's probably one of the most derogatory insinuations or references we can direct at one another. So what if someone can't enunciate his/her words to perfection? What if he makes glaring grammatical errors? Ever considered the reality that English is NOT in fact their first language? And that many people don't speak English regularly at home or with their friends? Ever wondered how you became so "fluent" (so to speak) in the language? Was it not primarily a result of constant usage and association with people who spoke it? So, how can we blame other Lankans for being more fluent in whatever language that they're mostly exposed to? It just doesn't make much sense now does it?

Yet another double standard I've observed is how many of us find the speaking patterns of other country nationals (regardless of how much they tend to 'murder' the very same 'Queen') so appealing and even sexy sometimes. Many find the way the French, Italians, Africans, Latin Americans and the likes speak, rather fascinating and more often than not, quite engaging! In all likelihood, they'd be mispronouncing and making similar if not more grammatical errors than our 'poor Lankans' but, due to the rather disillusioned mindset of our people, we tend not to draw this parallel; thus, deeming our 'culprits' as Goday and international 'culprits' exotic! Note the blatant irony here if you may…

I'm not saying that people shouldn't learn how to speak English (or any other language for that matter) correctly and that those that can speak fluently should turn a blind eye to glaring blunders but rather, adopt a more productive means of correction, rather than poking fun at people, because this sort of ridicule will only help discourage a person from attempting the language at all.

If we really need a reason to laugh, we should laugh at all those very many "so called" Sri Lankans (most who have hardly even set foot out of the country),s who find it difficult to speak their respective mother tongues. Now that, to me, is more funny and ironic even, than a person who finds it hard to speak a second or third language. I find a person who has been born and bred in Sri Lanka, to Sri Lankan parents and having studied in a local school, not being able to speak his/her mother tongue, far more funny – hilarious even! Something to think about huh?