POTW (Timepass) : hass

[Muhammad10]

A fantastic post pertaining to the linguistic experiences of a newcomer to our forum!

Many congratulations to [MENTION=142656]hass[/MENTION]!

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...ecause-of-how-you-sound&p=9006439#post9006439

I'm a Brit. I'm an urban Londoner. I'm a Brightonian. Every environment has a socially constructed dialect.

Now when you're an ethnic minority, the thing to remember is that you're a part of multiple communities. One key skill I've truly understood over the last 3-5 years through experimentation is that we are bilingual and adaptable. We don't actually realise just how many traits and nuances we gather from the influence of the people we surround ourselves with regularly.

When I speak Urdu, regardless of the accuracy of my vocabulary and pronounciation, my accent completely gives away my London upbringing. Yet, through pronounciation, you can avoid sounding like a typical Englishman trying to speak Urdu while using exactly the same vocal chords they use to speak English. Adapting your vocal chords to the normality of the language is a key ingredient.

Now, I don't know how many people are aware of this, but in urban areas of London there is a subculture that's heavily influenced by American slums and Jamaican culture which has created its own dialect and language. It's street language ultimately and is very prevalent in people born and bred among urban London youth. It's not standard English. The reason I bring this up is that I've been heavily subjected to this style of discourse over many years (being from East London), but ended up going to University in a different city entirely where people from all over the world were attending. At this point I actually went through a strange old confusing struggle to understand that it was time to well and truly leave that subculture behind.

One of the things that I remembered was that as a British born Pakistani, I'm already happy to be a part of multiple communities and it was now time to add one more to it. The next challenge was bringing my true personality into standard English and embracing it with pure natural class and positivity. I felt this was key to bringing about my best and most well-rounded social experiences here in Sussex and can hopefully hold me in good stead for the rest of my life.

So in regards to the original post in this thread, my simple anecdote is to say that adapting to all your different environments and sounding different in each when doing so is completely part and parcel of the process. It's a natural thing and is the only way you can comfortably transfer between from one language (or sub language) to another. You are still being yourself but you are simply transforming for the audience. Don't use the exact same chords to speak a different language. Try to understand the audience tones and make a few changes yourself. You will feel very positive doing so too. After I did it, I felt like I could befriend the entire international spectrum.

Anyone who looks at your approach negatively from there has simply not got to that stage where they've even spoken to enough different nationalities and backgrounds of people to realise this. Or they could just be plain ignorant in their ways lol.

 

[MenInG]

Lovely post and well done to Hass!

 

[Abdullah719]

Good insight.

After being away from Pakistan for a number of years (and hoping to return), I've sadly gotten out of the habit of speaking Urdu much. When I do, I have occasionally mixed up Urdu and Arabic words since they are very similar at times.

No real accent though so it'll simply be a matter of getting into practice when the time comes.

So in regards to the original post in this thread, my simple anecdote is to say that adapting to all your different environments and sounding different in each when doing so is completely part and parcel of the process. It's a natural thing and is the only way you can comfortably transfer between from one language (or sub language) to another. You are still being yourself but you are simply transforming for the audience. Don't use the exact same chords to speak a different language. Try to understand the audience tones and make a few changes yourself. You will feel very positive doing so too. After I did it, I felt like I could befriend the entire international spectrum.

Agree completely with this and very well put. Interacting with people from all over the world helps a lot in this regard. It requires a bit of conscious effort but once the mind is focused on that, it becomes easier.

 

[hass]

Wow, I'm actually chuffed haha. It's always nice to know a contribution has been appreciated by someone, let alone several. Thank you!

 

[Pakistanian]

Good insight.

After being away from Pakistan for a number of years (and hoping to return), I've sadly gotten out of the habit of speaking Urdu much. When I do, I have occasionally mixed up Urdu and Arabic words since they are very similar at times.

No real accent though so it'll simply be a matter of getting into practice when the time comes.



Agree completely with this and very well put. Interacting with people from all over the world helps a lot in this regard. It requires a bit of conscious effort but once the mind is focused on that, it becomes easier.

Are you Egyptian bruh?

 

[Abdullah719]

Are you Egyptian bruh?

Nope.

 

[Haroon786]

Congratulations [MENTION=142656]hass[/MENTION].

Excellent post!

 

[JaDed]

Congrats ,wonderful post.