Wha do ya think of ma English?

Wha do ya think of ma English?

I am often asked as a teacher; ‘’what do I need to become fluent?’’ Usually the best thing to do in this case is to ask the question right back to the student and work from there. Following said protocol, the answer returns, invariably with pronunciation firmly atop the list, and more specifically ``I need to speak more like a native. ``

I guess coming from an immigrant country the idea of pronunciation, and when it comes down to it, accent – is kind of a mute subject since most Canadians have become accustomed to English being spoken with different accents from many different cultures. In my case, even more so, coming from the capital Ottawa. 

I went to an international high school in the centre of the city where all the diplomats’ kids went, so most of my friends growing up were from different countries but had lived in Canada for most if not all their lives and have had to adapt their native accents to one that is more standard ‘’Canadian’’. For most, the transition has been smooth, but for others, their native accents were so strong that transition was more difficult. So the result was an interesting and unique – sub accent. One that has become idiosyncratic of many cultural accents in English.

Take for example, how Spanish speakers of English regularly pronounce their ``Vs`` like ``Bs``, so ``levels`` sounds more like ``lebels`` or how about - "mush" for "much". Not sure why this is since the ch does exist in Spanish. In fact we do not have to go too far to see how the language even by natives has been bent to accommodate regional dialects like "da" for "the" – thanks Chicago. Or what about warning those teachers that say "rahd" for "ride"? Should we send half the teachers in Southern States of America to fluency classes? What about "cah" for car? Shape up or ship out, Boston teachers. A slippery-slope problem looks likely. 

Clearly pronunciation is non-standard and it is impossible in many cases to make it such. These, after all, are native English accents, and different in the class than a foreign accent in English. But then the problem arises – we would be discriminating, basically, on the basis of national origin. Lest we forget that English is defined by diversity. So perhaps a good middle ground is to adopt a standardized approach to English Grammar, and embrace the diversity and expand our global perception of the language.   

Following protocol; ‘’What do you think?’’