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English as a 2nd Language |
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From Nairobi, Kenya
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 |
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No group has impressed me more with their English fluency & perfect American accent than the Dutch. When I first meet a Hollander, almost always mistake 'em for an American. They're English is that good! (Apparently all their movies & TV shows are from the US.) But Nairobians... on the being impressed scale, they come in 2nd. Not that they're completely fluent like the Dutch, nor have they mastered an American accent, but simply the shear number of people that speak very good English... it blows me away! Haven't yet met someone I can't communicate with. And unless I'm talking to a very uneducated person, don't even have to dumb down my vocabulary. What's really weird is about 30% of conversations between Nairobians are in English. Parents talking to kids in English... probably trying to improve the youngsters vocab.... but adults speaking to adults in English... don't understand that. Really curious why... started butting into conversations & asking them why they're not speaking Swahili... haven't gotten a logical answer yet. Oh well... at least I can eavesdrop here!
Tags: Kenya |
