Dear Geeks

[Daisy Digits]

Whilst I don't have knowledge of the reason for this thread being started, I think it should be read by all who use the site. Nail, hair, skin or business - prejudices of any type need stamping on! I speak from experience, as a very short but fluffy (well, fat really :o) mobile nail tech! I'm sure some people think I am a dunce because I'm large, but that's just it.,The thing about prejudice is just that - pre..judge/d, as has already been mentioned. I have a brain and use it, and I now know more about NSS salons and the association with SEA nail techs. So thank you for the thread, long may it continue to be read.

 

[lessthanthree]

I was explaining this to someone recently. It's more harder to speak English when your first tongue has a different sentence structure. So instead of just speaking what your head is thinking, you have to restructure it into English sentence structure before speaking. And some languages are so simplified, it gets a little complicated. For instance, my family speaks lao and khmer. When my mother speaks English, it sounds broken because there's some words not used in lao or khmer that's used in English. So instead of "I went to the store, or I'm going to the store" she says "I go the store" because that's how it translates from one language to another. English classes might help, but they'd need to keep at it til they reach advanced English classes, but it's time consuming and they probably feel they'll learn it better just by living amongst English speaking people. Hope that makes sense. My mom's been in the US for over 30 years, works in a English speaking work environment full time, and she took like 2 years worth of English classes but still struggles sometimes.

I guess what I was trying to get at isn't so much understanding and being able to structure sentences (I can relate, I learn a few European languages myself and despite the similarities I can appreciate the diffulties in restructuring sentences even in languages with so many commonalities as English), as working out enunciation, all those syllables we don't learn depending on where we come from that trip you up when you need them. Broken English is no problem when the pronunciation is clear. But yeah, I totally get where you're coming from with your mum and I have full respect for the girls in my class. I've thought about migrating to France for a while and have been learning French to that end, but I also know (or maybe imagine) that most French are reasonably fluent in English and would prefer to speak English to me rather than listen to me butcher their language, so that would make it easy on me, my classmates don't have that luxury!

 

[Solsken]

As for not understanding someone with an accent...
pft.

I get jokes all the time of people who can't understand what I said... because I'm a Boston girl living in the Southwest US.

:green: