When almost all your questions end with “is it?”. Call it assimilation or acculturation, it’s simply the result of having stayed in a foreign country for quite a while. You know the saying “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”? In Singapore, it’s “when in singapore, talk as the Singaporeans do”.
The way I see it, it’s not a bad thing, really. It’s simply finding a way to get yourself understood by the locals. Forget about the grammar you’ve studied in english class. Forget about the American twang that you’ve practiced for so long in school, in the call centers (if you’ve worked in one as I’ve had), you’ll only get a funny look from the locals. I tried that once with the cranky Auntie at the hawker center where I regularly have dinner. I said “iced coffee to go please”. She just stared at me. After the third try, I resignedly said: “iced kopi, take away”. The goal here is to communicate in the best possible way.
I find myself unconsciously adding “is it?” to all my questions, sometimes even when it doesn’t call for it. And I overhear conversations with that phrase that makes me smile. Some examples:
“You’re going on vacation to India, is it?” — Indian colleague tells me.
“You’ve been on shift since this morning, is it?” — me, to taxi driver.
“The queue on the airport is long, is it?” — me, to taxi driver.
“You’re cancelling your appointment, is it?” — attendant at the spa, to me.
And let’s not forget about the pronunciation of certain letters and words that in the beginning, seem so wrong to us. But after a while, we accept them because, well, it just seems normal to hear them. And I sometimes think that maybe their pronunciation is the right one, and we’ve been taught the wrong way.
The letter H is pronounced as “heych”
The letter Z is pronounced as “zed”
“schedule” (which most pronounce as “skedyul”) is pronounced as “shejul”.
“Outram” (we say “awtram”) is pronounced as “ootrum”
Sometimes, I have to catch myself before I say anything, because I think my past english and speech teachers, my past editors and my mother (such a stickler for right grammar) will cringe when they hear me talk. I sometimes cringe when I hear myself. Thankfully, it hasn’t affected my writing yet.
I haven’t gotten around to adding “lah!” to my sentences, though. We’ll see in a few months.
Wo how about you? What habits, expressions have you acquired while living abroad?
