SHE: Anong sinabi mo sa kanila?
ME: Kanino?
SHE: Sa mga kasama ko?
ME: I asked where you were.
SHE: Pano mo sinabi? Ganyan? In-english mo sila?
ME: Sabi ko, 'Hi! Do you know where I can find xxx?' I also asked if you were coming back.
SHE: Kaya pala.
ME: Why?
SHE: Iba ka kaya magsalita.
ME: Ha?
SHE: Yung accent mo. Nag-slang ka na naman. Syempre nanggulat ka na naman.
ME: Eh ganyan ako magsalita. Di ko naman...
SHE: Di sila sanay.
ME: Why not? Call center agents sila.
SHE: Sa phone yun. Iba yung kaharap na.
ME: Ah kaya pala.
SHE: Kaya pala ano?
ME: Parang na-shock sila. One gurl just stared at me with this awkward smile tapos kinalabit nya yung kasama nya para yun ang mag-answer.
SHE: English din ang sagot sa yo?
ME: Yep. Pero concise lang. Tapos nag-stutter pa. Nakakahiya naman.
SHE: Hindi. Proud nga ako eh. Iba bumaluktot ang dila mo.
* * *
My tongue has its own share of anecdotes, you see.
There was this one gurl who called me up on my cellphone for the very first time after months of exchanging sms (yea, parang textmate) because, according to her, she was desperate to talk to someone who wasn't directly involved in her life.
So she rang me up. I quickly picked it up as soon as I read her name across the LCD.
It was awkward because she was crying, aside from the fact that it was the first time we'd be hearing each other.
She said she was prepared to just bawl her eyes out on me . But when she heard me talk, she was so distracted that she hesitated to unleash herself.
I guess she got more than what she asked for. When she needed distraction, my tongue was in the right place at the right time.
ME: But I did warn you about it. I told you my tagalog is weird.
SHE: I know. But, Wacky, I didn't know you speak that way. Na-intimidate ako.
ME: I wasn't intimidating.
SHE: Well, it's the way you talk.
ME: It was just plain english. Nothing rare about that.
SHE: Meron kasing Filipino way of speaking english. And then, there's the Wacky-way.
ME: Haha! Wacky-way! I like that!
SHE: Have you heard yourself? It has that accent like from the east coast.
ME: Well, you called and harassed me to cheer you up.
SHE: Oh but you did a good job. For a while, I forgot my heart was crushed. You challenged me. Imagine, I'm a UP graduate pero feeling ko di ko kaya to. Mauubusan ako ng ingles dito.
* * *
Yes, I have a couple of convos with different women who will "order" me to speak in tagalog all through out.
That's fine with me.
To them, it's a game to make fun of my weakness.
To me, it's a tongue exercise with them in charge, which is good for a change.
*wink-wink*
* * *
kids should know that...
Sam Chwat, a prominent speech therapist, shares the widely held belief of native New Yorkers that it is possible to make clear distinctions among the accents of different ethnic groups:
"People talk about borough-defined New York accents, but, really, the different types of New York accents are ethnic," Mr. Chwat said. "You have the Jewish accent, as typified by Jackie Mason or Fran Drescher, the Italian accent -- Robert De Niro or Tony Danza. There's the Irish New York accent, like Rosie O'Donnell or Rudy Giuliani. Of course he's not Irish, but he speaks with a New York Irish speech pattern". (wikipedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment