Speaking multilingual
The Oh Really Factor
By Maurice O. Ndole
The Collegian
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One thing that makes me stand
out among my peers is my accent, which has been shaped mainly by four
languages: Luo, Kikuyu, Kiswahili and Sheng.
Born in Kenya, my first language was Dholuo, a language spoken by Luo
people. Dholuo emphasizes ‘S’ more than ‘Z.’ The
emphasis on ‘S’ makes it difficult for Dholuo speakers to
pronounce words such as ‘shoes,’ which they would pronounce
as ‘soes.’
My accent is also influenced by Kiswahili, a language widely spoken in
Africa. (Most people wrongly refer to the language as Swahili, which in
fact is a generic reference of the Waswahili people, Kiswahili speakers,
who live mostly around the East African coast.)
The language stems from vowels sounds A, E, I, O and U. But the sounds
are different from English. ‘A’ takes a sound like in the
name Ann, ‘E’ takes the sound E as in egg, ‘I’
and ‘O’ take the sound of the letter ‘E’ and ‘O’
in the English alphabet and ‘U’ sound like ‘Woo.’
Kiswahili speakers combine words like a song and it carries over while
speaking English and making it difficult, I think, for people to match
the speech by watching the movement of the lips.
It is the influence of Kiswahili that makes me sound as if I’m saying
‘free’ when I’m actually saying ‘three.’
So if you’ve ever thought I told you I wanted my free bucks, you
might want to double check with me because I was probably asking for the
three dollars you owe me.
Sheng, a combination of Kiswahili and English has about the same influence
as Kiswahili.
My emphasis on R stems from speaking Kikuyu. In Kikuyu, ‘R’
is emphasized more than ‘L,’ making it difficult to pronounce
words such as rent, which sounds like lent, or flight, which sounds like
fright. I overcame that though. Accents that switch R and L are also common
in some Asian languages.
Confusion of R and L can be serious.
There is a story or myth about a flight attendant who caused panic in
the plane because of her accent.
“Ladies and gentlemen thank you for ‘frying’ with us,”
the attendant said. “This ‘fright’ is expected to ‘rust’
for more than two hours, we hope you will enjoy the ‘fright.’”
Some passengers passed out.
I’m sure many Fresno State students can relate to my situation.
But do accents affect relationships?
The truth is I don’t know, but my friend Maria tells me she likes
my accent, some people have told me I sound like Gov. Schwarzenegger,
which is not necessarily a bad thing.
My friend Lashondias, who has dated two men who speak with an accent,
said their accents played a role in her attraction to them.
It is, however, unrealistic to imagine that accents do not make it hard
for people to communicate. People who have dealt with overseas merchants
for technical services know what I’m talking about.
But don’t blame them, they’re not speaking like that to be
funny, instead be patient and appreciate them for their service.
Fresno State students who deal with challenges that come with having an
accent should rest easy knowing that having an accent is not a measure
of their intelligence, but a mark of identity to be proud of.
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