Bad Language...?
My Early Years as a Global Citizen
At the outset, I would mention that my native language is British/English…the relevance of that is that, for those of you who have picked up most of my chequered life via this newsletter, you will know that I have also lived in different countries.
My formative years found me in Germany, Norway and several different UK locations, due to my father’s military career. As it happens, in Germany and Norway, if you are a military family, you have access to educational systems that facilitate English speakers…bonus? More on that later…
Throughout my life and not just during my own military service, I knocked up against people from different countries, of course, but also different regions of the UK.
I often found that working with people of a specific region and with a notable accent, I would, in an almost osmosis way, pick up certain parts of the accent and special local words.
Living in Northern England for around three decades has left me, even now, with an accent that people often recognise, but not just English people. Speaking to a Spanish guy in the dentist's waiting room a few months back, who had once lived and worked in the UK, he spotted the Northern accent.
From another point on language, having served in the British forces, 7 years of which were in Germany…my work and life meant I had to rekindle my knowledge of the language. Setting aside incidents at school where my German language teacher would crack me on the skull with a 5-inch-thick German dictionary as a result of my lack of ability.
There was an incident at one of the married quarters, an occasion when several of us visited for a get-together and a few beers…the married quarters were a block of apartments within the German community. A location where a fair number of British servicemen lived.
We heard some commotion in the hallway/entrance area of the block, and a couple of us went to investigate.
You may or may not have heard of the “Buy a Painting” scam…but basically these people carry around a couple of paintings and try to con people into buying one or they refuse to leave…that was what was going on…and they were trying it on with one of our german neighbours.
So, within a couple of minutes, it became clear they were edging towards physical intimidation…
From somewhere, deep within my subconscious, I found a massive tirade of German words that shut them down and even got them to apologise and hurriedly leave.
The German couple, who were being intimidated, came over and asked: “Are you German?”…too, which obviously I explained I was English. They told me that what I had said and the accent I used made them think I was actually a German national…that was a shocker. I knew my German had come along pretty well in the years there, but for a German to think I was also was quite an accolade, well in my book anyway.
Language and accents are fascinating, and having now lived in Spain for 8 years, it’s a whole different ball game. I guess I have gotten a little lazy. Don’t get me wrong, I get by and hopefully don’t portray the English expat that doesn’t even bother to use some Spanish. Here also, there are regional accents, different types of Spanish and even locally created words that change from village to village.
I keep saying, “When I retire, I will try harder…”. So, I have 2 choices, retirement age is drawing close or…dont’t retire! Hmmmm.
Returning to the start of this scribble, my schooling in military educational schools in Germany and Norway.
Well, English tended to be taught in what is usually called “The Queen’s English”, the kind of pronunciation expected of the BBC World Service or people of financial means.
The Queen's English is also often called BBC English. It is the standard English which most non-native English speakers associate with people from the UK. It includes Received Pronunciation – the “posh” accent that the Queen uses – as well as grammatically correct utterances free of slang
So, when my father finished his 23 years of military service and we returned to the UK and settled in a northern city, there was still a lot of schooling to be done.
And, as you might gather, my accent stood out. I was labelled “posh”, “different” and yes, “not our kind”.
At the time, I had not yet reached my 6ft 3in Rugby player type stature (that would come later in life, haha) and became the person to bully. There were some nasty incidents that resulted in physical damage…too me lol…they were rough years…but, like life itself, you learn to “ride with the punches”.
I think the takeaway from this is, language, in all its forms, even “bad” language (as it has its own historical origins), is massively interesting but that people can sometimes make judgements on who or what a person is, dependent on their language or even accent.
I will state here, I class myself as a Global Citizen, hey, with my past, you could say I am a bit of a mongrel. I like to think it makes me more open to life and experiences…
What are your thoughts?
Until Next Time
Very interesting piece and brought up a lot of memories for me, also a "global citizen". Since my family, led by a WW2 Vet with severe PTSD, moved every two years, sometimes jumping borders, I never quite fit in anywhere. I did - very quickly - lean to adopt local words and accents and that helped to some degree.
Sometime later, in adult life, I did a fundraiser by running 1000 miles, 800 of which was across the state of Pennsylvania. During that run I spoke with people along the way, had them sign my "guest book", and came to realise that almost every 20 miles (or town to town as you said) accents and words changed. I had driven through Pennsylvania several times and never caught onto that fact before.
One other thing I noticed in your piece was the reference to being tall. I was taller (seem to be shrinking now) and often got attacked -either on the playing field or in committee meetings by much shorter people, almost exclusively. I found that quite annoying.
Like you, I have lived and worked in several countries - Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sweden, Spain, UK, Canada and the US. It seems to have resulted in my thinking somewhat differently from people who have stayed "local". Not necessarily bad or good, just differently.
Thanks for taking time to write this piece!