Broken English----------What is this.
@amadeo (111948)
United States
June 2, 2018 8:44am CST
While growing up in the Great Depression Years.
In our neighbor hood we had many immigrant
Italian,Armenia,Ireland,Sweden etc.
I never paid to much attention to their language
Said to my buddy why do they talk like that.
They are immigrant and they only speak Broken English?
Yes my ma and pa included.
Then of course asking too many question.
What is broken english?I thought that this was funny.
They are trying to speak the English language.
Oh!okay.I had a very hard time with my parents as they spoke this way.
They spoke mostly Italian to the older siblings.
We had wonderful immigrant in our neighbor hood
Have you ever heard about Broken English.
Some time I feel this way
photo online
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photo online
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.22 people like this
25 responses
@LadyDuck (458230)
• Switzerland
2 Jun 18
This quote is very true, someone who speaks "broken English" surely speaks at least another language, that is not the case of many who speak "good English". I surely have an accent when I speak English, but people in the United States could not guess where I am from, most thought I was British. I speak French with a southern accent because I have lived in the south 30 years. I speak with a northern accent when I speak Italian.
5 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
2 Jun 18
lol My mother is from French Canada so I guess she speaks broken English, I always thought her accent was adorable.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
3 Jun 18
@amadeo lol I have been told that I rather speak broken English myself. I tend to say things in reverse order, pretty much in the order it would be said in French, my mother taught me French before English so I guess some is settled way back in my brain.
1 person likes this
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
4 Jun 18
@BelleStarr that is great you have the language there.I missed out as being the ninth child
The older ones speak Italian.
1 person likes this
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
3 Jun 18
@BelleStarr they are adorable and love when they try to talk English.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
3 Jun 18
All the time. We get a lot of that here of course as well. I suppose one can take pleasure in that EVEN IF it is broken English, at least they are TRYING to speak English. I cannot stand it when someone comes here to live, has been a while, and still cannot speak the language.
1 person likes this
@Jessabuma (31700)
• Baguio, Philippines
3 Jun 18
The quote is definitely right.. I am not that good in English but I can speak other languages well
1 person likes this
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
3 Jun 18
@Jessabuma your quite welcome there.You are very talented
1 person likes this
@chavezrmc (6095)
• Philippines
2 Jun 18
In my country most people can write and understand english. But it is quite different when you are speaking the languange. sometime there are people who are doing the "broken english" as you say. But i believe we are still lucky that we can use this foreign language as our second language
@chavezrmc (6095)
• Philippines
3 Jun 18
@amadeo English is part of our curriculum in school that is why we have a high percentage of people who can use the language
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
2 Jun 18
@chavezrmc yes you are very lucky on this
1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (51532)
• Philippines
3 Jun 18
I bet they will think I have broken english too. I don't really practice it much.
1 person likes this
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
3 Jun 18
@Letranknihght2015
I see.you know some English
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49013)
• United States
2 Jun 18
I have heard it when I was younger.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Jun 18
I have know some Hispanics who speak broken English and would never make fun of anyone who does. With these people, they speak English better than I speak Spanish.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (48478)
• Canada
2 Jun 18
I work with a lot of immigrants, and it is tricky to catch what they are saying when they use broken English plus they talk really fast. I probably won't ever get too used to it, although I do know what certain things mean now so I don't have to ask them to repeat themselves.
And they have taught me, at my request, a few words in their language.
Its the give and the take.
Afterall, unless you are aboriginal, we are all immigrants to either Canada or the US.
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
5 Jun 18
This saying is brilliant! My English isn't broken (anymore). I also have an accent. I've never lived in an English speaking country. My longest stay were three months in Great Britain but that was half a century ago. I would allow an English native to make fun of me only if their German were as good as my English! :-)
My Italian can occasionally have a breakdown. But I can get along in Italy without a dictionary.
My Russian has retreated into hidden corners of my brain because I don't practise it anymore.
@CRK109 (14558)
• United States
3 Jun 18
When I was born, my parents knew a lot of English but they mostly spoke Italian because that's the only language their parents knew. And sometimes their English would come out wrong, so I would have to teach them and correct them as I was learning. occasionally they would speak words that were part English and part Italian and then no one knew what was going on! lol
@anamika161088 (11868)
• India
4 Jun 18
It is very common in India. We call it Hinglish means Hindi (National Language of India) and English together.
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
4 Jun 18
@anamike16 I was talking about mainly in the thirties
1 person likes this
@aureliah (24319)
• Kenya
2 Jun 18
Yes I always hear people speak broken English. Probably its because where I live, its not the first language people speak
@sh2ker (503)
• Bury, England
2 Jun 18
I completely agree it is wrong to mock someone who can’t speak English as good as you if it is s second language.Especially as many English/Americans who do this only speak one language themselves. Though I don’t think it is necessarily wrong to laugh if it causes them to make a funny mistake as long as they are part of the joke and not being laughed at.
