Dumbing down your English because of race?

Penrith, Australia
January 11, 2013 6:53pm CST
I have this friend who is Asian, he used to chat with me with bad grammar and bad English, it's not that im discriminating him or anything but then when we skyped, I was surprised that he was rather very good in english. I pointed this out to him and he told me: "when I found out that you were Asian too, I dumbed down my English for you." I was kinda pissed, but at the back of my head, maybe he was just doing me a favor. But I don't know, mylotters, what do you think? do you think what he did was right? Do I have the right to get pissed?
10 responses
@Renhard (3471)
• Jamaica
12 Jan 13
Well I am not Asian but I am Jamaican and I experience something similar. In my country we have English Creole and Standard English. Most people are born speaking english creole. English creole has this raw feeling to it, some of the words are pronounce the same but others have a little more deviation. I do not like to hear people talking it. It is a part of our culture but the educated language in our country is "standard english." I will give people a chance when they are speaking a mixture of creole and standard english, because it shows that they are trying. Creole alone on the other hand disgusts me and it pushes me away from the person.
@Renhard (3471)
• Jamaica
13 Jan 13
Oh is see what you are saying. I would be pissed because of that. Definitely.
• Penrith, Australia
13 Jan 13
Now I don't feel bad at all for not liking him anymore. Not a single guilt feeling. :D
• Penrith, Australia
13 Jan 13
Thanks for sharing your experience, but the difference is that, he is putting an effort to dumb himself down and the people you speak of are putting an effort to improve themselves. I wish he just did that, maybe, he could have dragged me into the improvement with him.
• Singapore
12 Jan 13
He implied that he looked down on the English of Asians. But whether he said the truth, you can easily test him out. Some people are indeed more proficient in English in writing but not so good in oral communication.
• United States
12 Jan 13
What!? Asian with British accent? It sucks that he treated you that way. I wouldn't talk to him either. Someones gonna do him like that one day if they haven't already. I wonder it he'll understand how it feels then.
• Penrith, Australia
13 Jan 13
Right, Asian with British accent. I don't know if he's fudging it but it sure is believable I mean, he could make people believe that he grew up in Europe or something. XD That's true, karma works, I hope haha. Yeah I kinda think everyone will get what they deserve anyway in the end of all this, ugh.. I'm not feeling guilty at all disposing of him (I know ... The term. XD) making room for some better people now. :D
• Penrith, Australia
12 Jan 13
Like we talked on skype, video call type. And his English was so amazing oh my goodness! It was unbelievable, he even had that British accent. I was thinking he might have had a hard time composing his chats for me cause the English was so horrible like he misused the "your and you're" an the "too and to" and the "is and are" and everything. I was kinda pissed off. I mean if he just had been honest I might have learned something from him. :| now I just don't want to talk to him anymore. :| I feel like he lied.
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
13 Jan 13
I'd be annoyed. Coz he is downright looking down on how I express myself. I don't think that he should have done such a thing. So what if you are Asian? I am sure he'd determine if you really are poor in English as to not understand his English that well. It is like saying we, Filipinos do not know how to speak the language. Insulting!
• Penrith, Australia
13 Jan 13
Yes that's true, not to brag or anything bit I learned English even before I learned Illinois and I am so pissed that he'd think I deserve that kind of English, that broken English is what I need to be able to convey my feelings about his thoughts. It's not fair. Thanks for being with me o this. :)
@Shavkat (137215)
• Philippines
14 Jan 13
Even if I am an Asian, proudly to say that I am good in English. Some people would claim they are good too. However, if I were told with such statement; then I will just ignore it. We just need to respect some people for being proud of oneself, besides it is their own opinion.
• Penrith, Australia
14 Jan 13
Well he didn't say he was good in English. He pretended to be really bad at it. He pretended that he had wrong grammar. But in truth he was really good at it. He speaks like a real American. Probably even better. He pretended to be bad at English so that he could meet me at my level because I'm Asian too.
@iluvusabado (2560)
• Philippines
12 Jan 13
i think he just he thought if he will use correct english, you would be intimidated and just avoid having conversations with him but in the end, he offended you.
• Penrith, Australia
13 Jan 13
Hmm cause friend, you see, I didn't pretend to be dumb about my English, I talk to him this way, he could have just spoken normally and saved me the trouble of having to make out what he said, well, I say, if you do things well, you should continue doing things well. Putting yourself down doesn't by far make you a better person at any way.
• India
12 Jan 13
well I'm an Indian myself and there are quite horrible English speakers here, I did not know that problem is faced all over Asia up until now! what he did was right and wrong at the same time, right because he did not know who you are and stayed on the safer side as he did not know if you knew good English or a bit broken English, amd wrong because he should not have been judgemental! . and since you are a good English speaker, I think you have the right to be a bit pissed! anyways, it was good reading one of your experiences!
• Penrith, Australia
13 Jan 13
Hmm, well the guy I was referring to, he is Indian, Indian with very good English who can do British and who can speak straight English without rolling The "r's" but don't get me wrong, I love listening to Indians speaking, especially when they speak Telugu. :D Telugu just sounds so romantic and intimate and everything, :D Come to think of it, it's quite nice that he did try to consider my feelings, but he could have stopped it once he figured out that I didn't need him to put an effort to dumb down his English, for me, I'd tell him anyway if I had a hard time getting what he meant. I'm actually glad that you allotted time into knowing my thought, I can feel your gaze as you are reading this. It feels nice. :)
• United States
12 Jan 13
I don't know how I feel about that. I think I would be upset if someone pretended to be or do something they are not. Had he been honest to begin with, maybe you would learn things.
• Penrith, Australia
12 Jan 13
I think that counts as lying too don't you think? But isn't it a white lie? XD I knew it, all lying is bad. XD it sounds kinda racist though don't you think but I don't know were both Asians so it can't be racist. XD I still feel bad about it and I don't want to talk to him. Thanks for making me feel that feeling bad about it is okay. I was almost feeling that I wasn't normal or anything. XD
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
12 Jan 13
Yeah it was his intention to help you, but he made an really odd assumption. I'd expect that from a non Asian, but he speaks and uses good English and it never occurred to him that you might also? Doesn't make sense. He should know better.
• Penrith, Australia
12 Jan 13
Goodness, that's true too. I mean most of the tv shows we watch nowadays are in English. Even children who are left alone in their houses know how to speak in English cause they watch Disney channel all day. Their parents didn't even teach them but they are really fluent. And yeah, English is open for everybody, anybody can learn it. Hmm. That's actually a very good point it opened me up to a lot of thoughts. Thanks for your response. :)
• Marikina, Philippines
12 Jan 13
English? I am not good in writing and speaking English, but if that would happen to me, I just ignore him. I would just ignore him because I don't understand why he need to do that to me. Maybe there a deep reason, but I don't care. But for me, he must not pretend just because you are asian. He acts like he didn't do anything wrong.
• Penrith, Australia
12 Jan 13
Well yeah. I have to stop proving myself and explaining myself to people who would have just judged me anyway. :| yeah, I don't wanna talk to him, I still feel like he lied to me, wether its a white lie or not. I feel insulted, anyway, I guess I shouldnt let him affect me, it's not like I need him in the first place. XD
@toyota4k (1208)
• Philippines
12 Jan 13
As an Asian, I also see to it that i know well who I am Chatting w/ online to make adjustments. No offense but there are Asians good at writing more than orally speaking.
• Penrith, Australia
12 Jan 13
It's nice of people to be considerate about others. Maybe he's right about me not being good cause I'm guilty of bad grammar too sometimes but then I think I'd appreciate it more that he just didn't do that and corrected me for my bad English instead. Well not to brag or anything but my parents saw to it that I learn English first before other languages and that includes our own dialect. I'm not saying I'm good at it but I could have learned more from him if he just spoke to me the way he normally would speak in english. Thanks for your response. :)