What brand of English do you speak?

There is only one language people speak around the world: bad English. - Bennie Mostert

What brand of English do you speak? In my post "The rule doesn't work", I mentioned that my friend speaks perfect English. He corrected me saying, "I prefer to say that I speak perfect Filipino-English." This triggered another thought: I thought Filipinos said they speak Taglish (Tagalog + English), not Filipino-English.

I've heard of many brands of English:
Taglish (Tagalog-English) in The Philippines
Singlish (Singapore-English) in Singapore
Chinglish (Chinese-English) in predominantly Chinese-speaking countries like Taiwan and China
Then there's Hong Kong-English in Hong Kong (with a heavy Cantonese accent)
Malaysian English in Malaysia
British English in the UK
American English in the USA
Canadian English in Canada (ending your sentences with "ae?")
I'm sure there are many, many more brands of English out there!

Regardless of the accent you have, the real question I have is whether any of these speakers of the English language can "code switch" depending on whom he/she is talking to. I can. My classmate who has lived in America for many years can too. In fact, on a recent holiday to Singapore, her children kept glaring at her, wondering why Mom was talking funny! Mom's reply, "I'm at home! I speak the way I would at home!" When in Rome, speak as the Romans do.

One of the beauties of the English language is how it has adapted itself in every different country where it has gone, thus adding colour and variety to this so-called universal language around the world. At the end of the day, my friend Bennie Mostert is right. "Bad English" is what we speak, unless you're the Queen of England!

Don't be discouraged in your language learning process. Time and hard work are needed to really learn a language well. At the end of the day, a combination of basic language and body actions will help you communicate in any country of the world. But, keep going on the learning journey. You will earn loads more respect that way.

Here's to learning a language well!

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