It is amazing how you can think when living in South Africa, Ah, I had English at school and most of the business world in South Africa is English, so living in a country where "English" is the main language, would be easy enough.
Haha the joke is on you, mate! Coming to a country where people think they are speaking English, but because of the mixture of Dutch, German, Cockney, and what ever else for Mediterranean and eastern accents, there is now way that they can understand what you are saying and vice versa!
They keep on telling you, you have an accent, but they don't even know how funny they sound themselves.
When you want to by a cell phone, everyone stares at you as if you are from a different planet. Here, they call it a mobile, not a mobile phone, just a mobile.
Then when you finally got that organised, they don't have your phone of choice in stock, so you have to come tomoz (that's tomorrow) arvo (that's afternoon). Because this sarvo (this afternoon) is too early. Ok, so that took weeks to figure out, because Sarvo could be a person or a place as far as I am concerned...
All in all Strayan is not such a bad language, when you get the accent figured out.
The grammar is of course not existent, so much so that while writing this blog, I am constantly thinking, "is this right?" because you lose it mate, you lose it fast.
The thing about the accent that is really disturbing to a South African is that in NSW everyone ends the sentence in a question, by this I mean that every sentence has a upturn in the voice at the end. So in my mind there is a question mark at the end of the sentence.
If you ask someone and explain where a shop is that you are trying to find it could sound like this: Just hear this in your mind: " So you turn left here and go on for 2 block and then turn right and up the stairs and the you will see it in front of you."
Now, hear this: "So you turn left here? and go on for 2 blocks? and then turn right? up the stairs and then you will see it in front of you?"
Now when you've sorted out all these little idiosyncrasies, you start to enjoy the fact that a (bakkie) Light Utility Vehicle is called a Ute and it has to have a dog on the back of it, tied on with a rope, if he is lucky.
Everyone is very helpful and friendly, so this makes up for all the funny language issues.
You are always greeted with a friendly: "How ah yas" or in a shop looking for something on the shelf " "Howaugoin?" Now normally when you are asked How are you, you are supposed to answer, "well and you?" well, here it is, "Good ya?" sounds like a tyre of some sort...
Anyway, four years ladah, I most probably sound like most of the Aussies I have meet. I am jus geddin bedda an bedda at Strayan. My daughters are now called Nicolar and Lydiar, but Talita says her name stood the test of time.
Good on ya mate!
Well being South African, one should not really think that you can speak the English tale very deliciously, because, well, we don't. And that's ok too.
