Say what? How much English is too much English
Say what? How much English is too much English
Krabbe K.E. Piting, Contributor, Jakarta
Bali, December 2003. I was having a delightfully cheap sushi
dinner with a friend at the back of a popular Japanese restaurant
(owned by the Yakuza, if you believe the rumors).
There were only two other groups in our section of the
restaurant: a couple in their late teens and a pack of raucous
Japanese tourists. It only seemed natural to assume that my
friend and I were the only Indonesian patrons there, as
conversations in Japanese and English alternately infiltrated our
booth.
That is until a mobile phone rang and one half of the couple
answered in perfect colloquial Bahasa Indonesia. A few minutes
later, her partner ordered more beer in -- surprise, surprise --
Indonesian.
In case you haven't noticed (because you are too busy speaking
English), Indonesians love to speak English, Jakartans in
particular. We speak English to English-speaking people. We speak
English to other Indonesians. Did I mention that Indonesians love
to speak English?
I've been in countless meetings where everybody converses in
English, and nary an expat is in sight. I've received memos in
English from Indonesian colleagues. A radio station conducts
their programs almost entirely in English and even christened
their DJs with English names.
Watch local TV and you'll see and hear plenty of English being
used: "More than you expect, gals," "The power to do more,"
"Yesterday is gone" Eh?
Most bewildering of all probably came from a leading telecom
company with its "Committed 2U" slogan. U presumably means users
across the archipelago, from "sk8ter bois" to the Timorese cloth
weavers, all fluent English speakers, no doubt. Can somebody from
their ad agency explain this to me, please?
But the best experience so far was when I went to an
Indonesian student gathering abroad and everybody spoke English
to one another. Silly me for expecting to converse in our mother
tongue at such occasions. Was I too naive in thinking that every
single student would eagerly seize the moment to speak a familiar
language among fellow countrymen?
Without sounding too much like a Frenchman, I see this as a
disease. Although I am very much aware of such a problem also
affecting many non-English speaking countries, it still hurts
when it hits so close to home. The whole phenomenon is
embarrassing and tiresome.
It was not as prevalent five years ago. How did things get so
sour so quickly? Should I blame the Internet? The flood of cheap
pirated DVDs? The influx of magazine franchises that can't be
bothered to translate some of their content into Bahasa
Indonesia?
No, I blame the people.
Some say that English is the lingua franca of the world today.
Fine, but that does not mean I have to talk about the weather
with my Javanese colleague in English. I should, however, use it
on a regional meeting where people with several nationalities are
in attendance or when I travel abroad and have no knowledge
whatsoever of the local language. Anything else seems
superfluous.
Others say that English is used to reach a broader audience.
Please hold me before I fall to the floor laughing. Fresno and
Amsterdam are cities chock-full of Indonesians, and do you see
signboards or ads in Bahasa Indonesia?
It all boils down to snobbery. Most people equate
communicating in a foreign language with a higher social caste, a
higher notch in the cool meter. Speaking English means you are a
learned fellow (probably foreign educated) who vacations abroad.
Speaking English means you're da man!
Maybe I am being too paranoid. Maybe the couple in the
Japanese restaurant was talking in English to make up for the
lack of foreign tourists during the supposedly high season. What-
evuh. Anyway, what's the point of speaking English when we have
Indonesian, one of the easiest languages in the world?
Krabbe K.E. Piting, Contributor, Jakarta
Bali, December 2003. I was having a delightfully cheap sushi
dinner with a friend at the back of a popular Japanese restaurant
(owned by the Yakuza, if you believe the rumors).
There were only two other groups in our section of the
restaurant: a couple in their late teens and a pack of raucous
Japanese tourists. It only seemed natural to assume that my
friend and I were the only Indonesian patrons there, as
conversations in Japanese and English alternately infiltrated our
booth.
That is until a mobile phone rang and one half of the couple
answered in perfect colloquial Bahasa Indonesia. A few minutes
later, her partner ordered more beer in -- surprise, surprise --
Indonesian.
In case you haven't noticed (because you are too busy speaking
English), Indonesians love to speak English, Jakartans in
particular. We speak English to English-speaking people. We speak
English to other Indonesians. Did I mention that Indonesians love
to speak English?
I've been in countless meetings where everybody converses in
English, and nary an expat is in sight. I've received memos in
English from Indonesian colleagues. A radio station conducts
their programs almost entirely in English and even christened
their DJs with English names.
Watch local TV and you'll see and hear plenty of English being
used: "More than you expect, gals," "The power to do more,"
"Yesterday is gone" Eh?
Most bewildering of all probably came from a leading telecom
company with its "Committed 2U" slogan. U presumably means users
across the archipelago, from "sk8ter bois" to the Timorese cloth
weavers, all fluent English speakers, no doubt. Can somebody from
their ad agency explain this to me, please?
But the best experience so far was when I went to an
Indonesian student gathering abroad and everybody spoke English
to one another. Silly me for expecting to converse in our mother
tongue at such occasions. Was I too naive in thinking that every
single student would eagerly seize the moment to speak a familiar
language among fellow countrymen?
Without sounding too much like a Frenchman, I see this as a
disease. Although I am very much aware of such a problem also
affecting many non-English speaking countries, it still hurts
when it hits so close to home. The whole phenomenon is
embarrassing and tiresome.
It was not as prevalent five years ago. How did things get so
sour so quickly? Should I blame the Internet? The flood of cheap
pirated DVDs? The influx of magazine franchises that can't be
bothered to translate some of their content into Bahasa
Indonesia?
No, I blame the people.
Some say that English is the lingua franca of the world today.
Fine, but that does not mean I have to talk about the weather
with my Javanese colleague in English. I should, however, use it
on a regional meeting where people with several nationalities are
in attendance or when I travel abroad and have no knowledge
whatsoever of the local language. Anything else seems
superfluous.
Others say that English is used to reach a broader audience.
Please hold me before I fall to the floor laughing. Fresno and
Amsterdam are cities chock-full of Indonesians, and do you see
signboards or ads in Bahasa Indonesia?
It all boils down to snobbery. Most people equate
communicating in a foreign language with a higher social caste, a
higher notch in the cool meter. Speaking English means you are a
learned fellow (probably foreign educated) who vacations abroad.
Speaking English means you're da man!
Maybe I am being too paranoid. Maybe the couple in the
Japanese restaurant was talking in English to make up for the
lack of foreign tourists during the supposedly high season. What-
evuh. Anyway, what's the point of speaking English when we have
Indonesian, one of the easiest languages in the world?