English or english

I'm not a native speaker of English, but I have been using English for many years. It has been a part of my life because I teach English and I translate from English to Chinese most of the time. And of course I speak English in my TM club and I wrote Enlgsh papers sometimes.

 

As a non-native speaker, of course I don't speak very authentic or standard English. But when talking to native speakers, I don't feel inferior. I would like to say aloud that "this is my way to speak English." Just see how people in Singapore are proud of speaking their own Singaporean English.  I envy their confidence. Who says that there should be only one standard English ? Actually, there are many englishes in the world, including British, American, Canadian, Indian, Sigaporean, Malaysian, South African, Australian, Philippine englishes. As long as it can help people communicate with others, any english is OK, even Taiwanese english or MY english.

 

I guess I was influenced a lot by Lawrence Venuti. I've been translating a paper from one chapter of my dissertation for the past few weeks. Under the time pressure, I don't have too much time or ability to revise it into a beautifully written English paper. Someone was offering to help, but unfortunately our schedules don't mesh. Besides, honestly, I don't care too much about my English now. After all, it's just a medium. Through this medium I express my views and ideas, which are actually the most important part.

 

I could never act like a native speaker, because I am not. The more I use english, the more I regard it as just a tool to express ideas. It's a language as beautiful as any other languages, like Chinese, Japanese, Italian, etc., but it's not superior to any of them. I really hope someday people don't feel embarrased or even ashamed when they can't speak so-called standard English but feel comfortable when they speak their communicable englishes.