SYBCom Sem 4 ACSE Comprehension Passage 4 Spoken English and Broken English

 Passage 4

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Spoken English and Broken English   -  George Bernard Shaw

I am now going to address myself especially to my foreign hearers. I have to give them another warning of quite a different kind. If you are learning English because you intend to travel to England and wish to be understood there, do not try to speak English perfectly, because, if you do, no one will understand you. I have already explained that though there is no such thing as perfectly correct English, there is presentable English which we call "Good English"; but in London nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand people not only speak bad English but speak even that badly. You may say that even if they do not speak English well themselves, they can at least understand it when it is well spoken. They can when the speaker is English; but when the speaker is a foreigner, the better he speaks, the harder it is to understand him. No foreigner can ever stress the syllables and make the voice rise and fall in question and answer, assertion and denial, in refusal and consent, in enquiry or information, exactly as a native does. Therefore, the first thing you have to do is to speak with a strong foreign accent, and speak broken: that is, English without any grammar. Then every English person to whom you speak will at once know that you are a foreigner, and try to understand you and be ready to help you. He will not expect you to be polite and to use elaborate grammatical phrases. He will be interested in you because you are a foreigner, and pleased by his cleverness in making out your meaning and being able to tell you what you want to know. If you say, "Will you have the goodness, Sir, to direct me to the railway terminus at Charing Cross," pronouncing all the vowels and consonants beautifully, he will not understand you, and will suspect you of being a beggar or a confidence trickster. But if you shout, "Please! Charing Cross! Which way!" you will have no difficulty. Half a dozen people will immediately overwhelm you with directions.

Even in private intercourse with cultivated people you must not speak too well: Apply this to your attempts to learn foreign languages, and never try to speak them too well. And do not be afraid to travel. You will be surprised to find how little you need to know or how badly you may pronounce. Even among English people, to speak too well is a pedantic affectation. In a foreigner it is something worse than an affectation; it is an insult to the native who cannot understand his own language when it is too well spoken. That is all I can tell you: the record will hold no more. Good bye!

Questions:

1.  When will an English person help a foreigner?
An English person will help a foreigner when the foreigner speaks with inaccuracy, with a non-native strong foreign accent and imperfect broken English; English without grammar.

2. What action of the foreigner is an insult to the native of England?
Speaking English too perfectly is seen as an insult because it makes natives feel uncomfortable. They feel it as an insult while they are unable to understand their own language when spoken so well.

3. State whether the following are true or false:
a. A foreigner should not try to speak English perfectly when in England.                 – True
b. According to the writer, a majority of people in London speak good English.                   – False
c. A foreigner should be afraid to travel in England.      – False
d. There is no perfectly correct English.      – True
e. An English person is pleased when he meets a foreigner.    –    True

4. What is common between the English person on the streets of London and the cultivated class?
They find it hard to understand foreigners who speak English too well and they expect simpler, broken English. They will not expect you to be polite and to use elaborate grammatical phrases. 

5. The English person will suspect a foreigner of being a beggar or a confidence trickster if...

...the foreigner speaks English too politely and with perfect pronunciation.

6.  Add a suffix to the word 'travel' to mean 'one who travels':
      Traveler

7.  Point out the word the writer uses to describe the sophisticated class:
     Cultivated

8.  Make a sentence of your own using the word 'affectation'(exaggeration):
Her British accent was clearly an affectation, as she had never lived in England.

9.  One of the sentences in the passage lists out words and their opposites. Write down the two sets of words:
    Ans: Opposite words in the passage:  Rise and fall, question and answer, assertion and denial, refusal and consent

10.  "To give someone a warning" is a collocation in the text. Look up three collocations in the dictionary pertaining to the word 'warning' and make sentences of your own using them:

Answer: 1. Issue a warning – The teacher issued a warning to the noisy students.   2. Ignore a warning – It is dangerous to ignore a warning about bad weather.  3. Sound a warning – The lifeguard sounded a warning when the waves grew stronger.

11.  Do you think the writer is prejudiced against the English and their language? Give reasons why you think so:

No, the writer is not really prejudiced against the English and their language.  But the writer seems critical of how English people react to foreigners speaking good English. He mocks their inability to understand their own language when spoken well.

12. Write your response (in about 50 words) to the writer's criticism of the people of England at their reaction to a foreigner speaking 'good English':
The writer’s criticism focuses on a cultural oddity, not a serious flaw. It shows that English speakers like simplicity in communication. The writer criticizes how English people react to foreigners who speak good and perfect English. He mocks their inability to understand their own language when spoken well. It may seem strange, but it is a fact that a native speaker saws a willingness to help a foreigners who make an effort to speak their language, even if imperfectly.