Can you speak Burmese fluently?
“I can’t stand those Burmese people who claim that they are unable to speak Burmese fluently because they have been away from home for a long time. I can’t help but dislike them immediately.”, says a friend.
That got us thinking. And in an effort to defend those who are innocent, this post is born.
There are basically 2 types of people. Those who claim to be what they claim to be because they want to be noticed and popular, and those who are just being honest. In these days and age, there are a lot of burmese who grew up overseas, who were born overseas or who left home many years ago to a greener place (like the saying goes: The grass is always greener on the other side). And for them, it is highly possible that they find their Burmese language fluency lacking over time. One would say one should never forget his roots, but knowing how to speak mother tongue fluently doesn’t really mean he hasn’t forgotten his roots.
After all, who are we to judge, really?
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I left myanmar when i was 19 and staying in oversea for almost 6 year. I didn’t forget mother tongue. But I do forget how to spell words(sometime) especailly difficult one. coz i didn’t write a single letter in mother tongue for six years.When come to writing, it is terrible.really bad. I think it depend entirely on new environment you r in. If no myanmar in your new environment , then you will lacking burmese language.
david: Ditto.
that is bullshitting absolutly! bcoz i dont believe they are really burmese blood. may be mixed indian or chinese. i, myself, have been left from my mother country for 14 yrs aldy. how to forget my mother tongue?reading, writing and speaking we used to it for half of our life.is that not enough? so ask them to back to primary school. so shameful!!
zawgun ni kaung dae,
u look so angry but I agreed with u even I’m Malaysian girl (my races Islam) perhaps I can speak ur language (even little bit=basic), learn write ur words n many more. I believe all people love their country n never forget their mother tongue., so do i. hope evrywhere u go in this world 4 such a long time don’t forget where u come from. I just need 2 share with u guys..Sweety Erin, Malaysia
zawgun: You must have a pretty good memory to be able to read, write and speak Burmese after being away from home for 14 years. Good on you.
But there’s no doubt that languages, as with any other things, could be forgotten over time if not used.
Erin: You are right on this one; one should never ever forget where he comes from.
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I just stumbled upon these message boards… interesting topic. This is what I think.
Those of us who went to Burmese high school is bullshitting if they say they’ve forgotten to speak fluently, unless they’ve been away for like 50 years and hardly speak Burmese during that 50 years away.
Then there are people who left when young, stay even in early teens who may not be able to speak fluently. The key word here is FLUENT. They can still speak and understand well but may not be as fluent as those who are still in touch with our Burmese roots.
I left Burma at 20, been nearly 11 years since I left Burma. Still have Burmese friends, still speak Burmese, still go back to Burma every year, so someone like me, if I ever say I cannot speak BUrmese anymore, BEAT ME WITH A CANE, please!
Writing on the other hand, whoa, I was never great with those Burmese alphbets that you dont use often, you know those ones, da yin gaut and that sort of thing. I’m hopeless with that. I also find that my hands get tired in a short period when I write in Burmese. But I think that’s because we’re so used to writing on the computer all the time, Burmese or English, my hands will hurt writing with a pen nowadays.
So yes, I cant stand those people who just say they cant speak well anymore and they leave Burma at an older age. Then they cant even speak English or whatever the country they’re now living in, all that well. So what excuse have they got? They just have very poor language skills, Burmese or not?
Wai Sann Thi: >>> Then there are people who left when young, stay even in early teens who may not be able to speak fluently. The key word here is FLUENT. They can still speak and understand well but may not be as fluent as those who are still in touch with our Burmese roots.
Couldn’t agree more!
Love those words from Wai sann thi, I 1000000% agree even though i was born in australia my mum talks to me in burmese and thus i’m “fluent” in both burmese and english and now over to japanese..lol
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oh well as for me.. i am brought up in Malaysia.. my dad’s a burmese mix with chinese.. n he was brought up here as well.. so i couldn’t speak burmese language at all but am lookin forward to learn..
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