Lost In Translation

Laith Abuharthieh

November 9, 2015

“Yuuuuuurrrrrppp. what up bro”

“How you been?”

“Ehh, you know chillin like a villain, how about you?”

“nothin much, I’m so tired man”

“Same this work we get be chalked”

This is usually the first conversation of many that I would have when I see my friends in the morning. The word “yurp” is the first thing I say when I see my friends This is something we have been saying for the past year or two. Most people know that when they hear that noise it’s coming from me or one of my friends. It’s almost a reflex to say it now, whenever I am walking somewhere I say “yurp’’ to get someone's attention. I started using the word when I heard my cousin say it I thought it sounded funny so I started saying it. However when I am at home I greet my family a different way, it usually sounds something like this.

“Salam alaykoum” or “hey” or “hi”

“How was school?”

“It was fine I guess, how was work?”

“Same as always, tiring as ever.”

When I am at home I don’t use slang for a few reasons, one being no one really understands the meaning of the slang that I use or my family would just think I am plain dumb. I also don’t use slang out of respect. I wouldn’t use the same tone I have with my friends that I have with my mom, because I am normally a loud person when I talk to my friends but when you speak to your parents or elder family member you should have a normal and respectful tone of voice. When I talk to my mom using slang she gives me this look basically saying, speak like a normal person or don’t speak at all. I feel like when I speak my own language it’s more relieving, not having to use correct grammar after focusing on school work all day five days a week, it makes speaking easier and just plain fun.

During the weekdays at school, my friends and I would speak “ghetto English”. Ghetto English is basically slang that we use to describe something, or to exaggerate something. Sometimes we come across words or sayings that are humorous so they end up being part of our daily vocabulary. I have two sides to my English speaking I have my improper ghetto side, and my proper English side where I would sound out every letter in each word. Usually if I use slang in my house my mom wouldn’t understand half of the things I say, so the result would consist of her mocking me every time I say something that isn’t “proper English”. To me there is no such thing as proper English, everyone has their own way of speaking and no one can tell you that you are talking wrong or because you speak differently or speak incorrectly, maybe when they speak it sounds incorrect to you. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from you will always have an accent.

This summer I went to visit my family in Palestine, before I left America I knew I wouldn’t be speaking much English for awhile because no one in my family speaks English from Palestine except for a few of my cousins. When I reached Palestine I was forced to speak Arabic. Since I learned from hearing my mom, grandma, and family speak it I picked up the different accents. When my aunt and I started conversating she kept laughing at the way I would speak. She told me that I mix different accents in one sentence. To me it sounded normal, when I asked her what accents I used she would tell me

“Depending on what word you say, you sound it out how an Egyptian would say it then you would go back to a Palestinian accent”

“It’s not my fault most people that speak Arabic around me are Palestinian or Egyptian so I naturally picked it up.”

A few months ago I figured out that one of my cousins spoke English. I thought maybe he knew the basics like how to greet people. Turns out that he spoke very well, and I was the one who inspired him to learn English. A few years back he heard me speak it and he automatically found an interest in the English language. After a few weeks I started losing my “ghetto side”. One reason was that he didn’t understand what I was saying when I would use the “American slang” so I had to start speaking properly. Since he spoke English I would talk to him more than anyone else so I wouldn’t get teased about the way I spoke Arabic. Overtime I found myself not using slang, not only that but the way I pronounced my words began changing. I started to pronounce every letter in each word that I said. My cousin told me that he wanted to speak English like how my sister and I do.

“Oh my god Ahmed your English is very good!”

“Thank You, I wanna get better, I want to speak how you and your sister do.”

“what do you mean we just sound different, because I learned English in Philadelphia and you taught yourself through videos on you tube. I probably have the Philadelphian accent”

I don’t want to speak properly, I wish I could speak faster and not pronounce every letter like my T’s and stuff like that, can you talk to me more so I can sound like you?”

“Sure why not.”

Over the course of a month his English took more of an effect on me then mine did on him. Instead of him learning the “American slang”, I started to speak properly, and different than I have when I first arrived. I also started to speak Arabic more efficient then I have before. I also picked up the proper accent of Arabic I should have been using all my life. Rather than speaking two different versions of Arabic in one sentence I used words that matched the origin of where I learned it.

After I came back to America my family noticed that I started to speak “properly” My mom was content with the fact that I learned how to speak both languages correctly like a “normal person” after our vacation. That didn’t last long, a week or two after we came back my “ghetto side” started to grow. Now when I speak in slang when I am at home my mom would ignore me until I start speaking like a “normal person”. I learned that when it comes to speaking English, nothing you say is right or wrong when it comes to the way you talk. Pronunciation, and speaking “correct English are two different things.” Although my family may think that their way of speaking is correct, but if you ask someone from a different area, city, or state they will tell you that you are not speaking “proper English”.