Tag: tongue

tongue-tied

:p

For the first time in my life, I lost my tongue. In short, I became taciturn… tight-lipped… tongue tied… clammed up… buttoned up… closemouthed…reticent… However you call it. Sigh. This is not me. And I’m getting frustrated.

I’m doing my best to analyze and find out the root cause of this predicament. Below are the things that I’ve come up so far:

  • Is it because i’m surrounded with guys who are drop dead gorgeous?
  • Or i’m still getting used to seeing REAL blue, green, and other eye color aside from brown and all kinds of real vibrant hair color?  (Note: I’ve gotten used to seeing colored contact lenses and dyed hair)
  • Or is it because I’m finally seeing the theories I’ve previously taught (during my teaching years) come to life?
  • Or is it the four season weather?
  • Or having the sunset at 10p.m.?
  • Or is it the roses, tulips and other kinds of flowers reaching its full bloom?
  • Or not knowing who Dr. Zeus is?
  • Or not knowing how to drive?
  • Or getting “nose bleed” talking in English with that trying hard North American twang? :p
  • Or I’m just overwhelmed?

What do you think?

Sigh…  I’m always known for being an “okrabesa” (a.k.a . pugnacious) and “antipatika” (a.k.a. irksome) in a funny way. Also, I have a penchant to pester people in a comic way as well as making fun of my major inadequacy. Can you give a guess? Waaaah! Yes, it’s my height! :p

Most of the time, my one-liner goofy retorts send people in cahoots of  laughter even if I’m not even making a joke. Hmmm… maybe I’m also born to be a comedian… not just to inspire creatures but to bring rainbow colors and hearty laughters into their uneventful life.

Now, I’m mute.

Share your thoughts and help me clear this cobweb of bewilderment! Argh! I need to find my tongue ASAP! Ha!

English

I’ve always thought that if you have good command of the English language, it will be enough to make you “global”. Hence, I did everything within my mighty power to learn English even though I abhor the intricacies of its “technical” aspect.

A lot of people say I speak and write English well… Hmm.… I might have succeeded in a certain way but I know in my heart that I still have a long way to go.

My accent turned topsy-turvy after communicating with people having various mother tongue such as:

  • Filipino (Ilokano, Tagalog, Bisaya, Ilonggo, etc)
  • Dutch
  • German
  • French
  • Singaporean Mandarin
  • Chinese Mandarin
  • Cantonese
  • Hokien
  • Bhurmese
  • Bhutanese
  • Nepalese
  • Indonesian
  • Malay
  • Arabic
  • Ethiopian Language
  • Hindi
  • Tamil

I usually adapt the most prominent accent but my tongue seemed be confused on what accent to follow. Strange huh? Even so, I did manage to improve my accent  slowly and it got better when I worked at HSBC. We were dealing with American clients, so, we were taught to neutralize our accent to minimize communication barrier. After a few months, I can already speak English with that American twang.

However, when I went to work in Singapore, I needed to unlearn that American twang and speak English the “local” way inorder to get the message across and minimize receiving blank stares. (See related article -> Singlish).

Now, I need to unlearn the Singlish and bring back the North American way of speaking English. It’s a work in progress and it’s a bit difficult because I’ve also adapted the unresponsive nature of Singaporeans. It’s a total struggle!

Looking at the brighter side of things, I know things will work well in the next couple of months. The naturally bubbly, giggly. and chatty me will soon surface.

How to think English is also added in my to do list. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not removing Ilokano and Tagalog in my system. I’m a Filipino and will always be. I just want to improve myself and make my Mama proud (wherever she is now).   (Note: Writing is given. :p)

Thus, my mantra now is:
“I must speak English and think English.”

Why don’t we do this together? Aja! 🙂