What happened to my English

Discussion Open Forum
1

You know you need help when you start saying things like

I went yesterday to the store instead of I went to the store yesterday

You only live in the present tense

I give you the book later
5 o clock I finish work I can see you.

You start speaking really slowly to your friends back home and native speakers who are visiting Taiwan for business.

So j o h n, a r e y o u g o i n g t o s t a y m u c h l o n g e r, d i d y o u e n j o y y o u r t r i p?

Your friends say you have acquired a bit of an American accent and you just grin sheepishly and remember saying you’d never lose your accent no matter how long you stayed. Hope there’s time to repair the damage later…

Even North Americans seem to be speaking too fast these days! (no slur intended but you guys do speak a little slower)

I’m sure I used to know more words, where’s that pesky dictionary

2

Yes, it’s like the voice of HAL while Dave is pulling his circuit boards out by one…

3

That sounds like ETD (English Teaching Disease). It’s usually caused by teaching children or too many hours. Easily cured with alcohol.

4

In order to stunt this you need to read, read, and then read some more. Books, novels, magazines, newspapers, etc. It will help!

5

I wish I had that excuse, but it’s just that I use English with such a limited group of people and for a limited number of topics, seeing as I only use Chinese in my work.
I had HH’s problem after a couple of years travelling in India, thinking primarily in Hindi, and then using its syntax on English: “I city going am”… oops!
On the other hand, I did read somewhere that in order to succeed in learning a second language after adolescence, it was necessary to give up proficiency in your mother tongue.

6

yeh I noticed when re-reading my emails big chunks of meaning missing along with pronouns and pretty adjectives.

So one can say language is merely a function of its environment ?- scary.