BROKEN ENGLISH

[jwschang]

Anyone heard of "Broken English"?

Some samplings from my humble text (under preparation) on how syntax is mangled by creative "shortening" in my part of the world (Singapore and Malaysia), especially among Chinese speakers!

Where are you?
You are where?

Where do you live?
You live where?

Where is the train station?
The train station is where?

Where could he be?
He is where?

Where are my socks?
My socks are where?

Where did you put them?
You put them where? (The "did" is a nuisance)

Where did she find my wallet?
She found my wallet where? (Ditto)

Where is this computer made?
This computer is made where?

[Red5]

I believe "broken English" is a widely used term which describes and generalises the standard of a learner.

[Tdol]

Broken English is a common enough term, although not used much in education.

[shane]

Anyone heard of "Broken English"?

Some samplings from my humble text (under preparation) on how syntax is mangled by creative "shortening" in my part of the world (Singapore and Malaysia), especially among Chinese speakers!

Where are you?
You are where?

Where do you live?
You live where?

Where is the train station?
The train station is where?

Where could he be?
He is where?

Where are my socks?
My socks are where?

Where did you put them?
You put them where? (The "did" is a nuisance)

Where did she find my wallet?
She found my wallet where? (Ditto)

Where is this computer made?
This computer is made where?

Those all sound like Chinglish to me!! They all use Chinese sentence patterns, don't they? :)

[Samantha]

Anyone heard of "Broken English"?

Some samplings from my humble text (under preparation) on how syntax is mangled by creative "shortening" in my part of the world (Singapore and Malaysia), especially among Chinese speakers!

Where are you?
You are where?

Where do you live?
You live where?

Where is the train station?
The train station is where?

Where could he be?
He is where?

Where are my socks?
My socks are where?

Where did you put them?
You put them where? (The "did" is a nuisance)

Where did she find my wallet?
She found my wallet where? (Ditto)

Where is this computer made?
This computer is made where?

Okay, I thought I was pretty decently educated (I am a native English speaker!!!) but I don't quite get what is wrong with these sentences? Is one of them wrong and the other a more correct translation of the same meaning?

[RonBee]

Anyone heard of "Broken English"?

Some samplings from my humble text (under preparation) on how syntax is mangled by creative "shortening" in my part of the world (Singapore and Malaysia), especially among Chinese speakers!

Where are you?
You are where?

Where do you live?
You live where?

Where is the train station?
The train station is where?

Where could he be?
He is where?

Where are my socks?
My socks are where?

Where did you put them?
You put them where? (The "did" is a nuisance)

Where did she find my wallet?
She found my wallet where? (Ditto)

Where is this computer made?
This computer is made where?

Okay, I thought I was pretty decently educated (I am a native English speaker!!!) but I don't quite get what is wrong with these sentences? Is one of them wrong and the other a more correct translation of the same meaning?

Let's look at the first two sentences, which in this country (USA) would have two entirely different meanings.

• Where are you?
  You are where?

The first is a question asking about someone's location. The second is not a question but an expression of incredulity. Example:

• You are where? Thirty-ninth and Grand? That's impossible. Those streets don't even intersect.

Or:

• You are where? Pine and 13th street? Geez! You couldn't have possibility have followed the directions I gave you.

:)

[jwschang]

Those all sound like Chinglish to me!! They all use Chinese sentence patterns, don't they? :)

Yup. Word order is Chinese. Do you encounter the same in Dalian? I would guess not, because the China Chinese try to be more exact than us here. :wink:

[whl626]

I put it down to ' mother tongue interference ' . Non-English speakers can't help but think in their native pattern and add in English words in the sentence as a way to learn English. Once the habit is formed, it is really hard to make corrections. That's why many educated people also use all those expressions. :)

[shane]

Do you encounter the same in Dalian? I would guess not, because the China Chinese try to be more exact than us here. :wink:

I encounter many direct translations of words, rather than sentences. Some good ones I've heard are:

1. Fire chicken (turkey - »ð¼¦ huo ji in Chinese)
2. Black customer (hacker - ºÚ¿Í hei ke in Chinese)

:D

[Casiopea]

Ahem, sorry folks. It's perfectly correct English. The process whereby a WH-word is moved to the end of the sentence so as to place more emphasis on the topic. For example,

"You did what?" means, I know what you did (so don't answer the question (hence the positioning of 'what' to the end)), I just can't believe you did it!.

:D