Aamir Tariq
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2016
- Member Type
- Interested in Language
- Native Language
- Urdu
- Home Country
- Pakistan
- Current Location
- Pakistan
Jamaicans speak a version of standard English and/or a dialect which is not mutually comprehensible to many Anglophones. Residents of other Caribbean islands speak at lot of other versions of English, but not the Jamaican variety unless they immigrated from Jamaica. A lot of Jamaicans immigrated to Toronto when I lived there. Their Jamaican-accented English was perfectly comprehensible to me.
On the other hand, I worked with a young man who was born and raised in New York City but spoke only a Jamaican dialect which I could barely understand.
Not only Jamaicans but I don't know why most of the black Americans speak with an accent of their own that is different from American accent and closer to Jamaican accent, despite the fact they are Americans. But those on CNN they speak with Standard American accent.
I think same is the case with the black community in Atlanta, Georgia they have their own tone, the rhythm they speak with, they even have their own slangs. I have no idea why the black community prefer to speak informal English.
I had a white American teacher, he was from Florida, and he used to teach us English in Peshawar in early 90s and whenever I used slangs or informal English he always said I shouldn't use them. I was inspired by Hollywood movies, though. And it was hard for me to understand Anglo-American English.