Anyone else here speaks English as their second language and is more fluent at it?

[stateofemergency]

I've lived in New York for about ..eh.. almost 6 years ..and each passing day I find myself speaking English better than my Indonesian, even with my own family members. I'm not sure why, but when I first came to America, I didn't speak much English at all. I learned it all from scratch, and you could clearly hear my heavy Indonesian accent. It's funny that I'm speaking English more than I used to, even with my Indonesian friends here in New york, and with my own family. It's not like my English is perfect, but I just find myself using it more frequently than my Indo, and it's not like I prefer to speak English more than indo, but it's easier for me to do so. I also hate the fact that my Indo is getting worse, especially when it comes to talking. I find myself stuttering a lot, and forget how to pronounce some words. I'm also completely lost when it comes to today's Indonesian modern slang languages. And I also notice how Indos like to brk up thr wrds lke ths and I used to do that too, but now its so hard for me to understand them..
I mean..it's only been 6 years..and it's not like i was born here or raised here ( wait.. i was 12 when i first came to NY.. so I think I was 'raised' here but..a bit too late i think..)

Can anyone relate?! I'm 18 btw.


-state

 

[riviera]

not me obviously, I am an Indonesian, living in Indonesia... it's impossible to be more fluent in a language you don't use everyday than the one you use everyday.. you can't help it

 

[danseurous]

well I'm a total Indonesian but in fact I found it's easier to speak English.. You know.. we got different emotion, mean, stuffs?
my point is.. it's not about you've been there for about 6 years.. but how English can make people who are able to speak with it use English..

Other point of view..
You've been there for 6 years.. Try to stay in Indonesia for other 3 years maybe, I think you'll gain your 'Indonesian-language-speaking-power' back but I don't know about your English skill~

Try to speak Indonesian with your family.. If they want to.. I think it'll help the most~ ^^

cheer up, dude!

 

[Matinee]

lol, unless I use other language besides English, I can do it well
it's a matter of... linguistic behavior

btw, can we be friends? I'm 15 and live in Tangerang, Indonesia

 

[riviera]

Other point of view..
You've been there for 6 years.. Try to stay in Indonesia for other 3 years maybe, I think you'll gain your 'Indonesian-language-speaking-power' back but I don't know about your English skill~

I don't think it should be that long.. Some foreigners can speak Indonesian fluent enough in just 3 months of learning (Bahasa Indonesia is among the easiest languages to learn). Should be much sooner for those who have basic in Indonesian before.

Try to speak Indonesian with your family.. If they want to.. I think it'll help the most~ ^^

AGREE... But hopefully the rest of the family don't have the same language problem like you (TS) do


.

 

[blast1412]

Yeah dude, I totally feel the same way. I've been living here in USA for 5 years. Now, whenever I talk with my Indonesian friends, it feels rather awkward as I'm kinda behind when it comes to the slangs they use nowadays. I often find myself struggle trying to figure out what a certain word means in Indonesian, but ended up using English instead, while hoping they'd get what I meant. But worry not. Try speaking in Indonesian as much as you can. Watch TV/videos in Indonesian. Heck, visit Indo for like 1 month or so. You'll catch up in no time.

 

[stateofemergency]

What's worse about this is I can only speak broken-slang Indonesian. I do not know how to speak/write formally in Indonesian. I still do understand what they mean, but not completely. And it makes me feel really awkward whenever I'm using formal Indo, seperti contohnya ini. Saya biasanya tidak jarang menggunakan kata-kata yang lengkap seperti ini, biasanya sih gue ngomongnya kayak gini, bahasa gaul. Untung saja gue masih bisa berbicara bahasa gaul, or else i wont be able to communicate with my old indo friends haha.

 

[blast1412]

Hey, that's a good one. Not bad Try another one. Seems like you've still got what it takes to communicate well with Indonesian ppl. Well... I suppose 12 years was enough for you to pick up some slangs before coming to the states.

 

[nentautako]

hi buddy, i got this from a Jamaican friend who stay in New York. can you translate it for me....

Yow mi dupes... di ting nuh hard like yuh a mek it look man. Yuh si enny boots, kits, stadium, face or whatever yuh want inna di game yow? Download them and then get a program name Creation Master wha a bredda name Rinaldo mek. A thread deh pon de forum wha specialize inna any problem you mighta have with using Creation Master, and it nuh hard fi ketch on pon. Yuh have a problem, link me.

 

[stateofemergency]

hi buddy, i got this from a Jamaican friend who stay in New York. can you translate it for me....

Yow mi dupes... di ting nuh hard like yuh a mek it look man. Yuh si enny boots, kits, stadium, face or whatever yuh want inna di game yow? Download them and then get a program name Creation Master wha a bredda name Rinaldo mek. A thread deh pon de forum wha specialize inna any problem you mighta have with using Creation Master, and it nuh hard fi ketch on pon. Yuh have a problem, link me.

Only a genius would know how to decipher such a worthy message.
lol

 

[aldergate]

yo dude, me too.
after i stay in philiphines for 10 years

 

[eskeykurnia]

for me english is 2nd language but 1st language for my son as i speak with him everyday using english

 

[moon10]

ohh;; finaly i got someone who could speak english.. i am in uk sinc 2008
would love to chatt with you..

 

[sifanty]

It's only natural for somebody who has lived abroad for years to face such kind of problem.

 

[drew12]

learning english is easy, its easier than any other language to learn... you can learn this language anywhere since we can see and hear it from tv, radios and other medias, so learning english wont be that hard for everyone..

 

[j1m]

indonesian languages is similar with english and have the same base abc so it's easier to learn

 

[Best Sales]

learning language easier while we also practice it

 

[r3ck0rd]

I'm kinda mixed up with English and Indonesian language, since birth my mom used to communicate with me in English (she was an English Lecturer at a renowned university in Jakarta), and with my dad, Indonesian (so sucks that he didn't taught me the languages of my ancestors, Mandarin and Chaozhou, although he can speak it well, it's the pride of being a Chinese descendant!). You can say both languages are my first languages. But certainly, when living in Indonesia, Indonesian language was my primary language. I remember my father told me that after the first day of my kindergarten, I came home and told them, "My teacher does not allow me to speak English, I have to speak Indonesian all the time," because I went and just greet everybody in English.

But there is still English classes at school (which uses British English, some things I had to relearn because my mom is very Americanized, and some teacher would just correct me if I'm using American accent, like they can pronounce it right, I remember a case in mid school that's pretty annoying), English-language movies, websites, songs, literatures. Sometimes I found it easier to say things in English, but there are also some things I found it easier to say in Indonesian. I'm currently living in Boston, it has been 2 months and a half, still sometimes I screw some entire sentences, but sometimes it goes well, and sometimes it goes perfectly. English now is totally my primary language here, and I'm know I'm getting better coping with my loss. I'm also a Christian music songwriter, and all the lyrics that come into my head are almost always English.

I also have Indonesian friends here, who seem to always trying to speak in Indonesian whenever they see another Indonesian, and some other languages like Mandarin (I'm working at it yeah) with some Singaporean and Chinese friends. Imagine the diversity. I'm glad I know many languages (Mandarin, Japanese, German, some Chinese Dialect) and at least two of which I'm capable to use it in either formal and casual setting. I know there are some Indonesian teens here raised here in the US and they can't speak Indonesian very well. I know one only can say "Lapar Ma...", one can speak in Manadonese (yeah lol). And I also have a friend who is an Indonesian descendant (a Javanese named N. Hartono, won't reveal the first name), and raised in Singapore, cannot speak Indonesian at all.