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About South Africa....the 'rainbow nation' Most Indians in South Africa (about 2 million) have been there for many generations and only ever speak English. Most don't even know any Indian languages... So, they're native language speakers as far as being educated within a British system and only speaking English as a home language.Most Afrikaans speakers speak native level English.Most university educated people in SA have native level English ability,whatever their background...We all have variations in our accent and pronunciation though.(sometimes depending on province,much like in the Uk and USA where accents vary).We also study standard British spelling and pronunciation at school, which sometimes confuses the kids if they've had an American or Canadian teacher...
Quote from: kershea on April 06, 2011, 12:01:27 AMAbout South Africa....the 'rainbow nation' Most Indians in South Africa (about 2 million) have been there for many generations and only ever speak English. Most don't even know any Indian languages... So, they're native language speakers as far as being educated within a British system and only speaking English as a home language.Most Afrikaans speakers speak native level English.Most university educated people in SA have native level English ability,whatever their background...We all have variations in our accent and pronunciation though.(sometimes depending on province,much like in the Uk and USA where accents vary).We also study standard British spelling and pronunciation at school, which sometimes confuses the kids if they've had an American or Canadian teacher...I've met a few South Africans and Canadians teaching in Korea I would not consider native speakers. I've also met a few Korean-Americans I wouldn't call native speakers, even if they did have a US passport. It's inevitable that a few will slip through the cracks, but the current standards are probably the best possible.
I'm not sure you could say they "slipped through the cracks" especially in the public school system, given that they would have had a telephone interview to guage their proficiency and that they have degrees completed in English. They're probably better English speakers than most uneducated native speakers.
"but the current standards are probably the best possible"***By standards you mean a degree in anything and a passport from certain select countries! Some standards.!Adam.
Quote from: DMZ on April 06, 2011, 10:59:29 AMI'm not sure you could say they "slipped through the cracks" especially in the public school system, given that they would have had a telephone interview to guage their proficiency and that they have degrees completed in English. They're probably better English speakers than most uneducated native speakers.'I just got back from Daegu'. 'Oh, is it'? I don't know if I'd call that better than most uneducated native speakers.
Quote from: Yu_Bumsuk on April 06, 2011, 01:15:34 PMQuote from: DMZ on April 06, 2011, 10:59:29 AMI'm not sure you could say they "slipped through the cracks" especially in the public school system, given that they would have had a telephone interview to guage their proficiency and that they have degrees completed in English. They're probably better English speakers than most uneducated native speakers.'I just got back from Daegu'. 'Oh, is it'? I don't know if I'd call that better than most uneducated native speakers. That's slang! And of course we don't teach that to the students. I'm sorry you don't understand it but South Africans understand it perfectly just like "ja well no fine" makes sense to us.... Again, we don't teach it to the students. I would imagine that Americans also don't teach their students to say "like, totally".
Many people from say Africa have excellent English but will not be able to get a job here. I think their English should be the test not their nationality. Also a degree is certainly not needed given the level of English here.Adam
"I know this has been debated endlessly, but a degree does at least show some level of academic commitment and success". **A degree can just mean you were too lazy to get a job and you could afford the fees. It has nothing to do with teaching in most cases.Adam