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There are quite a number of reasons why an examiner cannot understand the person being examined. One is that the examinee has different accent or intonation that the examiner is not very used to. The accent of an American speaking English is totally different from the accent of a Chinese or a Japanese speaking English. Not only is the accent different but the pronunciation of each syllable as well. Japanese people seem find it hard to pronounce words with letter L. They instead substitute the letter L with letter R as they pronounce the word. For example, halo-halo is one of the most delicious desserts of the Filipino culture. Japanese pronounce this word as haro-haro instead of halo-halo. In the Amoy dialect, the word Si can either mean death or the number four or the word yes. The only difference for this syllable is its intonation. If the examinee would utter the wrong intonation, chances are he would be misinterpreted by the examiner. I myself almost got into trouble because of my wrong intonation. I was often misunderstood without me being aware of it. Luckily someone was kind enough to inform me about it. In another place, somebody almost got himself killed because of his different accent. He tried to speak the native language with his accent and the people there thought he was insulting them. He was exasperated as he tried to explain and defend himself from their violent attacks. He was finally rescued by some of his teammates who were aboard a helicopter. Our accent and intonation can actually make us or break us or even kill us! There is also the factor of difference in culture. There is a word or a phrase that would mean “ I’m sorry” to a certain province of a particular culture but mean “I wish you would die” to another province of the same culture. The examiner must be quick and broadminded enough to understand that the examinee may mean no harm and that it is just a matter of cultural differences. There was one time I heard of a foreigner who was trying to invite the native people to join him in eating dinner. He was being polite and he surely meant very well but it did not come out that way to the people he was inviting. The way it was said, sounded as “you eat and you have no shame.” I had to tell these people that what the foreigner meant was to invite them to join him to eat dinner and not to insult them. Good thing that the people did not take offense and politely smiled at the foreigner. They also did not forget to thank him for his kind gesture to them. Luckily, there was a translator for them so that both parties could understand each other clearly. (责任编辑：admin) |
