The ability to converse in fluent English is a plus point, especially when looking for a job. However, not everyone speaks fluent English, especially those who don’t speak the language daily.
Veteran Malaysian singer, Dato Siti Nurhaliza recently admitted that she doesn’t have the confidence to speak fluent English.
“We need guts to speak fluent English, and I grew up in a household that does not converse in English at all,” Siti said.
She added that as she grew up, she was exposed to more conversations in her mother tongue – Bahasa Melayu, which explains why it’s much easier for the legendary singer to converse in BM. Despite so, Siti said this doesn’t mean she can’t speak English at all.
“I can still speak in English when I am overseas or when I’m around people who don’t judge me for my poor grasp of the English language.”
This may cause some people to give up and look down on themselves for not being able to speak in the lingua franca, but not Siti. She said this has never deterred her will to be successful.
“This does not mean we can’t go overseas, or can’t ‘go international’ just because we don’t speak fluent English. Look at the Japanese.”
She continued by giving an example where the Japanese are proud of their mother tongue, and yet they are among the most advanced countries in Asia and even the Western countries are still learning from them, in terms of technology.
“Don’t be so proud of yourself”
While Siti does not deny the importance of learning English, she reminded some people not to feel excessively proud of themselves just because they speak better English than others.Ā
“Don’t look down on others just because you speak better English. It’s not wrong if we make grammatical errors when we speak. When someone points out our mistakes, we learn from it,” she explained.
Siti added that she feels thankful whenever netizens take the time to point out her grammar mistakes on her IG posts but urged others NOT to condemn those who don’t speak English well.
“Sometimes, the one who condemns us does not necessarily speak perfect English.”
You can watch and listen to the full clip below.
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It’s undeniably important to have a good grasp of the English language, but that does not mean we can judge someone by his or her ability to converse in a language. Have you ever been judged for not speaking the same language?
Also read: Malaysian Politician Says Naming Places In English Over Bahasa Melayu Is DISGUSTING
