English versus "Ch-english"

My friends at work joke that "ch-english" is their chinese version of english. It's english that is a work-in-progress from a Chinese person.

However, I have my own version of chenglish. Over the past year, I have completely adapted my english so that a chinese person can better understand it. I have failed to pick up much chinese language but the least I've done is to cater my english to their "style".

I've dropped the usage of some tenses, used words completely out of their correct context, and slowed down to a snail's pace. And this is the tip of the iceberg. For instance, I learned quickly that we Americans rely HEAVILY on cliches. Those were abandoned in months 4-5 in China.

Anyway, the funny part came last Friday. I conducted some formal training for about 30 colleagues. Since many were very immature English-speakers, there was a translator present that translated everything I said.

Despite the benefit of a translator, I still used my specialized "chenglish" skills for my training. After the training, on the way to our Chinese New Year's Party, aka, Kareoke marathon, I asked a good friend, Guo Zhixiang about the training. Since he speaks good english, I asked him, "So, did you listen to me or the translator?" His reply was that he solely listened to me. He obviously heard the translator, but since she doesn't know some technical words, he tended to focus on mine instead. His question followed, "Were you speaking regular english or special english for us?" I explained that my speech was tuned somewhat for my audience. He started to laugh loudly. So, the girl that walked out of the training and exclaimed, "OH MY GOSH! I CAN UNDERSTAND ENGLISH!!!!" is in for a surprise if she visits America anytime soon.

I got a kick out of the conversation and am glad that I've been able to develop a communication style that gets the message across. I am completely indebted to them for their work to understand my language.

Also, if you want to read a great book about China, check out Randy Alcorn's "Safely Home". You won't put it down until you finish it. I won't give you all the details here but it touches on life in China for a Christ-follower. It's unbelievable insight that you don't want to miss.