For most of us here, English is our second or even third language. While some of us have had the opportunity to go to school abroad and/or work in a purely English speaking environment, some people have not and may not be perfect in that area. Keeping that in mind, why do we make fun of desis who can’t speak or express themselves in English very well? Isn’t that plain mean? 
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English is my first language -_-. I am easily amused and I will laugh at anything. Even funny accents. I'm not mature.
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hate to admit, but i have the desi accent english :hinna:
i always used to laugh at others 
But i am one of them 
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when someone makes fun of my English, I switch to difficult urdu and when they cant understand, I make fun of their Urdu ..
when someone makes fun of my English, I switch to difficult urdu and when they cant understand, I make fun of their Urdu ..
HA!HA! smart. I don't make fun of any ones English because mine is pretty screwed itself.
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I am a British but I have a mixed accent. American/British whatever. People say I sound Norwegian LOL. People don't say I am british when they hear me. I like it. In school English was my first language till A lvls. Done everything in first language. However did not get the pakka British accent and I love it. Makes me feel safer in Pakistan. Oh not to forget I can assimilate in to any kind of environment and speak FLUENT Urdu and Punjabi.
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I'm not concerned about accents here but more about grammer, vocabulary and such.
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Oh ok, well I have no idea why people make fun of other peoples written English. Sometimes even I make spelling mistakes because I have gotten so used to Ms. Word dictionary that sometimes I forget and also we are so used to using slang to be cool and in the IT crowd that we do make them. Having said that, when desis make mistakes, people like to be mean to them and say stuff like noob and fob. Or even stuff like pendo and stuff. It's very bad of them to do that. I never make fun of peoples spellings. If I cannot help it, I politely point out to them that the spellings are wrong.
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why do I have a feeling this topics gonna change into txt typing
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Well if it wasn't accent, same with Aisha Dubaiwali. I'll point it out/assist them, whatever. I mean spelling and grammar, simple mistake lol. I was born in the US and I'm so brown inside sometimes I make those mistakes. As for the accent, that's the funny part.
I don’t make fun of (at least I don’t think I do) those who speak english as a second or third language. As long as it looks like they’re trying to us eit properly.
And I’d like to point out, I’ve been made of for my accent when speaking Urdu mroe than I ever made fun of someone else’s thick desi accent.
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and it begins......
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haha that is there too...but i wanted to focus more on the other part..hence i took it out my post:p
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Sometimes it's just hard to ignore Apu. :( Sorry
English as Third language would mean ?
Great thread Niksik!
I personally have never made fun of anyone not being able to speak English properly and think it is offensive to do so.
But what about those who don’t speak urdu fluently and go to Pakistan for hols’ and everyone makes fun of their urdu? Urdu isn’t even my mother tongue.
English as Third language would mean ?
Maybe that Pashtu and Punjabi were 1st and 2nd?!
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Actually, as long as what the person is saying shows genuine effort like Sara said, that's all that counts. If they've been in a country that has English as primary language and their kids can't speak English properly either, then someone's going to get laughed at.
Improvement is the key. Parents are exempt because they have other responsibilities and sometimes just cannot tackle language as a primary priority when new to the land.
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My issue is when people prefer wrong English over Urdu when most of the audience understands only Urdu. I feel I can make fun of them as much as I wish :P Our dear Interior minister is a case in point.
It is disgusting of making fun of people like our cricketers for their poor English. You shouldn't be bothered as long as they are doing their job properly.
Mushtaq Ahmed Yousafi: "angraizi key muqabalay main udru main sirf aik burai nazar aati hai, aur woh yeh key yeh aasani sey samajh main aa jati hai"
At work we had this cultural sensitivity training seminar and why I'd like to think I'm sensitive, it opened my eyes to see things from the perspective of individuals for whom English is a second language (ESL) and to understand the struggles of speaking in another language. There was one exercise that was really useful that demonstrated the challenges ESL people face.
Try it:
Take a paragraph from a book and for each verb, add a synonym.
So for example, "I woke up early this morning. I brushed my teeth, got changed and walked to work."
This would become: "I woke/awakened this morning. I brushed/cleaned my teeth, got changed/dressed and walked/strolled to work."
So for an ESL person who's not so familiar with language - in their mind they think in their native language and need to translate everything to English. It both takes time and sometimes the translation results in the use of words that may sound awkward to native English speakers.