Just Insert The Correct Consonant and Shut Up…



After learning to speak English fluently and correctly people graduate to something that is very infuriating.

In Kenya we all come from different cultures which are usually identified with a certain characteristic especially when speaking English and let us all bear in mind this is a foreign dialect. What usually happens, there is a tendency to replace the correct consonant in a word with a wrong consonant or making a certain letter silent. For example the letter L in a word is replaced with letter R and vice versa, others put letter H where it is not supposed to be and make it silent where it is supposed to be sounded, others replace letter V with letter P and vice versa and the list goes on and on.
                                                                                                                               
Now, this is a foreign language why we put so much pressure on people to speak it like the owners of the language. That is still baffling.

My advice to these teachers is instead of getting so worked up when you hear someone mixing or swapping consonants as they speak the foreign language, just put them in the correct order in your head. Do not go around embarrassing the speaker or throwing tantrums over how others pronounce words.

What still a puzzle is why some people insist on correcting pronunciations openly. Is it that these self-appointed teachers feel they are doing justice to the queen by insisting that we all speak like the queen? Why do you have to embarrass someone who has learnt this foreign language just like you yourself did and remember we did not choose to be born in our particular cultures.

Next time you feel the urge to open your mouth and be petty enough to correct someone’s pronunciation just stop and replace the consonants in your head and move on. Be, kind enough and let love cover the multitudes of your neighbor’s imperfections. I believe the queen does not mind. Am sure she is happy that we have mastered her language and is willing to let us get away with a few consonant letters swapping it’s not like we swap all the letters. Our cultures have picked utmost 2 letters each.


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