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South African English oddities...
This is going to be like a public declaration...sort of...yes?
Well, whatever it should be called, I need you to understand I am not doing this to feed the bitch inside me. I'm doing this because it seems there is a void in this piece of common knowledge.
First let me start by explaining...
I have been a self-published author since January 2014. That is just over a year and a half, and in this time, I've received several emails, with complaints that my language use is awful...ouch!
So yeah, in the beginning things were rough, but I assure you my work is edited, but as any book, errors do creep in - they are arseholes like that.
BUT...
It happened three times and then I knew this had to be people who were serious perfectionists and I kindly asked if they might just point out what these issues were. See, they had emailed me, saying they would rather not post a review and make me look bad - so nice and I actually appreciated it, but I'm glad they didn't post reviews, because they would've looked like idiots!
Before you think I'm harsh, here is reason and lesson number one;
Not all words are equal...
US English differs from UK English - a fact lost to all of these complaints.
And on top of that, I am South African...so SA English is also not equal.
So, as in Animal Farm; SA English is more equal to UK English than US English...see what I did there?
Point is, I lean toward UK English, which in turn causes the following differences to US English, these email complaints were about, when it came to spelling 'errors' and thus if they had reviewed they'd look pretty stupid.
These are just examples on basic 'spelling mistakes' pointed out to me by the 'emailers'.
Now do know that in South Africa some of these words are accepted both ways, but I had an English teacher in high school who insisted the use of the UK style, as it felt more proper and she claimed that US English was a little lazy. Her words, not mine, I'm simply stating what I was taught.
And while I also prefer the UK English style, US English actually does read easier in some instances.
The point is, that as a South African, whose mother tongue is Afrikaans, and English is only my second language, I can likely screw up big time and have likely done so. But the aim of this post is to show that it is so important to remember that there are different ways we can spell things. And one of the most important things - if you are a reviewer - is to find out where the author is from, so you can rethink if all those errors might not have been a 'regional/geographical' spelling style, which could be different from what you are used to.
Because, I for one, write with UK English being my basis; but SA words I grew up with; slang and even the most commonly used Afrikaans words, used in SA, are part of who I am and thus my writing style.
So I wanna leave you with this simple reminder and kind smile...
We have opportunities to teach ourselves like few generations before. Learn a new word by Googling it; it takes a few seconds and with most reading devices you might even find the word in your built-in dictionary. Learn about different words and languages and cultures to enrich your life in these small, yet fascinating ways. And most importantly, realise that the world is a big place with so much diversity, it might scare the shit out of you at first, but push on, because it is worth it to learn more about things you are unfamiliar with.
Ignorance never was bliss, it is simply annoying...
Extra goodies to check out:
List of South African slang words on Wikipedia
Thanks to Kayti Nika Raet and Jessica Defrancesco for their help.
See you on the other side!
Chevoque
