இ Back To School..

A Caucasian friend was scratching his head wondering how we Malaysian Chinese speaks English? He may be very surprised to meet someone who speaks impeccable Queen's English with no flaw. Politely he asked Bananaz do we encode our thoughts in Chinese arranged them in proper sequence, decode then speak out in English? Wow never thought it was so complex, maybe Bananaz is exaggerating here by adding salt and vinegar. No longer the case now, but as a kid we do faced that challenge of transferring Chinese data word for word to English. Bananaz neither read English newspapers *none at home only in Chinese but can only browsed at the pictures coz Bananaz can't read Chinese* nor have the habit of reading books during his childhood days therefore you can roughly guess the end result of his grade in English. Dear readers please execute excuse me and bear with my English, it would be even better if you care to point out my mistakes especially my rotten grammer would appreciate it very much.

Unlike my daughter Nikki who scored straight A's in her English through out her primary and secondary school. When during our shopping, she was less than 4 years then, would sit on the floor to read while her old folks take their own sweet time in picking the right choice of dresses. Knowing pretty well she's not allowed to read while Papa Bananaz is driving, she would hang on to that page and flipped it open when we stopped at red traffic light. To save cost would rent books from Noble Book Rental in Carnavon St, Penang where she gets her weekly supply of books. As years go by she just loved reading, even buying books with her own pocket money. Wonder what reading speed she would clocked at to finish J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter within four hours. Phew I take my hat off to her. So bottom line is kindly encourage and support your children to READ! READ! READ! more.

Take a trip down memory lane with Bananaz and back to school with half-past six Enggrish:

இAbout school fees: 
Bananaz : Sir no bring come (Hokkien ~ 'boh gia lai')沒帶來 *pinyin* méi dài lái

இTo the lavatory:
Bananaz: Teacher can go pass water? (Hokkien ~ kee pung jio)
Nikki: Can I take a leak?

இBicycle with flat tyre:
Bananaz: My bicycle no wind. (Hokkien ~ kar chia boh hong) 

இMine:Yours:Whose:
Bananaz: That red book is mine one, yours one is the black one. This green pen is whose one?

இOthers:Misc:
Bananaz: Why like that one? (Hokkien ~ aun chua aun neh kuan)

Care to add in more Chinglish? The more the merrier.

Note: Hokkien is the dominating dialect in the Northern Region though Bananaz's mother tongue is Hakka.   

We often hear this phrase or seen Bing Crosby's show about "Kids say the darndest things", kids could also DO crazy damnedest things.

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