did malaysian language speakers use different vowel patterns when they speak english?
104734
yes.  they shorten long vowel sounds and reduce dipthongs (dipthongs are double vowel sounds)\n\nif you combine the shortened vowels with other common pron problems of malaysians, you get a very clipped speech pattern and foreigners might not be able to catch all the words
60521
first of all, i don't know.  if it was me, i would say "the accent in johor is very different FROM that of the people of kelantan, near the thai border."  however, i am american and i think your version may be more correct in the UK style of english, which is probably what you learn in malaysia.\n\n1.  the subject of the sentence is "the accent", so when you say it is very different, you should be talking about the people's accent, not the people.  if you leave out "that of" then you are comparing the accent to the people, which doesn't make sense.\n\n2.  usually, "in" is used for cities, but "of" is used for provinces, regions or countries.  although "of" could also be used for cities, too.  it's only a very small difference in meaning, though.\n\n3.  "near the thai border" modifies kelantan, because it comes directly after kelantan.  if the sentence was "the accent in johor, near the singapore border, is very different to that of the people of kelantan." then the phrase modifies johor.\n\n4.  no, most grammar books are horrible, even for people who like grammar.  the best way to learn grammar is to just use the language a lot - speak with people and practice.  you should pick it up quickly if you pay attention to the patterns.  \n\nthere are some funny grammar books out there, but they are only funny if you already know the language very well, because they make fun of common mistakes that people make.\n\n"each and every day" doesn't directly mean anything different from "every day", but it has a slight difference.   people sometimes say "every day" even though they only mean "often" or "sometimes" .. it's a way of exaggerating to make a point.  so sometimes people say "each and every day" to specify that they really do mean EVERY day.  however, lately this gets overused too in the same way as "every day" and before long we'll have to make up some new phrase.\n\none last thought - the grammar on these yahoo chat rooms and yahoo answers is, in general, terrible.  don't pick up the bad habits that are a fact of life around here.
778007
It's a natural variation that occurs when groups of people that once spoke the exact same language branch off into groups.    The same occurs with all other languages, of course. When the split between American English and British Standard took place, there were no computers, Internet, etc.  That made the changes even more pronounced.  Add that to the way the people from the particular parts of England spoke, words and terms of Native origin and the influx of non-English speaking immigrants, and you have American Standard English.  These are neither superior nor inferior to each other, rather two different sets of standards.  \n\nElevator is actually an old brand-name , the originals being made by Otis.   I also sometimes wonder if the grouping and categorizing wasn't introduced by indigenous cultures. I know we Cherokee have a habit of trying to put everything into groups, even fictional things!  Our language reflects that as well. We classify objects into liquid, flexible, rigid, and so on.
547906
British English. (as a graduate of Cambridge University).\nGerman.(as my mothers language).\nGreek. (as my native and fathers language).\nJapanese. (as my husbands language).\nI also know the Q-Code and MorseCode.
890286
English English is the one I prefer.  It is by all means the proper way of speaking it since the language first developed in Britain.  Oh yeah, I love the accents as well.
515983
This is actually true.  Foreigners learn English in school,  where grammar and vocabulary is the means of learning. They learn the language, by learning the rules (grammar). Americans speak as their parents taught them.  Education may or may not help. (I did poorly in my English classes!) We are taught, but don't necessarily learn.  \n\nLook at how are children are speaking today. Their idols are rappers and sports stars. They try to speak like gang members.  Look at how they ask and answer questions here on Yahoo! Answers!\n\nMy wife is from Asia. She got her bachelor's degree there then moved here when she was in her twenties. (She moved here as a legal immigrant, she is now a citizen)  When I met her, she had a very heavy accent.  \n\nI helped here with her accent and she went to court reporting school, which really added to her vocabulary and her listening skills. She has been working in major corporations for about 15 years now and is a vice president at a major bank.  Her (college educated) co-workers are always asking her advice on language and letter writing. I am so proud of her!  (She also kicks my butt with English!)\n\nI hope this answers your question! I know I've been rambling on.
104666
I've heard it compared to the difference between American and British English.  That means that there would be differences in accent, vocabulary, and probably grammar.
173960
when i was younger i would call people and ask them if they ordered Chinese food and i would be talking with an accent and i would keep repeating words like i didn't understand English that well and it makes a lot of people mad. "yo odo chin nee foo yo nuba ***-**** oh yo odo chi nee foo chashew chicke flrie rrice. no?? yo odo no chi nee vety soty yo no odo chi nee foo today huh? ....." you get it right?
1172358
Good question.  The different colonies had different accents just as in Britain today there are regions and locales with distinct accents.\n\nIn the 20th century, there lived on a remote island in the Chesapeake Bay a population whose English was heavily accented in what many scholars argued was as close to the Colonial English as anything.
509543
Maaf...saya tak boleh bercakap dalam bahasa Melayu di sini...\nTapi saya boleh tulis di sini..\n\nYes...I can speak Bahasa wery well..and also know Malaysia quite well...
1157230
english, tagalog and one dialect (visaya) :)
621802
As a matter of fact, the "our" and "or" in these words WERE pronounced differently.\n\nIn Old English (and many other Germanic languages) adding of an ending with and i/y type vowel (in this case it was originally -ig,  now -y) caused a type of "vowel harmony" (or "metaphony")  in which the vowel of the accented syllable became more like that of the suffix.  This specific type is called "umlaut"  of "i-mutation".   It typically causes the changed vowel to become shorter and/or move toward the front of mouth ("fronting")\n\nIt is easier to see in the case of "five" vs. "fifty".   German did the same sort of thing.   One of the best examples that English speakers may know is the word "Frau" ("woman") which is pronounced "frow", but when it adds the suffix "-lein" to became "Fräulein", pronounced "froyline" (notice the i/y sound in the first syllable!)\n\nThis shift in English is also the origin of some of our unusual plural forms:  goose > geese; foot > feet; mouse > mice;  man > men.  Also a result of this change:  long > length; hale > health; old > elder.
634490
i dont know ..even im a malay
1132599
my ex-wife was amazed that the woman she met from England, -knew english so well. Asked her "where did you learn english so well, - you don't have much of an accent"\n\nGod's honest truth.
995407
Because of our history? Singapore was founded by a British and so was ruled by British law and English became our 1st Language. The people here mostly came from China, then followed by nearby countries. And we do lots of trading with many other countries due to our port location, including trading genes i guess.. so everything's mix. Most of us still uses our own race's language, or even other races'. And we use dialects too. Different Chinese has different dialects. So an average Singapore knows at least 3 ways of communicating here... hehe...
672826
maybe because they speak english
474190
I am in the electronics business an have had dealings with many different cultures and languages.  The one thing I have been surprised with is how many people to whom English is a second( or third) language can have such great difficulty pronouncing words in English can perfectly pronoun slang and curse words.  For example, many Koreans I know cannot pronounce F's and P's correctly but can say Mother *ucker perfectly.  Interesting.