Pet Peeves

Everyday, I go to school and talk with my friends in English. The previous sentence may sound unusual, because in a way it is. Nobody specifies that they speak English at school in America, but this is an important part of my daily life. Why? Well, English wasn't my first language and, therefore, I have an accent. My parents grew up in Poland, and moved to America about one year before I was born. Since, this blog is to be all about pet peeves, here is my first.
It bothers me when people don't understand. I get the question a lot about how could I have an accent when I was born here. Even though I tell people that Polish was my first language, they still continue to believe that it isn't possible. When you grow up in a country like this, English surrounds you everywhere. It isn't like I live in Chicago or New York either, where there might be ethnic neighborhoods. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and ethnic communities do not really exist here. Possibly, this is why people do not understand how it is that I could have an accent. The answer: 24/7 Polish at home. Even today, we never use English at home.
Since I have an accent, it affects my pronunciation of words as well. In the Polish language, all the letters in a word are pronounced. However, this is tremendously different when it comes to English. I am ok when people correct me on long and complex words, but when it comes to the word “the” I tend to get mad sometimes. First of all, the letter “h” is placed with the letter “t”, which changes the sound. The sound change is perfectly exemplified in the difference between “though” and “tough”. The change is significant because one word evokes a strong and harsh pronunciation of “t”, while the other softens the letter and makes it sound smoother. This first part of the word “the” is easy. The problem I have is with the second part and my biggest pet peeve is when people try to correct me on my pronunciation of it. I say the “e” with the soft sound, like in the word “phenomenal”. Most people say it with the strong “e” sound, like in the word “seek”. Some people say that my pronunciation is wrong, yet I have no idea how.
In afterthought, my pet peeve with the English language is not grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes. The problem resides in pronunciation. This is why it is probably a hard language to learn. Similarly to French, many letters become silent. Others change sounds when they are in different combinations. I have my own English, and when others are correcting me, maybe they should realize that I am bilingual and learning two other languages, instead of laughing at the matter.