The Multiple "Englishness" in my Life

 The English I spoke growing up at home was mostly a mix of Chuukese, my native language, and English with a Guam/Chamorro accent. I adopted the accent from my cousins who lived in Guam that visited from time to time. Mixing the two was mainly because our vocabularies in both languages were limited, and it naturally became the way that we communicate with each other. 

When I moved to Hawaii, it was almost the same thing, the only difference is, I had more cousins that speak with the Hawaiian pidgin accent than with the Guam/Chamorro accent. Without even realizing, the way I speak at home gradually changed and my accent just sounds funny to others because it is now a mix of Chuukese, Chamorro, and Hawaiian Pidgin. At schools, we are encouraged to speak and write in proper English, and besides the accent/sound and slang, I think the main difference is in the grammar.


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