American English
In Taiwan the English language (英語) is often referred to as Mĕiyŭ (美語), meaning American language rather than English language. Most language schools will use the term Mĕiyŭ in their name rather than Yīngyŭ (英語).
The name of the school whose sign is shown above is Yīnggélán Mĕiyŭ (英格蘭美語). This would translate directly into English as "England American Language [School]". And although England has been used for the name of this school, the sign is decorated with the American flag! Perhaps the owner of the school is hedging his bets and trying to attract customers interested in studying American English and British English.
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Posted: January 25th, 2007 under Chinese characters, Languages in Taiwan, Mandarin (華語), Taiwan, Teaching English.
Comments
Comment from Maoman
Time 30 January 2007 at 11:06 pm
I hate the term “meiyu”, so when it came time to think of a name for my school, I deliberately avoided it. We chose the name Beimei Yingyu, or North American English, because it’s easy to say and remember in Chinese, and also it’s fairly to the point.
Comment from Myopiate
Time 6 February 2007 at 9:35 pm
I don’t like the “meiyu” term either. As an Australian peoples problem with my accent makes me feel second class, and us Australian’s have problems with being told we’re second class.
I had never really heard of the concept of a “standard” language or “standard” pronunciation until I got here and it was applied to my Chinese learning. I often wonder whether the kind of narrow minded attitude has a lot to do with the word middle in the Chinese word for Chinese. It makes me a little upset when a “standard” is applied to English (especially when it’s not my standard).
I have found out through experiencing a wide variety of Chinese accents here in Taiwan and in Malaysia, exposure to diversity is important if you want to be able to communicate. More people speak some bastardised form than those that speak the “standard”.
American English and English English do have slight differences and in the land of computers, some yankee is always trying to correct our spelling. The nerve! (s is correct in those words and we can pronounce it zed, not zee, if we want to!!! u in those other words is ok as well)
Rant over.
Comment from miao-ah
Time 26 January 2007 at 8:41 pm
Haha! That is a bit of an oxymoron. So does that mean this place teaches both British and American English? I’ve seen British English referred to as “KK” but that might be a Hong Kong thing.