Allora can mean many things in Italian according to the tour guide. Just say it to make you sound like a local, she said. So everytime I said it, I always get a smile or a chuckle from the local people. Most probably because diaorg tak paham langsung what I said.
Similarly, in German, just use ‘Genau’ and you will sound like a local already. And of course in Malaysia just add ‘la’ and your Manglish is considered perfect. Just la, not lala ya.
One of the fastest way to acclimatise to another country is by learning the language. When I first moved to the UK, I had extra English lessons to learn the ‘proper’ Queen’s English (oh now King’s English). I learned how to pronounce Edinburgh (Edinbrrr), Leicester (Leste) and Worcester (Wuste).
When I moved to Germany, I had German lessons which was actually more challenging than my new job. Trying to pronounce the ö, ü and ä in front of my German teacher was more terrifying than doing my appraisals. Susah giler.
When I moved to the US, I had to relearn the meaning of some words such as spunky and fannypack. NSFW to use those words in England. Google sendiri la.
When I moved back to Malaysia, had to relearn the Manglish. Kurangkan sikit the accent. Also have to relearn my Malay. My Malay sometimes sound so weird that people think I’m from Sabah or Sarawak. Now after 5 years, boleh la pass kot.
So for those moving abroad (Australia, Germany or Singapore) for work or for study, one piece of advice is to learn the local lingo which will help you acclimatize to the local culture. Cuba try la.
