"Very Bad English" as a Global Language

Warum sprechen alle Figuren in Ihrem Film fast immer in sehr schlechtem Englisch miteinander?

Die Welt ist einfach so. Ich lebe so. Ich lebe in Bangkok, und trotzdem spreche ich die Hälfte des Tages schlechtes Englisch mit meinen Freunden. Und auch auf den Filmfestivals spreche ich schlechtes Englisch. Alle sprechen heute schlechtes Englisch. Ich finde schlechtes Englisch einfach charmant. Es ist eine ganz neue Sprache. Ich habe sogar die Schauspieler ermutigt, in meinem Film schlechtes Englisch zu sprechen und nicht zu viel zu üben. Und ich habe mich dagegen gewehrt, einen Coach für die Dialoge einzusetzen. -- Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang

Badass Tamasha

Which is Hindi-Urdu (mustn't say Hindustani) for tsuris.

First the kid falls down on the ice outside the house, which is a Big Deal because of her right cerebral AVM. Then her mother needs help negotiating the sidewalk, which is a Big Deal because of her spinal fusion and bad foot and so on. The super won't work because the landlord hasn't paid him, and the landlord's phone number is busy, so Maya called the city, who said they would send somebody. Let's hope they don't send my name to the landlord. (If there is an official complaint and fine it's the inspector's name that will appear on it. I think. I hope.

And now a translation of the last entry for all you Goyyim on my LJ.

Why do all the characters in your film speak bad English with each other almost all the time?

That's just the way the world is. That's the way I live. I live in Bangkok, but still I speak bad English with my friends half the time. And I speak bad English (here) at the Film Festival. Today everybody speaks bad English. I find bad English simply charming. It is a whole other language. So I have encouraged the actors in my film to speak bad English and not practice much. And so I was able to avoid having to hire a dialogue coach. -- Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang

[Bad English leads to bad German. Unlike idiomatic English, German distinguished between to live and to dwell, as I assume Thai does too. But Ratanaruang, innocent of the distinction when speaking German, uses leben for wohnen. Unless, of course, the interview was conducted in bad English and then translated into bad German. Nah.]