Opinion ID: 4880755
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: “Standard” English vs. “Pidgin” English

Text: Because the question of law in this appeal ultimately turns on B.C.’s particular English language abilities, we begin by examining the differences between “Standard” and “Pidgin” English. These observations are drawn from the reports of two linguistic experts submitted as exhibits to B.C.’s motion to reopen. It is undisputed that the primary language spoken in B.C.’s childhood home was “Cameroonian Pidgin English,”3 which is derived from “Standard” English4 but has evolved into a “distinctly separate language . . . with its own grammatical and linguistic structure.” A.R. at 102. Take, for example, the following sentence in “Standard” English: “[I]f it were me,” “I would not let him come and visit the children.” A.R. at 89. Translated into “Pidgin” English, this sentence would read, “If na mi, a no go gri meik I kam visit dat pikin dem.” Id. Setting aside the various ways in which the “Pidgin” English sentence might be unintelligible to the “Standard” English speaker (and vice versa), a listener is likely to misunderstand key phrases without proper translation. Translated into “Pidgin” English, “if it were me” becomes “if na mi,” which a “Standard” English speaker could take to mean “if not me.” Id. (emphasis added). 3 In addition to “Pidgin” English, B.C. speaks the Akum language. He also received some instruction in French during secondary school, though it is not clear how fluent he is in that language. 4 We use the parties’ terminology to refer to these two languages. 7 Although “Pidgin” English speakers “may understand their language to be ‘a version’ of [‘Standard’] English,” a person who is proficient in “Pidgin” English is not automatically proficient in “Standard” English. A.R. at 90. Instead, a “Pidgin” English speaker who wishes to communicate in “Standard” English must learn it as a second language. Id. B.C. did not have the benefit of a full education in “Standard” English; he learned some “Standard” English in his village primary school but was given no further “Standard” English instruction thereafter and asserts he was not proficient in that language when he entered the United States.