I think I’ve told some of you before *many moons ago* that we suspected our maid knowing Hokkien. Here’s the continuation…
We caught our maid listening to our Hokkien conversation quite frequently. Sometimes she will laughs at our Hokkien joke and responds to our Hokkien question in Bahasa Melayu even though we’re talking to grandma and not her. 
She always denies the truth until 1 day I got her busted in the car. Pandai leh?
Me: You faham ke? (you understand?)
Maid: Sedikit la (a little)
Me: Mana you belajar? (where did you learn?)
Maid: Ada la, dengar korang cakap (from listening to your conversation)
Wuah my maid is smart man! Either that or she learnt it from her previous employment.
Sometimes she would listen to our conversation until she stops doing what she’s supposed to do.
Grandma: Apa dengar-dengar? Buat kerja oiii 
We’ve been a bit careful with our conversation but not quite. She can’t do anything mah, can she?
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cbenc12 Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 3:49 pmVisit cbenc12
clever maid, can understand hokkien..then must be more careful when talk in front of her.. n dun talk bad. else.. hehehhee..
hcfoo Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 4:56 pmVisit hcfoo
I find that foreign workers are quite good in learning languages. Look at those workers in mamak restaurant. The first few weeks, they don’t understand a single word but by the following months, they can take your orders without any problems.
Neo Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 7:04 pmVisit Neo
Your main so pandai?
Neo Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 7:05 pmVisit Neo
I mean maid :)
Bengbeng Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 8:49 pmVisit Bengbeng
she understandslah. next time u pak tor u better b careful o she will blog n tell us all abt it :)
keeyit Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 10:07 pmVisit keeyit
Maid is smart ler nowadays.. My neighbour at my hometown, their maid can speak mandarin. I asked her before and she told me that she learnt it from those kids.. Some people really got the potential to learn new languages.. Too bad not me..
Angie Tan Says:
November 27th, 2007 at 10:27 pmVisit Angie Tan
Wah liao… Keng-lor… Like you mentioned, she is observant and smart. So, better becareful as well. Anyway, I don’t like it when people speak in a different language in front of me. Guess, not good to do it in front of her. But then, she’s very resourceful-lo, able to pick up hokkien!!
dreamcatcher Says:
November 28th, 2007 at 7:16 amVisit dreamcatcher
not surprised… sometimes its easier to learn n understand by being in the environment than reading from textbook.
wuching Says:
November 28th, 2007 at 10:20 amVisit wuching
I don’t get it, what’s wrong if she understands you? Wouldn’t that make communication easier? She is a human being after all so yes she can learn another language same as if we were to mix with people speaking other languages we will learn too over time. Look at this as a good and positive outcome, not a bad one. If you have things you don’t her to listen just talk when she’s not around.
saoirse Says:
November 28th, 2007 at 10:22 amVisit saoirse
eik, dangerous. Be careful with your conversation, who knows….
jam Says:
November 28th, 2007 at 10:43 amVisit jam
She is Indo or malay maid? Dun simply talk behind her back now…
Jason Says:
November 28th, 2007 at 5:34 pmVisit Jason
Lets do a podcast on your maid speaking/cursing in hokkien. :P
Che-Cheh Says:
November 29th, 2007 at 6:38 pmVisit Che-Cheh
Cbenc12, my grandma still talk bad
Hcfoo, oh yes very true. She even know what is pang sai!
Neo, should I send her for postgraduate course?
Bengbeng, haha that I’m very scare.
Keeyit, I think Chinese language is easy to learn compared to Hindi or Arab
Angie Tan, any secret talking must becareful lor…
Dreamcatcher, yeah true also.
Wuching, just that if she understands Hokkien it’s abit difficult to speak lo since she will be around all the time. We talk in secret code sometimes. Haha
Saoirse, yealor
Jam, Indon. But my grandma still does!
Jason,
that would be cool man!
MonkeyWong Says:
November 30th, 2007 at 2:39 pmVisit MonkeyWong
Some people really good at language, they pick up very fast! But, u can terbalik some of the normal talking then she won’t get it!
Che-Cheh Says:
December 1st, 2007 at 2:31 pmVisit Che-Cheh
Monkey Wong, ah ha that’s a good idea…terbalik words.
narrowband Says:
December 2nd, 2007 at 10:25 amVisit narrowband
Susah lah like that, cannot talk bad behind her liao. Need to change dialect liao when talking about things u don’t want her to know ;p. If your family watches Yi Nan Wang on astro AEC maybe she’ll even sit down and watch together LOL!!
Che-Cheh Says:
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:27 pmVisit Che-Cheh
Narrowband, actually she watch Hokkien, Cantonese and Mandarin dramas with my grandma.