If there's one thing that annoys the hell out of me, particularly in heated debate, is a comment to say that a debater should be excused for causing a misunderstanding because English is not his/her native language.
I was reading a post in a forum about a guy who complains about his nutty Swiss neighbours in a complaint forum where members are allowed to vent. The discussion quickly turned into a heated debate as others gang up to say that this guy:
a. is stupid for asking the neighbours to adapt to him (neighbour was playing opera in full volume at 10:30 PM)
b. has a hidden agenda for revenge
c. complains too much
d. can exercise his free will of moving but is stupid for not to, etc
During that debate, I observe that the complainer masters English well. He even successfully throws a few cynical and sarcastic comments to fend off his critiques to the desired results because these critiques get more inflamed. Then the moderator stopped the discussion with "As he's not a native English speaker, let's cut him some slack."
I didn't even have an inkling that this guy wasn't a native speaker until it was pointed out by the moderator. To me, he has equal command of the language as this (largely) British crowd.
I understand that language is not only a simple mean to make ourselves understood but also a communication tool for a whole array of complex things. It can carry different meaning depending on the way it is said, the timing of the speech, the tone and the words chosen, the cultural norm of the place, etc. But does that really mean that only native speaker can master these elements?
I like to think that I know English as well as the native speaker and I am proud of that. Therefore, it hurts my pride, and I hurt for others who have been similarly and unjustly prejudiced, that people often discount my skill just because I am not an American/British/Scottish/Irish/Kiwi/Australian/Canadian/etc.
The first experience was in China. I was trying to sell off my English skill in exchange for conversation time in Chinese. There was hardly any taker because I simply wasn't white. At that time, I spoke with a Canadian accent so convincingly that a lot of North-American fellow students thought I was bred and born in Canada. But that wasn't good enough for the Chinese. A freshly-produced banana just wouldn't do. They wanted the real ripe cheese.
Another incident happened more recently when my ex-boss, who is a very nice guy by the way, wrote in my performance appraisal "She has an excellent command of English and seems to understand the nuances of the language." I had to ask him what that meant and he said, I could pick up the subtle hints in the spoken language to correctly interpret the situation. Excuse me!! What did you take me for? I was indignant, to say the least.
The question is, do I have the right to be?
When a native speaker writes broken English, like truely instead of truly, it spreads like flu in a plane-full of people. To me, it evokes the same cosmic sensation in me as hearing the screech of fingernails on blackboard. I suspect that word will be entered into the latest revision of dictionary soon as an alternative spelling, just like the phrase my bad which litters speeches nowadays to mean my mistake. But if I do those, I quickly get spotted and be excused for my non-nativity.
I realize that people often find language confusing and it takes time and experience to master it to its subtle nuances and frequent updates. A friend in secondary school wrote in a card "I wish that our friendship never lasts". Indonesian or Malay reader will understand perfectly the graveness of the situation because what the person meant to write was "I wish that our friendship will never end". Last and end have the same root meaning in Indonesian.
This phenomena has nothing to do with race but with perception. My boss is an excellent English speaker. Granted he still has the Swiss accent but his mastery of English is sophisticated as shown in his witty banter and careful speeches. Still people think that the CEO, who is a native English speaker, woos the audience because he is a native speaker. I pin it down to personality and style rather than language. The CEO is simply a natural public speaker.
We are in the age of unprecedented scale of cross-border blending. Does that view of native speaker knows the best still hold? Take Indonesian kids nowadays. Despite their lack of overseas education or even formal education in English, they write flawlessly using sophisticated vocabularies. A lot of blogs I frequent do not give hints of the writers' identity just by reading the entries. Only after peeking into their profile then I realize that they are German, Thai, Japanese, Indonesians, etc. I believe this native speaker thing is just a perception which warrants careful use.
Having said that, I understand that learning is endless and everyone can use a little update once in a while. Perhaps, being cut some slack periodically is also not a bad idea. But still, I don't it. It still irritates me like a nappy rash that refuses to go away. Not that I know what that is, of course. That's just my figure of speech.
Image from cartoonstock.com
Gue juga suka merasa komen orang asing terhadap gue "wow, your English is good" itu lama2 terasa offensive dan condescending. 
