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The importance of a good accent | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5227 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 177 of 255 16 April 2013 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Do we really want/need to keep redefining terms?
It all boils down to:
...and many other concepts too, because people don't usually bother to check if words really mean what they think, as one should do before talking about stuff. After all, dictionaries are more at hand in this time and era than ever before, aren't they?
I'd bet that's one of the most common problems in people's native tongues too, even if trying to get a 'perfect native' accent is not the cause/a hurdle there ;) 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| LaughingChimp Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4700 days ago 346 posts - 594 votes Speaks: Czech* | Message 178 of 255 17 April 2013 at 9:12am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Actually, it's prosody, not accent. "Accent" is not different from pronunciation. Accent is just pronunciation that is different from your own/what you're used to/what you consider "standard".
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| lecavaleur Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4778 days ago 146 posts - 295 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish | Message 179 of 255 19 April 2013 at 8:55am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Call it whatever you want, I find that if you have a native or near-native accent in a
language, you can get away with minor grammatical errors and such without native speakers noticing or caring. On the other hand, when you have a non-native accent, they notice every single mistake and they're more likely to correct you. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5208 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 180 of 255 19 April 2013 at 10:52am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
This definitely reflects what I've seen at French meetups. People with very good accents can get away with even pretty basic grammatical errors, and native speakers just don't seem to notice. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| mrwarper Diglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member Spain forum_posts.asp?TID=Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5227 days ago 1493 posts - 2500 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2 Studies: German, Russian, Japanese | Message 181 of 255 19 April 2013 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I'd think that's because typically most native speakers don't care much about / are not very good at grammar either. However, a foreign accent is immediately noticeable for everyone and kind of sets off a 'monitor mode' for those who can spot errors. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| mike245 Triglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 6973 days ago 303 posts - 408 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Cantonese Studies: French, German, Mandarin, Khmer | Message 182 of 255 19 April 2013 at 12:31pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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In my experience, a good accent helps keep the locals from switching to English. When I
studied abroad in Germany, there were several people in my program who spoke fairly good German but with a thick American accent (including the English retroflex R). They complained that shopkeepers, etc., would respond to them in English, despite their best efforts. Even though my German at the time was much worse, I never had anyone respond to me in English. I suspect it was because my accent was better than theirs, since it certainly wasn't due to my mastery of the grammar or vocabulary. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4669 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 183 of 255 20 April 2013 at 5:51am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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The importance of a good accent depends on the language:
1. Native speakers of English can often understand the thickest accents 2. Native speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean, normally, don't/won't understand you if your accent/pronunciation is less than satisfactory. Edited by Medulin on 20 April 2013 at 7:24am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| casamata Senior Member Joined 4263 days ago 237 posts - 377 votes Studies: Portuguese | Message 184 of 255 20 April 2013 at 6:13am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Yeah, sometimes it would be great to have an AMAZING accent. I don't know many folks that are equally good at pronunciation and grammar; unfortunately, I fall into the latter camp. :( But usually people that are fluid, have a large vocabulary, and deep understanding of grammar have good accents, right? That's what I've observed, at least. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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