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Languages/dialects that are ’laughed at’ | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5416 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 33 of 54 11 January 2012 at 4:42am | IP Logged | ||
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I suppose I should have clarified that I was referring to native speakers of American English, who would consequently be presumed to be American, and therefore uneducated.
I realize now that I should have restricted my supposition to the UK (I'll pointedly exclude Ireland), since English proficiency elsewhere in Europe is generally low enough such that the differences between the American and British variations pose functional issues of comprehension rather than conjure cultural and political stereotypes. Edited by nway on 11 January 2012 at 4:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| WentworthsGal Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4889 days ago 191 posts - 246 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish, Spanish | Message 34 of 54 11 January 2012 at 10:27am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm wondering if American accents sound more trendy to non-English speakers as America dominates the English speaking film industry? So maybe people using other accents - English, Scottish, Irish, Australian etc might seem more boring and less current?? Especially when used by non-native English speakers? Does the issue ever come up when learning to speak English... "Why do you speak in a British (etc) accent and not an American one?" Have you as a learner ever been mocked for using a non-American accent (outside of the classroom if taught British pronunciation)? Edited by WentworthsGal on 11 January 2012 at 10:27am 1 person has 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 35 of 54 11 January 2012 at 1:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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People tend to be scarcely aware (if at all) of national/regional accents in foreign languages, you know...
In my experience, when there are any, opinions on accents in foreign languages are largely based on the personal accent of the speaker. I.e. if his/her accent in his own native language has some particular traits (dropping letters/phonemes, replacing some with different ones, etc.), he tends to carry them over to any new languages, finding similar accents more pleasing to his ears, and regarding different ones as unlikeable, even if they are (and regardless of being) more native or native-like. OTOH most learners have enough difficulties toning down their own foreign accents that a native usually cannot tell what native accent they aim to, unless the native in particular is a language teacher or the learner picks up some very distinctive features of that accent. What I have sadly seen most is people being mocked for speaking, or trying to speak, with a more native-like accent than their peers; but you also know how uncool it is to be a good student :( 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6910 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 36 of 54 11 January 2012 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | ||
I quote myself from "British or American English in Europe" (page 2) "British English was (is?) the norm. Spelling, audio, vocabulary... While most learners have a horrible Swedish accent, a major characteristic is the "American" R. When I went to school, nobody wanted to sound posh (=British). Of all my classmates over the years, I think only a handful have spoken non-rhotic English." The "American" R alone is a giveaway that the speaker has had exposure to American media. You can't avoid it in Sweden, and it is unlikely that any teacher would question the student for choosing that accent. Indian English would raise a few eyebrows though... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6583 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 37 of 54 12 January 2012 at 7:01am | IP Logged | ||
Yeah, I've met a few Swedes with non-rhotic accents and without exception it turned out they used to live in the UK. I'm not sure if British English is still taught in school. It probably depends on the teacher, and chances are teachers nowadays also have rhotic accents. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6273 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 38 of 54 12 January 2012 at 12:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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Endangered languages or dialects are often exposed to ridicule, and this can contribute to them dying out. I read about the extinct Polabian language, a West Slavic language of northern Germany that died out in the 18th century. The text I read about the language reported that only older people still spoke Polabian as of the start of the 18th century and they were often laughed at by younger people from their community who had gone over to Low German. (Itself now threatened by standard German.)
Education systems often consciously discourage, through punishment, children who use a minority language in class. This has contributed to the decline of Celtic languages in particular. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| KimG Diglot Groupie Norway Joined 4978 days ago 88 posts - 104 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Portuguese, Swahili | Message 39 of 54 12 January 2012 at 10:52pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hm, at least in Norway, its real Brittish English who's taught. Sometimes so Brittish Brittons would laugh at it. I've heard of English teachers who's tried to correct native speakers who happen to go to school, if they dont speak the Queens English as their native English dialect.
I usually speak non-rhotic, but it happen often it's an major problem for people who havent learned non-rhotic English, so it happen often I drop it to be more easy understood, talking slower, more "american like". Even having learnt Brittish in school, I even had for a long time, big issues with, say, US' non-rhotic accents. Standard US English is quite easy to understand though even for newbies. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lianne Senior Member Canada thetoweringpile.blog Joined 5116 days ago 284 posts - 410 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Toki Pona, German, French | Message 40 of 54 12 January 2012 at 10:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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My accent is typical of the Canadian prairies (not that different from the American Midwest I think). When I used to go to International Music Camp on the border of Canada and the states, people laughed uproariously every time I said "eh". But, being the good-natured Canadian that I am, I don't mind. :D I'm quite proud of my Canadian way of speaking. And I also find many American accents to be funny, especially when they say words like "Canada" and "soccer". Their vowels are so funny! As long as it's all in good fun, it's all good.
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