Comments on: Seriously? Did I just say "those people who learn another language are freaking morons"? I didn’t think so.

By: Toneofcolour

Toneofcolour — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:08:00 +0000

If the issue was with someone in India they really do speak English – it’s one of their two official languages. Like Canada India has lasting influences of British colonial rule including English. While their accent is often mega-strong it’s just an accent in much the same way as Australia, the hundreds in the British Isles, South Africa, Botswana etc. Finding people hard to understand isn’t always due to a lack of fluency but a lack of familiarity. It took me 5 tries to get a glass of water on a plane to Canada despite the drinks cart context simplifying the likely vocab – and I have a mild New Zealand accent that internationally speaking is pretty neutral -the ‘r’ wasn’t the same and that was enough.

By: FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:37:31 +0000

I think I could understand you. I’m a native English speaker, so I can understand pretty much every accent given some time….

I do have problems with anyone who talks super fast and mumbles though, which is what I find with a lot of reps.

By: Fi

Fi — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:12:31 +0000

I'm a little late to the party here, but you'd find me impossible to understand – Australian with a lisp! That said, I don't think my accent is particularly strong – no Crocodile Dundee here!

By: Ridonkulus

Ridonkulus — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:06:00 +0000

fb, i’ve had the same experience calling customer service. in fact, the guy yelled at me for constantly asking to repeat. i’m not the one who can’t speak english! i think they flagged me as a difficult customer. call during regular business hours, you’re more likely to get a north american customer service rep.

By: moneymatekate

moneymatekate — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:37:00 +0000

Actually…fluency and accent are independent of each other. You can speak with perfect grammar and vocabulary but have an accent, and you are fluent. But I have to write more or else I’ll be thought of as didactic and dull…

I’m American. While living in Edinburgh, I took a night class in the archaeology of Pompeii. Everyone in the class knew me as “the American who isn’t loud”, heh. Anyway, we had an American guest lecturer from one of the Ivies, and he was impossible to understand – all his words ran into each other, and there was zero intonation/emphasis. I had fun watching my classmates – they were trying so hard to tune into his weird speaking habits, and kept asking him to repeat things. At the break they asked me why he was so difficult to understand, and I had to admit that it was no easier for me than it was for them. It did make me giggle that they were looking for an English-to-English translation, and I was classified as “bidialectal”.

As for argumentative comments – just wait until they have to call a customer service line and find themselves bounced around a call center in India. Don’t give into the trolls.

By: oscura

oscura — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:03:00 +0000

I would not say exactly so. If you try to learn German and not French, ypou would find it much easire, at least with respect to language pace, pitch, tone and pronounciation. Which does not happen to French, for instance, as languages are not so related.

Case in point, Italians would easily learn Spanish (they can understand half of it without any training).

living in a culture speaking the language you would like to learn helps preventing the accent in your native language influence the language you learn.

and it really depends on native skills and how much time do you spend in that culture.

(of course, I am not native in English)

By: Dolly Iris

Dolly Iris — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:26:00 +0000

My BF does the silent “h” thing as well. He also has a a problem with T sounds like “th”. I love teasing him about it. He is French Canadian. I can not do the “r” in French. It drives me nuts!

By: Revanche

Revanche — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:56:00 +0000

I missed whatever prompted this rant (or forgot it) but I have to say this: even native speakers lose the ability to pronounce properly, lose syntax, lose their grasp of the grammar over time. It just happens! I grew up speaking my native language, and English, equally fluently and now that I use English more, I find myself occasionally floundering in my native language even though I use it every day at home.

Other native speakers encounter the same problem. My Portuguese friend learned English as a second language in her thirties. She promptly "loses" her ability to speak English when she's in Portugal, and vice versa when she comes home. She has a strong accent no matter what language she speaks. I just can't tell what that accent is.

Happens. I need British and Australians to slow down just because I get so caught up in the sound of their pronunciation that I miss the actual words, or subtle nuances. Yet, I do speak English fluently.

I don't know what the point is, but language is awesome, multiple languages are awesome, and no matter how many languages any of us speak, we'll still have misunderstandings.

By: xnikkix

xnikkix — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:45:00 +0000

I guess it’s difficult for you to take ANY criticism.

By: paranoidasteroid

paranoidasteroid — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Hahahaha. Seriously, this is why I hope my blog never gets popular because I say stuff that is actually offensive sometimes and I don't think I could deal with people overreacting and getting butthurt about it.

I really just wanted to know the story behind that post... Now I'm glad I do.

Eff the haters, girl, and do your thing!