Does an accent really matter?
I often hear people criticising certain nationalities for speaking English with a heavy accent, while others gain praise for being almost accent free?
But why is this so important? Surely being able to understand someone is all that really matters? Besides, isn't it perfectly natural for your native accent to shine through when you speak a foreign language, unless you have had some sort of special training?
When I hear a Frenchman speak English, I expect him to sound French and his nasal tones in no way distract me from listening to what he says. Naturally, I would make extra effort to listen as I know I'm dealing with a non-native speaker.
When I speak German I presume I have some sort of Scots brogue inherent in my Deutsch but I don't care, and I don't have any problems making myself understood.
Are other nations also hung up on this accent thing? Do Spaniards moan because a Dutchman is speaking badly-accented Spanish? Or do they just appreciate the fact he is speaking their language, tune in and enjoy?
That's exactly right! I enjoy listening to other people's accents. It's kind of like a hearing someone play the same song with a different style.
Although sometimes they may be hard to understand, it's fun to figure out how they're changing the sounds to make it that way.
Sometimes it's frustrating, but at least we're communicating!
That's exactly wrong!
<<But why is this so important? Surely being able to understand someone is all that really matters?>>
It doesn't matter, except when it *does* interfere with being able to understand. Some accents leave you thinking "now what in the hell did he just say...?"
For me personally, I don't mind accents in and of themselves, but when an accent is so heavy that I cannot understand what the person is saying, I get annoyed. Especially when a response is expected.
<< It doesn't matter, except when it *does* interfere with being able to understand. Some accents leave you thinking "now what in the hell did he just say...?" >>
-- C'est le cas avec les accents:
. anglais (britiche, américain etc.): ils diphtonguisent toutes les voyelles, avalent les consonnes, brouillent tout... ça donne une purée incompréhensible.
. espagnol: incapables d'articuler clairement des syllabes. Permanente confusion entre 'b' et 'v': comment prendre ça au sérieux ?
. arabe: système vocalique encore plus réduit que l'espagnol. Comment est-ce possible????
As long as its easy to understand, I don't mind. I mean, why should we judge a French accent any differently than a native Scottish or Australian accent? Why do we expect the French guy to eliminate his accent but no one expects the Australian to switch to an American accent?
(In fact, it would be almost as difficult for the Australian to change accent as for the French person. When a native imitates another English accent rarely can they withstand for long periods and it almost always sounds affected.)
Anyone speaking a language other than his/her native one does it with accent.
There's nothing wrong with that. That story of having some nationals speaking with accent (read, Southern Europeans) while others do not is simply false.
The Dutch have a notorious accent when they speak English. They tend to pronounce the "s" as "sh". On the contrary, the Swedish do speak with very soft sounds but do not pronounce the diphtongs as strongly as the English do. The Danish tend to poronounce the "r" in a guttural way. The Finnish have some sort of Italian-like accent.
A German politician was mocked/criticized for speaking English with a "heavy" accent. I think the politician was from Swabia-where it may be that the locals joke that they do many things well- except speak German. (I think they speak an Alemannic dialect.) Anyway, some British people claimed that they couldn't understand the man, but I could, for the most part understand him.
To me that says something. If you are used to hearing foreign accents and can cut through to the meaning, maybe the accent isn't as distracting, but if you are not familiar with accents at all, the speaker may seem unintelligible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sunxX-_TBSQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gAcYgrp06o (dissecting the speech)
In one clip I couldn't locate, speakers of British English claimed that they could not understand this politician's English-one may even have thought his English...ta da...was SPANISH.
That's ridiculous. At least the politician tried to speak another language.