"I speak French with a Belgian accent"
At a party in Changhua back in the day, I think at Kevin and Rain's (sp) house, some chick claimed she spoke French with a Belgian accent to our derision and amusement. That being Tom, myself, and maybe the J-hole?
Well, now I go to China a lot, and people there say I have a Taiwanese accent to my Chinese. The best way to know this is when a mainlander says you speak "Guo Yu" very well, i.e. they choose to use the Taiwanese term for putonghua, usually with a little hesitation before the word.
But, thanks to the good waishengren teachers at TLI, I can also burr, slur, and bullshit myself into some vague mongrelized mainland accent, too. (The dude at the noodle shop claimed it was a Szechuan accent, but he probably was just an ignorant peasant.)
Now, my question is whether or not it is correct to learn to not only recognize but also speak regional accents for languages? And if so, why is this not the same for native speakers and regional accents in English?
I do know one guy from New Zealand who pretty much used a North American accent now, but that's maybe work related teaching in Taiwan. And of course, the J-hole can speak standard California English before about the third beer, but those are examples of regional accents moving towards the standard. (Forgive the chauvinism, but you get the idea. Some Taiwanese saying about the attractiveness of the larger watermelon slice seems appropriate but somewhat beyond my memory.)
So, here's the final question: If Brit Paul moved in with the J-Hole in Lubbock, TX - should he learn a Texas accent? Or is this sort of thing only for non-native speakers, eh?
But, thanks to the good waishengren teachers at TLI, I can also burr, slur, and bullshit myself into some vague mongrelized mainland accent, too. (The dude at the noodle shop claimed it was a Szechuan accent, but he probably was just an ignorant peasant.)
Now, my question is whether or not it is correct to learn to not only recognize but also speak regional accents for languages? And if so, why is this not the same for native speakers and regional accents in English?
I do know one guy from New Zealand who pretty much used a North American accent now, but that's maybe work related teaching in Taiwan. And of course, the J-hole can speak standard California English before about the third beer, but those are examples of regional accents moving towards the standard. (Forgive the chauvinism, but you get the idea. Some Taiwanese saying about the attractiveness of the larger watermelon slice seems appropriate but somewhat beyond my memory.)
So, here's the final question: If Brit Paul moved in with the J-Hole in Lubbock, TX - should he learn a Texas accent? Or is this sort of thing only for non-native speakers, eh?
2 comments:
No reason to learn to speak with different regional accents unless if by not doing so you will not be understood or beaten up.
First off all that’s kind of rude calling someone an “ignorant peasant” that’s just tacky on your part, and a bit stereotypical too, just like when people in the UK call all Americans stupid, and assume that most Americans are stupid, and look down on American English…but anyway, as for accents, what does it matter, I doubt anyone would be so ignorant as to laugh at someone because they have a certain accent, who cares if you speak with a Taiwanese accent? Belgium French is very nice by the way, and is almost identical to the French spoken in Northern France. It seems like you’re a bit ignorant yourself.
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