We have partnered with TradePub to bring you free industry magazines and resources - no coupons or credit cards required!
Visit: englishforums.tradepub.com
Hello,
Has anyone maltreated you because of your accent? Does your accent prompt laughs or invite to unnecessary (although harmless) attempts to imitate your speech?
CalifJim wrote:No.
Lucky you.
It would be quite rude to do that to someone.
If this is happening at work then there are things you can do about it.
Who's been taking the mickey out of you anon? What sort of accent do you have anyway?
Hi Nona the Brit,
I hope you'll permit me to quote you to make it easier for me to reply your message:
I agree. It is, indeed, rude to mimic other people's speech, in particular in front of them (and in particular if they're foreigners learning a language). However, if it's playful, I wouldn't mind. I find that people very seldom make fun of people with clearly foreign accents. You previously stated that people find upper class accents funny. Therefore, if you speak with a remarked RP (or near-RP) accent there may well be smiles.
Nona The Brit wrote: It would be quite rude to do that to someone. If this is happening at work then there are things you can do about it. Who's been taking the mickey out of you anon? What sort of accent do you have anyway?
I agree when you say that it's rude to mimic other people. However, if it's playful, I wouldn't mind. I think it's especially rude to mimic non-native accents of English; how would a Brit trying to learn German find it should German people constantly mimick them for speaking German in a funny way, for instance? Nonetheless it's the truth that some accents of English sound pretentious and uppity to many people. Having an accent like that mightn't be so fun in the long run, but it's still all right to play with accents, isn't it?