Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Cultural Accents--Why Everybody Wants a Fork

photo from images.all-free-download.com
Every time I speak English in my class, I get differing opinions on the way I speak in English. To some, the way I speak is 'cool,' because of my American accent. Some detest the manner, because, naturally, most people will be hostile to anything that is not familiar to many (in this case, the way I speak). Some raised questions as to why I have to speak in such a manner.

I do not consider my accent as American, rather, it is neutral. A neutral accent is a manner in speaking which could be understood globally: by all people 
who speaks English.

On the contrary, a cultural accent is a manner of speaking influenced by the speaker's mother tongue. Every country has its own cultural accent--even the native speakers--and must be neutered. In the Philippines, the number of cultural accent equates the number of dialects we have. In Japan, they have such a stressed way of speaking, and turn the letter 'l,' to 'r.'

In the United States, the people of California has a different way of speaking from the New Yorkers. The people of Mississippi has such a heavy, stressed, southern accent. In the United Kingdom, the Britons have  a distinguished way of speaking.

Why, then, should we bother neutralizing our accents when everybody else has a different way of speaking? There is nothing wrong with cultural accent, really, sometimes it's cute when used for aesthetic purposes. It's just that most of the time, cultural accents cause miscommunication. Such a problem must be avoided, as it creates a catastrophe. Don't believe me? Learn from our Italian friend (see vid below.)


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