# ¿De dónde es su acento?



## panjabigator

¿Es ofensivo preguntar eso y si es cuanto ofensivo?  Aunque muchos de nosotros dominan una lengua extranjera con la misma fluencia que un nativo, muchas veces se queda su acento que revela que también hablamos otro idioma.  Yo, por ser una persona que hace cientos de preguntas, siempre quiero preguntar a cada persona "de donde es su acento" para averiguar si se algunas palabritas en cualquier idioma.  No es que siempre lo hago, pero si que  hago.   Y no me moleste si alguna persona a cambio me pregunte.  Buenos, ¿qué pensáis?


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## KateNicole

Interesting question!  I hope you don't mind if I answer English. 
This question is curious to me because I, as an English speaker, will often ask people where they are from if they have an accent that I can't identify.  I don't feel rude when I do this because I think English that is spoken with a non-American accent sounds intriguing and beautiful.  However, I'm sure I inadvertently offend people at times when I ask them about their accent if they have tried hard to perfect their pronunciation.

The truth is that I sometimes get a little offended if people ask me where I'm from when I speak Spanish because (tooting my own horn here) I think my accent is as close to "native" as one can get, since I learned to speak it when I was still fairly young.  (Wish I could say the same about my grammar!)  I always wonder "If you didn't see my white skin and my light eyes, would you still be asking?"  And I'm sure that just as I don't ask that question to offend, nor does anyone try to offend me.  It's interesting because my natural hair color is extremely dark brown, and before I started to lighten it, I got questioned about my nationality a lot less.  

I'll be honest, sometimes it hurts my pride a _little _bit when people ask.  I think it's a stickier issue if the person has devoted so much time and energing into mastering a foreign language.  I get really sensitive about it in certain situations because I think to myself "Now you think I'm stupid because I got nervous and accidentally pronounced a double r instead of single r, so you must think I started speaking the language yesterday when I picked up a copy of _Spanish for Dummies_--but if you only knew I could kick your arse in a Spanish spelling bee and I probably have a vocabulary twice the size of yours and an appetite for classic literature and music from all generations!!" (OK, I'm revealing my insanity and insecurities too much right now.) 

I don't see why a person who hasn't studied a language for more than a year or so or who is relatively new to a country would  have any reason to get hurt feelings if someone asked about their accent.


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## danielfranco

I don't mind. I've lived twenty years in the USA but still have an accent.
My daughter's teacher once commented, "where are you from? you have like an accent from... erm... like, JAMAICA!!!!!"

Which only shows how well traveled she is, since I sound like any other Mexican from Mexico City. With a little bit of Northern Mexican thrown in to keep people guessing.
But it is common for people to ask, "where are you from, originally?"
To which the traditional reply is:
"Why don't you mind your own $%#$%# business?"

No, not really. Sometimes people who ask where you be from do so guilelessly, so it doesn't feel like a put-down, you know?
I have no trouble telling them I'm from Jamaica... Erm... Sorry, from Mexico, I meant to say.


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## asm

Yo creo que la pregunta no es ofensiva en general, claro que depende de las circunstancias en las que se pregunta. 
A mi me hacen este tipo de preguntas todos los dias por vivir en los EUA y tener un marcado acento extranjero. Curiosamente la gente piensa que soy europeo y no mexicano por el color de mi piel. Para la mayoria de la gente es mas facil "adivinar" por los rasgos fisicos que por el acento (y me parece logico que asi sea).








panjabigator said:


> ¿Es ofensivo preguntar eso y si es cuanto ofensivo? Aunque muchos de nosotros dominan una lengua extranjera con la misma fluencia que un nativo, muchas veces se queda su acento que revela que también hablamos otro idioma. Yo, por ser una persona que hace cientos de preguntas, siempre quiero preguntar a cada persona "de donde es su acento" para averiguar si se algunas palabritas en cualquier idioma. No es que siempre lo hago, pero si que hago. Y no me moleste si alguna persona a cambio me pregunte. Buenos, ¿qué pensáis?


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## gdmarcus

I believe (hope) that people will respond to the *tone* of the questin as well as to the content of the question.  I love talking to people about their life experiences; if I determine from their accent that someone is from another country, I will often ask them where they are from.  This often sitmulates a lively and friendly (seeming) discussion  between us.  I have never had anyone *act* offended when I have asked; I have assumed that they can tell from my tone that I am truly interested in them.  Often, however, I do compliment them on their ability to speak English, so perhaps that helps them realize that no offense was intended.  In addtion, I am a portrait artist; I often ask people what their ethnicity is (after first trying to guess based on bone structure etc); again, my tone must convey that I am truly just interested.  Not only do people not get offended, they often start to talk about themselves and their backgrounds.  I believe that people like to talk about themselves and that they like it when others show an non- prejudiced interest in them.


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## don maico

My accent when I speak English is  Received Pronounciation , the kind one hears on the BBC, with a sprinkling of Estuary( which is derived from the London accent. When i travel too Argentina I speak Spanish wih an Argentine accent. This causes a certain amount of intrigue amongst the locals puzzled to hear an ingles speaking as I do.I then explain to them that I spent my childhood growing up in the streets of Buenois Aires. I also have to tell them that I have ,sadly, forgotten much of my Spanish having spent so long in England ony ever speaking in English . This is the excuse I use to cover up my struggling grammar .I love telling them about my Argentine flag, souvenirs, photos and the Anglo Argentine society that exists overhere.We have an asado( barbecue) every year.


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## Mei

panjabigator said:


> ¿Es ofensivo preguntar eso y si es cuanto ofensivo?  Aunque muchos de nosotros dominan una lengua extranjera con la misma fluencia que un nativo, muchas veces se queda su acento que revela que también hablamos otro idioma.  Yo, por ser una persona que hace cientos de preguntas, siempre quiero preguntar a cada persona "de donde es su acento" para averiguar si se algunas palabritas en cualquier idioma.  No es que siempre lo hago, pero si que  hago.   Y no me moleste si alguna persona a cambio me pregunte.  Buenos, ¿qué pensáis?



Hola panja,

I don't get offended at all, I know I have a "cataspanglish" accent.  When I've traveled around Spain, many people realised that I was catalan and I didn't mind.  When I meet someone and I notice the he/she has a different accent I just try to figure it. 

Cheers

Mei


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## Westerner

Mei said:


> When I meet someone and I notice the he/she has a different accent I just try to figure it.




Yes, this is what I do. I rarely ask (almost never, actually), but that's probably due to a combination of being able to figure it out on ear (or on sight), and a desire not to put the person on the spot. I've seen too many people posing the question in ways that put the person being questioned in potentially-uncomfortable situations.


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## Cereth

Yo no me ofenderia....claro que hasta el momento nadie me ha hecho esa pregunta...en lo personal creo que mi acento no está "amexicanado" pero si así lo fuera no tendria porque ofenderme al fin y al cabo entre nativos hay acentos...los acentos hacen interesantes el idioma ^^


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## jess oh seven

When I speak my native English I have a general sort of American accent twinged with Scottish bits and pieces  When I was younger, however, I had a full-on Scottish accent.... but I made a conscious decision to change it since I was being teased in the new American school I'd started at.

I'm proud to say that when I speak Spanish I do NOT have a grating American accent seeping through... It may not even be a near-native Spanish accent, and you can certainly tell I'm not Spanish (I trip over Rs and such constantly), but neither can you tell that I'm American 

As for Portuguese, I'd say the same as with Spanish, but my general Portuguese is pretty awful.


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

panjabigator said:


> ¿Es ofensivo preguntar eso y si es cuanto ofensivo?


 
Depende. Según lo que nos comentas, tu intención no es 'etiquetar' a nadie por su nación de orígen, sino por el contrario, ser amable y amistoso. Si cuidas el tono de voz y la manera como lo dices, es poco probable que ofendas a alguien (alright, maybe _some people_ could _eventually_ get a 'little' upset, but not as much as 'offended').

En mi caso, estoy acostumbrada a esa pregunta. Entre amigos angloparlantes, al principio no me molestaba, porque estaba muy clara en lo notorio de mi acento latinoamericano. But hey, now that I've sort of 'upgraded' my English, I feel a little bit disappointed when somebody says: "you're not a native, are you?", because I've worked really hard to sound as 'neutral' as possible (if such thing is _really_ possible, anyway). It's not that I'm offended (well, I do take offense if it's a biased, bigotty remark, which is not your case), but rather that I notice I still need to work in the matter.

It is a different story, however, when a French speaking person asks me the same question. Honestly, my French sucks, and it is really embarrassing if you consider my French names (both, first and last), together with my (supposedly) French-looking face (I'm quite tan, but people keep on saying I "look" French  ), so I kind of _deserve_ the question!  

I don't mind the question in those cases (not at all, really), because I know it must be really intriguing to find a woman with my name and face, and then hear this terrible accent of mine and notice I'm not even fluent in the language...

So I'd say no, it's not really offensive. Just, be careful how and when you make the question.


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## GONTA

a mí no me resultaría ofensivo, creo que todo tiene que ver con la _*forma*_ en que te lo pregunten, porque dicho muy toscamente podría sonar a burla: a algo así como se nota que no podés hablar bien.


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## Vladislav

Intento no ofenderme, pero a veces me duele.   Los sudamericanos que viven en España ya ni se creen que no soy español (a uno hace unos años, le he tenido que empezar a hablar en ruso para que se lo creyera, pues pensaba que le estaba tomando el pelo ), pero los españoles sí que notan, quizás no en seguida, pero sí que notan que hay algo raro en mi manera de hablar. Y eso a pesar de los enormes esfuerzos que he estado haciendo al respecto desde hace más de 5 años.

 Digamos que más bien, me lo tomo como un estímulo para intentar mejorar la pronunciación.


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## Macunaíma

KateNicole said:


> "Now you think I'm stupid because I got nervous and accidentally pronounced a double r instead of single r, so you must think I started speaking the language yesterday when I picked up a copy of _Spanish for Dummies_--but if you only knew I could kick your arse in a Spanish spelling bee and I probably have a vocabulary twice the size of yours and an appetite for classic literature and music from all generations!!" (OK, I'm revealing my insanity and insecurities too much right now.)


 
Wow Kate, you really DO get pissed off !!  

But seriously, I don't think there is such a thing as a foreigner without an accent. Non-native speakers will have an accent; no matter how hard they try to hide it, sooner or later they will let it slip.

People have no reasons to be offended, really. 99.999% of times the person who asks the question is sincerely interested. They may be trying to start a friendly conversation and finding it a blessing that they can talk to a foreigner in their own languages ( it's such a rare occasion to find a native English speaker, for example, who can speak another language than English. Certainly that's not the case in this forum, of course. )

I have known non-native speakers of Portuguese who are amanzingly proficient in the language, but none of them speak accent-free Portuguese. They very often have nice accents, but they still have an accent. I think it's very natural when you meet someone who you indentify as being from a different country, a different culture, a different background from yours to be interested in finding out more about them, what brings them to your country, what led them to study your language, etc. I really like it to meet people who bothered to study Portuguese and I admire them for their effort to study such a complicated language when it would be ever so easier to communicate in English.

Well, in short, I think there is nothing wrong with having an accent and, to me, being asked where you are from just shows that people are trying to know more about you, so what's wrong with telling them what they want to know?

Cheers!


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## Etcetera

I think that me reaction would actually depend on the _tone _of the question. 
I try to speak English as closely to RP as possible, but I believe my accent still betrays me. I wouldn't be offended if someone would ask me where I'm from, if the tone of the question is friendly (not something like "Oh, where on Earth people speak with such an accent?!")
Personally, I like accents. The only accent I can't stand is Moscow pronunciation. I guess I simply have heard it too much recently...
I do like accents. It adds some charm to the way you speak. Of course, if it's nice, mild accent, not a strong one. 
Like Macunaima, I admire those who bother to study Russian. Some two years ago, I met two Italian students from Genoa - they spoke Russian pretty well and with a really charming Italian accent. A Finnish student from Tampere, who was studying in Moscow University for a semester, also spoke Russian with a slight accent.


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## don maico

People  should speak a language the way it comes naturally to them.After all there is no such a thing as a correct accent. Rp ,itself , came about in the 19th century in an attempt to create a "correct" pronounciation. Its a sham though.MY Argentine accent is probably a porteño one and there is no way on eath I would attempt to speak like a salteño let alone a madrileño.Ditto my English accent which  is what it is because of my family, the school I went to in the UK , where I live and my peer group. I believe its called mockney( false cockney spoken by certain middles class individuals) and I lke it.


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## DickHavana

No creo que a nadie le moleste que le pregunten de dónde es su acento, al menos en España y entre españoles. Supongo que siempre podrás encontrar la excepción a eso, pero creo que aquí es más bien al contrario. Más bien creo que suele gustar en el sentido de que demuestra un mínimo de interés por ti. A veces suele ser divertido, si estás en un sitio lejano a tu lugar de origen, jugar a que adivinen. En ese sentido, en España,  donde los acentos regionales y a veces incluso los locales son muy evidentes  (supongo que pasa en todo el mundo) a veces es divertido constatar cómo alguien que vive apenas a 100 kms. de ti es incapaz de ubicarte y por el contrario, alguien que está en el otro extremo del mundo te ubica a la primera.  Por lo que respecta a la gente extranjera con la que me toca tratar, yo mismo suelo jugar a adivinar de dónde son (siempre acabas haciendo una media entre su acento y su aspecto) y a la gente no le suele molestar sino más bien al contrario. Quizás estos temas puedan ser más delicados cuando hay o puede parecer que haya otro tipo de connotaciones (campo-ciudad, rivalidades regionales, etc.) pero por regla general y en la mayoría de los casos creo que no es el caso.

Quizás lo que comenta Vladislav es una perspectiva distinta, por cuanto en su afán de perfeccionar el castellano interpreta en ello que la gente localiza su deje (acento) como "extraño", pero no creo que por regla general la gente haga ese tipo de preguntas con mala intención sino más bien con curiosidad, aunque como creo que añadió alguien por aquí, cuando hay mala intención, por el tono y las maneras se nota enseguida.
Un saludo


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## KateNicole

Macunaíma said:


> Wow Kate, you really DO get pissed off !!
> 
> People have no reasons to be offended, really. 99.999% of times the person who asks the question is sincerely interested . . . Well, in short, I think there is nothing wrong with having an accent and, to me, being asked where you are from just shows that people are trying to know more about you, so what's wrong with telling them what they want to know?
> 
> Cheers!


 
It depends on who is asking you the question. Language ability can be very competetive for some people, especially if you are working as an interpreter, translator, foreign language teacher, etc. I know people that have commented on other people's accents not because they were curious as to where they were from, but because they wanted to point out to that person that the accent was marked. It's a sly way of making someone look bad, but I know that 99.9% of the time the question is not meant to offend! I've worked in a couple of places where ego was out of control and everyone found a round about way to make other people look bad, unfortunately.

Obviously in random conversation amongst strangers, this would not usually be the case. But at any rate, if you have dedicated almost all your studies to one particular language, have immersed yourself in the culture and the country, have spoken the language for years, and have almost a "native" accent, and someone suddenly asks where you're from, it can hurt your feelings and shake your confidence a bit, even though the question is innocent. I think that the more effort you invest into a language, the more weight the question can bear. I _know_ I am not the only one that feels like this, because I've observed it in other people, too.  Sometimes the question can serve as "I'm still not good enough" reminder, even though it's asked with purest of intentions!


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## Macunaíma

But Kate, there are different accents within a same language, and sometimes a foreign accent can be more pleasant to somebody's ears than a particular regional accent that he or she dislikes. Although there are no accents of Portuguese that I particularly dislike, I've known foreigner who have really nice accents and who have been complimented on that. I once met an Irish girl whose accent would make my heart speed )). I think if a person masters a language ( grammar and vocabulary ), an accent can be an asset. I can't see the point in disguising it, unless you are a spy on a secret mission trying to pass for a native.


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## KateNicole

I don't _always_ find the question offensive! It depends entirely upon the context, as well as the motivation behind the question. My life experiences have caused me to react differently to the question than other people.

As a native-English speaker, I would never be offended by someone questioning my accent in English. 

When speaking Spanish, I don't try to disguise my national identity, but I do try to pronounce each word as correctly as humanly possible!

If someone asks me about my accent out of simple curiosity, I certainly don't think that the person is rude _but_ my feelings could still get hurt because I might think to myself "I must have flubbed a word."

I think that the closer you are to having an almost undectable accent, the harder you will try to eliminate it. And the harder you try to do _anything _(not just speak a foreign language), the more sensitive you might become when you are reminded (however innocently) that you still have work to do. 

My friend is a ballroom dance teacher and she said that her beginning students are always extremely receptive and open to criticism, whereas her most advanced students, while still wanting to improve, can take the most minor criticisms to heart, sometimes crying out of frustration. It kind of reminds me of myself, although I don't cry if someone asks me about my accent. I'm not _that_ crazy about it! 

Oh, and I do know non-native speakers that do not have any sort of "foreign" accent.  I met a lot of people from college, mostly from Arabic nations, who started attending American schools at the sixth grade and they speak flawlessly.


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## Macunaíma

Kate,

Perhaps what makes you feel frustrated when you are asked where your accent is from is not that you should have an accent, but that people should think and imply that the pronunciation you have _is not good enough_. _Mas que cretinos!_ In that case you should immediately switch the talk to English and give them the chance to show how good their language skills are. When they begin to stutter, you could give them a kind and sympathetic smile. If they are English speakers like you, you can rest assured that they have an accent too.

I don't know about English, but foreign speakers without an accent in Portuguese are non-existent. I know people who have very slight accents, but speaking Brazilian Portuguese without a trace of a foreign accent...Some educated elderly foreigners I know still have an accent after 30, 40 years living here. I hope some native Spanish speaker can tell us if they have ever met a foreigner who could speak Spanish without an accent.


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## DickHavana

Macunaíma said:


> I hope some native Spanish speaker can tell us if they have ever met a foreigner who could speak Spanish without an accent.



Perdonad si contesto en castellano, creo que lo entendéis y estoy un poco cansado. Si no me entendéis, lo lamento. 
La mayoría de la gente extranjera que habla español denota siempre acento diferente, unas veces más marcado que otras, y en general con una serie de características comunes dependiendo de su lugar de origen. Creo que también influye cuándo y a qué nivel lo han aprendido, entre gente joven encuentras mejor adaptación a acentos e idioma. Conocí el caso de una refugiada de guerra bosnia que tras venir varios veranos a la localidad donde vivo y finalmente quedarse a estudiar aquí acogida por una familia de la zona, acabó cogiendo tal acento que te costaba creer que era extranjera hasta que te empezaba a hablar en su idioma. Actualmente tiene unos 25 años, habla perfectamente serbio-croata y castellano, e ignoro qué acento tiene cuando habla su idioma, pero cuando habla castellano lo habla casi al 100% con el mismo acento y localismos que la gente de por aquí (tiene  un marcado deje rural del sur de Navarra, que recuerda al acento maño (aragonés). Resulta curioso oír a una bosnia hablando con un acento que no sólo suena a español, sino casi a español de aldeano). Sin embargo es un caso muy concreto: compañeras suyas que llevan aquí los mismos años y pasaron por las mismas peripecias siguen delatando su origen en el acento, a pesar de hablar perfectamente español (y unos cuantos idiomas más, esa gente llega a ser increíble en ese sentido). 

Entre inmigrantes (donde yo vivo hay muchos) supongo que la dinámica es la que sucede en todas partes. La primera generación habla español con más o menos dificultad, y con acento extranjero más o menos marcado. La segunda generación, escolarizada en el país, acaba adoptando con más facilidad el acento y los dejes de la zona. Quizás estoy equivocado, pero me da la sensación de que los hijos de latinoamericanos tienden a conservar más el acento original que por ejemplo los hijos de africanos, quizás el hecho de que estén hablando de continuo el mismo idioma con sus padres influya en ese sentido.


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## cyanista

I'm currently residing in Germany so I'm being asked that question quite often. I've noticed that many people are a bit uneasy asking it but they don't  offend me in the least (I were curious, too!) As a matter of fact, I've had a lot of fun getting them to guess where I come from. My (let's hope, slight) accent doesn't really "belong" anywhere so folks will resort to wild guessing. Well, most probably base their judgement on my, err, vaguely European looks - but it's still a hit or a miss game.


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## Vladislav

I've had a lot of fun making the native people guess where am I from in the first 1-2 years. 

 But I think, within some years, if during this period you have been trying so hard to speak as the natives do, what could happen is, as Kate Nicole says:




> you have dedicated almost all your studies to one particular language, have immersed yourself in the culture and the country, have spoken the language for years, and have almost a "native" accent, and someone suddenly asks where you're from, it can hurt your feelings and shake your confidence a bit, even though the question is innocent. I think that the more effort you invest into a language, the more weight the question can bear. I _know_ I am not the only one that feels like this, because I've observed it in other people, too. Sometimes the question can serve as "I'm still not good enough" reminder, even though it's asked with purest of intentions!


 
 ... regardless of the initial intentions it may if not offend (no offence at the person who asked you) al least discourage quite a lot. 

 Although, on the other hand, it's a kind of "exam" for you, it's not so bad, from this point of view.


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Macunaíma said:


> Kate,
> Perhaps what makes you feel frustrated when you are asked where your accent is from is not that you should have an accent, but that people should think and imply that the pronunciation you have _is not good enough_.


 
Sometimes, that makes _me_ upset, too. In my case, I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not from the US (which doesn't bother me at all). I look different, I think different, I even walk different! And that's how it should be, since I come from an entirely different background. So how on earth could I *not* sound different?

There are times when I get the question ("where are you from, anyway?") with absolutely no relation to my accent. For example, in my country, if an elderly person or a pregnant woman gets on the subway and there's no seats left, the younger ones (especially men) are supposed to stand up and leave the seat for the one who needs it most. That is not done in France (leave alone NY ), so if I stand up and tell grannie to please take my seat, probably someone would think: "she's not from here...". That's OK, I can take it easily, and I could even like the fact that there's still some integrity left in me!  

However, something that I find especially upsetting is to find myself having a conversation with a native and accidentally messing up a word, or misplacing a noun in a sentence (or letting my very Venezuelan "s" slip out...  ), and then noticing that the listener is staring at me with a (stupid) mocking smile on the face and then drop the question, like meaning to say: "where the freak did this butthead learn her English? She wasted all that time and money..." THAT really makes me upset. 

If only those people could listen to their own "ain't"s, double negatives, skipping letters, zzee'ing the words and so on and so forth, they wouldn't be that demanding of a woman who could really kick their bottoms in the language, but who is after all human, and her mistakes tend to be Venezuelan-like... So, Kate Nicole, I'm on your side


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## Mei

Macunaíma said:


> I hope some native Spanish speaker can tell us if they have ever met a foreigner who could speak Spanish without an accent.



Hi,

I once met a French guy who had no accent, I couldn't believe he wasn't spanish. 




> When speaking Spanish, I don't try to disguise my national identity, but I do try to pronounce each word as correctly as humanly possible!


KateN,

I try to do the same but in the other way around (... in??)  A good american friend of mine says that I speak a British English with an American accent.

Cheers 

Mei


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## Venezuelan_sweetie

Macunaíma said:


> I hope some native Spanish speaker can tell us if they have ever met a foreigner who could speak Spanish without an accent.


 
Yes, of course. I've met a whole bunch of foreigners who speak flawless Spanish. Once I met a Colombian guy who had no accent at all, his Spanish was more than perfect!

Oh wait a minute, you mean, a _non-native speaker_...? Well, that's somewhat different, buddy... 

Mmmmmhh... No, I don't recall any non-native speaker without an accent. Although I do remember some foreigners who could kick my butt in Spanish, including a French grannie and a couple from Finland.

I agree with those who have said that some foreign accents are really charming. Whenever I hear an Italian speaking Spanish, or a Frenchman speaking English, I totally MELT!

PS:  Should that final remark really count?  Because, you know, I could say the same about a Scot, a Briton, an Aussie, a Congolese, a Kenian...


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## luis masci

Para ser totalmente sincero, lo primero que pensé al leer el mensaje inicial, fue “que tontería; ¿Es que alguien puede sentirse ofendido por algo así?” 
Luego al ir leyendo los demás mensajes empecé a comprender. Lo que pasa es que eso depende mucho del lugar geográfico y del entorno sociopolítico que lo enmarca.
Aquí, en Argentina por ejemplo, nadie tomaría como ofensa sino más bien todo lo contrario, como alabanza, el hecho de ser reconocido por otro acento que no sea el español. Aquí se admira al extranjero que viene de países considerados más desarrollados. 
Claro... en Europa y en EEUU no es así, ya que tienen actualmente muchos inmigrantes, cosa que no pasa aquí (y no vienen precisamente de países considerados más desarrollados).


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## DickHavana

luis masci said:


> Para ser totalmente sincero, lo primero que pensé ... etc.



Sí, creo que ahí has estado acertado. Yo tampoco entendía que a alguien  le pudiera molestar que le pregunten por su acento, pero es evidente que el contexto es distinto. Como en Argentina (yo creo que pasa en todo el mundo latino), los acentos que denotan origen extranjero se han visto siempre con simpatía en España, creo que por las mismas razones que indica *luis masci*. Otra cosa es cómo empiece a percibir la gente el tema de la inmigración, que ha sido en España un boom relativamente reciente. 

Supongo que en ese entorno de inmigrantes se perciban las cosas de otra manera. Sin embargo, en mi caso,  jamás he percibido que a algún inmigrante le moleste ser reconocido como tal. Otra cosa es cómo perciba esa persona el trato que le dan los demás por el hecho de serlo.


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## Macunaíma

Mei said:


> Hi,
> 
> I once met a French guy who had no accent, I couldn't believe he wasn't spanish.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Mei


 
Hi Mei,

There are two famous Brazilian actresses, Jaqueline Laurence and Françoise Fourton, whom most people don't even know to be French-born because they don't have the slightest trace of a foreign accent...but then they both emmigrated to Brazil with their families when they were still little girls. For an adult to master all the phonemes and aspescts of intonation, etc. , of another language than his own is all but impossible, and something I have yet to see. The foreigners I know who have come closest to an accent-free Brazilian Portuguese are an American friend of mine, Mark, from Utah, and my city's Bishop, Mr.( how do we adress a Bishop in English?) von Siebenbroch, who is German. Both can pronounce the phonemes okay, but their intonation, the rythm of their speaking is still "foreign". 



Cheers


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## Lugubert

I could go on for days here. I was introduced to a fellow translator in Brussels. It took us speaking for some ten minutes before I realized that he was a Brit, not a Swede.

On a few lucky occasions, I have managed to get Germans and Dutch at least doubt my native status. I was ashamed when a girl in a Swiss book shop asked me, "You're a Swede, aren't you?" It turned out that she was as well, and the one thng she had spotted was my very open 'a's.

My Spanish accent is heavily influenced by the Canary Islands. I'm aware that some people from the Peninsula think it sounds rather childish, like "ête caye" for "este calle", but it adds to the confusion, and anyway it was useful in Mexico despite my efforts at ceceo.

During a few years during which I taught Swedish to immigrants, I got fairly clever in distinguishing for example Chilean vs. Argentinian Spanish. I have now lost that ability.


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## mirx

A mi no me molesta en lo absoluto que me pregunten de donde soy. Me ha pasado en Estados Unidos varias veces, en Texas me preguntan que si soy de California, en California que si soy de Illinois y en Michigan que si soy de Texas (esto último si me frustra. just kidding).

Cuando hablo español también me preguntan de donde soy, al parecer mi acento no es muy famoso, o al menos no está muy marcado.

Creo que mucha gente no quiere que le pongan estereotipos por eso se molesta cuando el preguntan de donde es. Me pasó en una ocasión conversando con una sinaloense (estado de México). Le dije "tu eres de...mmmm... Sinaloa" Y me responde, ¿Apoco ya te había dicho? (sonreía mientras me lo decía) y le contesto "No, no me habías dicho pero por tu acento". Inmediatamente le cambió la sonrisa y a los pocos minutos se fue y no la volví a ver.

Actualmente no vivo en México, y a los pocos minutos de conversación alguien siempre me pregunta "¿De dónde eres?", obviamente les digo que adivinen, y nadie hasta hoy me ha dicho eres de México. Inclusive en Irlanda, me han afirmado que soy "american", y otros me preguntan que de que parte de Inglaterra vengo (quizá sólo tengan turistas de Inglaterra) y otros mucho más aventurados me han preguntado (en Irlanda) que si soy de Dublín.

En una ocasión me tope a una española y le dije que yo también era español, a los pocos minutos empezó a examinarme y me dijo "No, tu no eres de España" o al menos no eres de Barcelona (yo le dije que era de Barcelona), actualmente trabajo con otra barcelonense y le dije que era de Valencia, no ha habido ninguna sospecha hasta el momento (la mayor parte del tiempo hablamos en inglés y cuando hablamos en español, me límito a utilizar español estandar, y a cecear mis C´s y mis Zetas).

Y de extranjero que hablan español como nativos, sólo he conocido a uno. Es un italino que hablaba español mejor que muchos nativos que conozco y para colmo lo hacía con un acento de clase alta.


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## nanel

Mirx, me parto con tu post, haha.

A mí personalmente jamás me ha molestado. En USA me han preguntado directamente de dónde soy porque mi acento me delata rápidamente  y lo que he pensado al escuchar esta pregunta ha sido "qué simpáticos" o "qué atentos son estos americanos", pero jamás me he sentido ofendida. Lo cierto es que con mi acento no puedo ofenderme porque es evidente. Hace poco una gran amiga mía (americana - la culpable de que quiera aprender más cada día) y yo estábamos hablando y después de un rato me dijo, tras algún comentario amable sobre my English skills (she's too kind) "but I can tell you're Spanish" a lo que por supuesto respondí "because I am!" cuando conseguí dejar de reir, claro.

Por el contrario, en Méjico siempre se han dirijido a mí en inglés (supongo que porque soy rubia, con los ojos claros y la leche parece estar morena a mi lado...), y cuando les he contestado en español me han dicho: "Oh, you speak Spanish" porque seguían pensando que era americana. Eso es un poquito más frustrante, sí, y más cuando te ocurre día tras día. Lo que os quiero decir con esto es que incluso siendo nativo te puede pasar que alguien piense por tu acento que no lo eres, aunque siéndolo, así que no os toméis tan a pecho esos comentarios sobre de dónde sois.

Creo que la próxima vez que me pase les hablaré en inglés y así no habrá ninguna duda de que soy española


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