Comments on: Should language learners try to sound a little bit foreign? http://www.languagetrainers.co.uk/blog/2010/05/29/should-language-learners-try-to-sound-a-little-bit-foreign/ Any language, any time, anywhere Mon, 21 May 2012 13:19:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Mark http://www.languagetrainers.co.uk/blog/2010/05/29/should-language-learners-try-to-sound-a-little-bit-foreign/comment-page-1/#comment-1142 Mark Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:46:28 +0000 http://www.languagetrainers.co.uk/blog/?p=975#comment-1142 No, way! At least as a white person in an Asian country where English education is compulsory, an intentionally foreign accent is a really bad route to go, Here in Hong Kong, a poor accent almost ensures that the other speaker will either switch to using English with you or give up altogether. Though I'm a beginner, I put serious effort into sounding as native as possible. If that results in getting a response in Cantonese that I can't understand, then so be it. It's far preferable than getting no input at all. That said, if it's an important transaction and I simply can't communicate what I need to then I switch to Mandarin or possibly even English depending on which is easier for the other party. No, way! At least as a white person in an Asian country where English education is compulsory, an intentionally foreign accent is a really bad route to go, Here in Hong Kong, a poor accent almost ensures that the other speaker will either switch to using English with you or give up altogether. Though I’m a beginner, I put serious effort into sounding as native as possible. If that results in getting a response in Cantonese that I can’t understand, then so be it. It’s far preferable than getting no input at all.

That said, if it’s an important transaction and I simply can’t communicate what I need to then I switch to Mandarin or possibly even English depending on which is easier for the other party.

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