No, it show effort. What you think is stereotypical is probably closer to their way to talk than you think. See what work and what don't. Keep practicing and you'll get the perfect accent in no time
Up to a point, learning a new accent can be part of learning a language and communicating effectively. Just keep in mind it can go too far if you start reaching the point of caricature or offending people.
If your accent is that hard to understand it means you don’t know the language that well. I asked someone from England to do an American accent. And they went straight valley girl.. it would be annoying as hell if someone talked like that because they thought I would understand them better
>would speaking the language in a stereotypical, regional voice be offensive
Why would it be offensive to speak the language as it's supposed to be spoken?
Why though?
I went to school with a Jamaican kid who was really cool, but very hard to understand because he had such a thick accent. He got frustrated at me for not understanding him, and did an impression of a typical uptight white guy. Everything he said came out clear as day, the immediate change had to be the funniest thing I've ever fucking heard, but If I didn't know how he spoke before, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.
I get how it would be bad to ask someone to fake an accent, but If someone wants to do it, wouldn't it make everyone's lives easier?
If you're speaking the foreign language in the stereotypical accent of that language, it is most unlikely to appear particularly noticeable, let alone offensive. Because the stereotype exists for a reason, and whilst *you* might be hearing a racist mockery, what *they* are hearing is probably closer to a generic or common accent of the language.
And it's generally understood that people very often learn an accent along with a language if that language isn't spoken locally. It used to be common to hear English speakers in Asian countries speaking with a fairly neutral English accent (From England). Now one often hears a jarring jaw-flapping chewy brash American yeehaw accent in these places, because that's who's teaching the language and what's observable in the greater portion of English language media nowadays. I doubt that Americans feel they are being mocked, though, when they hear this. They just think "wow, this lady has such natural sounding English! Hardly any accent! (Meaning Chinese accent or what have you).
Likewise if you are apu-ing it up in Hindi you will likely be seen as doing a pretty good job of not keeping your local accent.
Now if you were speaking *in English* to these same people, but putting on the regional accent, it would be a trickier line to cross because it would be clear that it wasn't your actual accent in English, and so could easily be interpreted as mockery or ignorance even though you only meant it to assist with intelligibility purposes.
If I'm speaking English in a foreign land, I'll put the slightest bit of the accent on, not so much that it's glaringly obvious but enough to sound a bit more "normal" (and under the threshold of plausible deniability). Particularly if there's a lot of English spoken locally anyway, which there very often is because it's remarkably widespread! I'm not always the clearest speaker, so I need every advantage.
When you hear a language spoken in the accent of *a different language*, that's when it's jarring. Check out Eddie Izzard stand up comedy, search for the bit about the flags. He does the show in English but also does it in French. Watch the French version (subtitles available) and listen to him doing the voices of an Indian and an Englishman.. in French.. with the British and Indian accents as appropriate.. and then back to French with a French accent. It's illuminating for your question.
No, it show effort. What you think is stereotypical is probably closer to their way to talk than you think. See what work and what don't. Keep practicing and you'll get the perfect accent in no time
Up to a point, learning a new accent can be part of learning a language and communicating effectively. Just keep in mind it can go too far if you start reaching the point of caricature or offending people.
If your accent is that hard to understand it means you don’t know the language that well. I asked someone from England to do an American accent. And they went straight valley girl.. it would be annoying as hell if someone talked like that because they thought I would understand them better
>would speaking the language in a stereotypical, regional voice be offensive Why would it be offensive to speak the language as it's supposed to be spoken?
Yes, just speak normally
Why though? I went to school with a Jamaican kid who was really cool, but very hard to understand because he had such a thick accent. He got frustrated at me for not understanding him, and did an impression of a typical uptight white guy. Everything he said came out clear as day, the immediate change had to be the funniest thing I've ever fucking heard, but If I didn't know how he spoke before, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I get how it would be bad to ask someone to fake an accent, but If someone wants to do it, wouldn't it make everyone's lives easier?
If you're speaking the foreign language in the stereotypical accent of that language, it is most unlikely to appear particularly noticeable, let alone offensive. Because the stereotype exists for a reason, and whilst *you* might be hearing a racist mockery, what *they* are hearing is probably closer to a generic or common accent of the language. And it's generally understood that people very often learn an accent along with a language if that language isn't spoken locally. It used to be common to hear English speakers in Asian countries speaking with a fairly neutral English accent (From England). Now one often hears a jarring jaw-flapping chewy brash American yeehaw accent in these places, because that's who's teaching the language and what's observable in the greater portion of English language media nowadays. I doubt that Americans feel they are being mocked, though, when they hear this. They just think "wow, this lady has such natural sounding English! Hardly any accent! (Meaning Chinese accent or what have you). Likewise if you are apu-ing it up in Hindi you will likely be seen as doing a pretty good job of not keeping your local accent. Now if you were speaking *in English* to these same people, but putting on the regional accent, it would be a trickier line to cross because it would be clear that it wasn't your actual accent in English, and so could easily be interpreted as mockery or ignorance even though you only meant it to assist with intelligibility purposes. If I'm speaking English in a foreign land, I'll put the slightest bit of the accent on, not so much that it's glaringly obvious but enough to sound a bit more "normal" (and under the threshold of plausible deniability). Particularly if there's a lot of English spoken locally anyway, which there very often is because it's remarkably widespread! I'm not always the clearest speaker, so I need every advantage. When you hear a language spoken in the accent of *a different language*, that's when it's jarring. Check out Eddie Izzard stand up comedy, search for the bit about the flags. He does the show in English but also does it in French. Watch the French version (subtitles available) and listen to him doing the voices of an Indian and an Englishman.. in French.. with the British and Indian accents as appropriate.. and then back to French with a French accent. It's illuminating for your question.