My daughter just returned from a one week stay in St. Louis and said she got roasted for her Texas accent. All of it good natured of course, but she just couldn't understand it.
If you have an ACCENT how are you treated?
by ChrisVance 47 Replies latest jw friends
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G Money
Those are just losers in academia. When I was little, I spoke like a Spaniard and confused the Mexican people. Now I speak like a Chilango!!! I don't "look" hispanic and never have any problems.
Those people are jerks. People in Mexico are much more gracious about people learning their language as compared to America.
For kicks when I drink I'll talk Spanish as a Cuban or Spaniard and am getting better with my South American accents.
Everyone pegs me as Mexican when I travel so I've stopped fighting it. Now I just say, yes, I'm Mexican, from Chiapas.
Oh, and where are you in Mexico? You wouldn't happen to be in Guad, Mich or Q. Roo? I go between those places alot. -
talesin
PS. These guys are being IDIOTIC ACADEMIC LANGUAGE SNOBS and I'm really pissed off they are doing this to you!
You have worked too hard to have them treat you this way.
Keep on keepin' on, my friend, here's hoping your thesis advisor can help!
talesin
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Mac
But, what about a Canadian that sounds like she's from Jersey?
mac
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avishai
Thank goodness I'm an actor who discovered dialect tapes and can screw with peoples heads.
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Mac
Thank goodness I'm an actor who discovered dialect tapes and can screw with peoples heads
. Yeppers...... that's a noble aspiration... mac -
Mamacat
Oh no Chris :( I am sorry about your thesis. I am sure you spent a lot of time on it, and that just sucks! I hope you can get credit for it.
I don't have an accent except on a few words. I grew up in Baltimore, and it took me a long time to realize that nobody actually pronounces the name of the city like "Bawlmer" except those that live there. My parents are from the applachians, and my mom says "Worsh" instead of "wash" and "orange" as one syllable instead of two. I did too until I got teased for it, so I've fixed it over time. The one word I can't say at all: roof. I just refuse to say it because either way I pronounce it, I get funny looks.
I talked to a friend on the phone I met online who lives in Texas, and I honestly could not understand half of what she was saying. I really tried too, and I think I offended her. :( When I lived in Germany, we got cable stations from the UK...it took me a while to figure what was being said..especially if they talked fast. -
ChrisVance
Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm in Puebla which is about 75 miles east of Mexico City. Poblanos have their own particular accent. One taxi driver, who is from Veracruz, told me that it's a joke among those who live in Puebla but are from other parts of Mexico that Poblanos can only speak among themselves.
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love11
It sounds like you're a stranger in a strange land. But you know... come to think of it, American's in general do the same to hispanic people when they come to the US. The person with the spanish accent is probably not going to fair as well in the job market as a person who was born in the US.
I used to live in East Chicago. It was all hispanics or black, me and the politician's wife were the only white people in the neighborhood for blocks and blocks. They treated me like crap. They had the attitude, who do you think you are? Like just because you're white then you must be rich, stuck up, and conservative. It's too bad because the school system there is horrible. Most of the children hear English for the first time in kindergarden. They could be reading books in spanish yet because they didn't know english they would have low test scores. The government is paying top dollar for teachers to go into that neighborhood and help those kids because no one wants to do it. That no child left behind plan that Bush has is crap. The school was put on probation and told if they didn't show an improvement then they were going to replace all of the teachers. The school got wise to this. My daughter got an A+ her first semester their. However, the teacher told me in private that they are not allowed to give out any A's the first semester because they want to see an improvement. Like a B the first semester then an A the next semester. I was fuming. I told her, "You mean to tell me that my daughter rightfully got an A, but you're not going to give it to her because you need to show Bush that the school is making an improvement!!!!". She said you didn't hear it from me, and I wouldn't recommend talking to the principal about it because some other mom did that and they had to move because the kid was being harrassed so bad. Also, the politics there is crooked. After we left to move to Michigan, I heard about the fbi arresting alot of the politicians there in the Times.com.
Sorry I got a little off of the subject, but I just wanted to let you know that there is racism in all colors. It's funny how people just want to look at how some white can be racist but they don't want to see that it goes on in their own race. I married a mexican man and his mother secretly hates me. But you can still tell that she wished her son would have married a nice hispanic girl. Oh well... what are you going to do, I'll never be hispanic and I'm not going to feel ashamed that I'm white just because they have a problem with me. My suggestion to you is- go to your school and act like you don't notice everyone's racism. Act like you are loved by everyone, eventually they will see the real you and not be superficial about the color of your skin.
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ChrisVance
Love11, when I first read your post I thought I wasn't talking about race; however, after thinking a moment really there is a racial element. I've spent all my life priding myself for being non-rascist. If someone made a rascist remark I've always been one to take issue with it. However, after living in Mexico for two years I have a little different attitude. I hope I'm not rascist, but at the same time I have a lot more understanding as to why rascism exists.