Thoughts on accents
When you went to school in Germany, you probably had English lessons from at least fifth grade. So you’ve started to learn British English, at least that’s what they’re telling you until you actually go to Britain or another English speaking country and find out what you’ve learned in school is basically just vocabulary and grammar — pronunciation? No way. You’ll be speaking English with a German accent which sounds kind of like someone who’s got a brick in their mouth instead of a tongue. I really don’t know if that’s a good comparison but if any native English speaker ever heard a German trying out English for the first few times he or she probably knows what I’m trying to say.
I mean it’s not like there’s no hope! Spending a few months in an English speaking country will most certainly fix that and you will take on the accent that is spoken in whichever country you’re visiting. And there is a lot to pick from! As said before, if you visit England you’ll learn what some people call the ‘real and proper’ English. Then there is Scotland, Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and so on.
In all of these countries native people speak with slightly different accents or in some cases, like New Zealand, the differences are a little bigger.:) A lot of people have adapted what they call a Kiwi accent. Some critics say it’s due to laziness of the Kiwi’s. I don’t know where that came from but that’s just dumb. In every language, also in German, people seldom speak the same way they write. Even the prime minister John Key fully embraces the accent.
So I don’t think there is the ‘real’ way of speaking English, rather a lot of options to choose from, however you like. And it’s a good thing because language is definitely part of culture and that should be preserved, to a certain extent at least. A lot of people in various countries define themselves over their accents and that’s great. Because most people still try to be individuals and do not want to be like everyone else. And what world would that be if everyone was like the other?
