Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

Official?
Well, monolingualism, that is, the ability to use only one language, is
such a widely accepted norm in so many  parts of the Western world that
it is often assumed to be a world-wide phenomenon, to the extent that
bilingual and multilingual individuals may appear to be 'unusual'.

Indeed, we often have mixed feelings when we discover that someone we
meet is fluent in several languages; perhaps a mixture of admiration and
envy but also, occasionally, a feeling of superiority in that many such
people are not 'native' to the culture in which we function.

Such people are likely to be immigrants, visitors, or children of
'mixed' marriages and in that respect 'marked' in some way, and such
marking is not always regarded favorably.

However, in many parts of the world an ability to speak more than one
language is not at all remarkable.  In fact, a monolingual individual
would be regarded as a misfit, lacking an important skill in society,
the skill of being able to interact freely with the speakers of other
languages with whom regular contact is made in the ordinary business of
living.

In many parts of the world it is just a normal requirement of daily
living that people speak several languages: perhaps one or more at home,
another in the village, still another for purposes of trade, and yet
another for contact with the outside world of wider social or political
organization.

These various languages are usually acquired naturaly and
unselfconsiously, and the shifts from one to another are made without
hesitation.

People who are bilingual or multilingual do not necessarily have exactly
the same abilities in the languages (or varieties); in fact, that kind
of parity may be exeptional.

Multilingualism involving balanced, nativelike  command of all the
languages in the repertoire is rather uncommon. Typically, multilinguals
have varying degrees of command of the different repertoires. The
differences in competence in the various languages might range from
command of a few lexical itmens, formulaic expressions such as
greetings, and rudimentary conversational skills all the way to
excellent command of the grammar and vocabulary and specialized register
and styles.

Multilinguals develop competence in each of the codes to the extent that
they need it for the context in which each of the languages is used.
Context determines language choice.

In a society in which more than one language (or variety) is used you
must find out who uses that, when, and for what purpose if you are to be
socially competent. Your language choices are part of the social
identity you claim for yourself.

In Denmark there are people, fluent in the language to a remarkable
degree, who does never get rid of their foreign accent - even Danes who
originally come from a region in Denmark where the dialect is different
from the "standard Danish" do never get rid of their dialect at all, in
spite of their living in the "standard Danish" region, e.g. Copenhagen.
And they do not try to because of their veneration for their native
dialect. Somebody doesn't even think about changing it.

So why should a person who speaks fairly well English change the little
difference which might be left in order to hide his or her's origin?

I have never heard of that - you might be right - do you have a link
which substantiate this?

It's a lot harder to lose all trace of foreign accent than it is to learn a
language. Sounds you learned in infancy in one langauge keep coming back in
speaking another. You don't really hear yourself speak in a way that you can
compare to others, so you are often not aware of your own accent. And as a
non-native speaker you are often far less aware of nuances of accent in a
learned language than you would be as a native speaker.

Chris R

There are regional accents in American English, of course. I
don't know if it still exists as a social problem, but people
from places like Appalachia going to work in New York would take
lessons in Standard English. Not to mention the Canadian
accent,which some Canadians try to lose when coming to work in
American TV and movies, but don't seem to be able to totally
extirpate it.

On the other hand, a slight foreign accent can be a plus for
those seeking work in the USA. An English accent seems to be
quite desirable for those seeking work as corporate
receptionists.

Americanized Aussies seem to be able to do very good American
English, and it actually jars me a little when I hear Nicole
Kidman lapse into Strine.

Hugh Laurie's accent is pretty damn good. I had watches several
episodes of "House" before I found out he was actually English.

Here in Arizona Mexican-Spanish accents are a commonplace, even
for those who grew up fluently bilingual. It's quite acceptable
socially.

Like wise, I should think, for Charles Boyer.

I know how you feel but at the same time, at least when someone *else*
says it, this reminds me of the story of the poor tailor who's
discussing Rothchild with a friend.  "If I were Rothchild, I'd be
richer than Rothchild."  "How so?"  "I'd do some tailoring on the
side."

(Probably from Sholem Aleichem, but definitely in Fiddler on the
Roof.)

Who's to say the foreigners you know haven't already put in lots extra
to learn grammar, syntax, usage, and get rid of as much accent as they
have.

Last night on WAMU Old-Time Radio, 7 to 11 on Sundays at wamu.org,
Chester Riley's wife Peg agreed to give dinner twice a week in return
for French lessons, from Babs's high school French teacher.  Turns out
he was from Brooklyn and when he got angry he talked with a thick
Brooklyn accent, but no one would hire him to teach French until he
affected a French accent.

I can't imitate celebrities, but I can say any word just as others do,
and I could learn a foreigh language without an accent, pretty sure,
but when I'm starting out, when I'm in another country where that
langauge is spoken, I figure I'll get more help from others if I leave
some of my American accent.  I won't have to ask for help all the
time, they'll know I need it.   After that, it's hard to change.

On 4 May, 15:30, Ian Jackson <ianREMOVETHISjack...@g3ohx.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

That would be quite unusual, I think. I have known many northern
Europeans who can speak virtually flawless BrE or AmE (depending on
where they learned it), but the French always seem to maintain a heavy
accent, no matter how good their English vocabulary and grammar - take
the TV chef Raymond Blanc, who has lived in England for well over
thirty years, but still sounds like something out of "'Allo 'Allo".

Having said that, we once had a young woman (a friend of a friend)
stay in our house for a weekend, and only after she had left did we
discover that she was French - I would have bet my mortgage she was
Home Counties middle-class English.

Apparently she was obsessively Anglophile and for some unexplained
reason wanted to expunge her French identity entirely (again, VERY
unusual).

Mike M