How come Americans make fun of foreign accents?

Question

im in middle school and im having a hard time making friends because of my accent, sometimes i dont talk at all so people will not notice it. it hurts my feelings when im not looking and they would giggle. its cruel and i dont know what to do, is there anything i can do to lessen my accent?, i don't hear my accent...when i talk but when i recorded it i heard it.

well i lived in Canada(for 6 months ) before going to America and i didnt experience any problem there. i guess the town i live in now is very ignorant.

i live in a town where theres really no one like me ethnicity

Answer 1

Just be yourself, You want to make friends that like who you are, dont try to be different to make friends. Thats wrong. If they are laughing behind your back, thats not the kind of friends you would want anyway.

Answer 2

Hey there, first of all, I apologize for the ignorance of the people who are making fun of you. The same way you experience this problem with the way you talk, I experienced it because I walked with a limp. It is ignorance and bad parenting. Most parents don't teach their kids that it isn't OK to laugh at others. It happens to adults as well.

Until the American culture changes and parents teach love and not hate, it wont change.

I know there are audio Cd's that will help you understand the American accent and you can practice with it. Look for it on the Internet... it is called "American accent training"

good luck and I love people with accents... many people do!

Answer 3

Im from maine we have a heavy accent there and we make fun of it ourselves. I have since learned to say car rather than cah, but I'll be honest I make fun of my own accent along with others. My wife is Indian and she makes fun of her own as well. The key is not to get bothered by it and maybe make fun with them if you feel comfortable. People every where can be mean and will be its not an American thing its a people thing were not perfect. Forgive them and try your best. Whatever you do though, even if you learn to talk without your accent, dont loose your accent. The key to learning any accent is try finding a phrase that you can say like that accent say it over and over until you can start talking like them then make fun of it too but only in a nice way.

In Christ
a friend who has felt the same before

Answer 4

U should not be ashamed of ur accent. I'm not American and I don't have an accent, but there are other reasons that I know what ur talking about and how u feel. I have learned that what I do and what I like is me and no other person is exactly like me. So, u shouldn't be ashamed or try and change ur accent. Actually, if I were u, I would talk even more. They probably jealous or ignorant.The best thing to do is ignore them and be proud of who u are.

Answer 5

Looks like you are from India from ur name. I had a firend by that name - santhan.
I have worked with some indian people and yes they have a different accent but they speak good english - Grammatically right.
and ur in America - here everyone has different accent.
White speak different, mexicans speak different, asians speak different and blacks speak differently.
since Indian population is sparse, many people have not heard this accent before.
dont feel low. Boost ur self esteem. ur here to learn, do ur work and get out!
try to make friends with people who undestand u. talk abt this problem to ur teachers - ones you can approach. u must be smart academically, win friends with ur wit.
and always say - its cool these days to have a different accent!

Focus on ur studies, style and "being cool" is good for 12-17 years age range.
if u have ur degree, u have work, if u have work u have money and status and thats what u need.
President Bush is an American and still all americans are blaming him. i dont understand what he is trying to say when I hear him speak, so u dont have to worry.
Goodluck.

Answer 6

I'm sorry about that. Alot of Americans are complete idiots when it comes to those diffent than themselves. I have couple of of jerks like that my school. Once we had some foreign exchange students at our school, (They were from Germany) and they had very noticeable accents and some people laughed behind their backs. Finally those of us that knew better than to laugh demanded how many languages they spoke.

Anyone who studies a foreign language has a huge amount of respect for anyone who can speak another language, accent or not. Your accent will probably fade slightly with time, if your surround by people without accents. Of course, everyone has one to another group of people. Like I live in Missouri, and when I go see my Dad's family in Vermont, they say I have a Southern accent, but when I go see my Mom's family in Louisiana, they say I sound like I just came from New York. Go figure.

If you want to try and lessen you accent, though I say the problem is the people that make fun of you not your accent, you could just mimic the pronouncation of actor in movies ot TV shows you like when you watch them. It worked for me when I was studying French and trying to lessen my American accent.

I hope things get better for you, and I hope those jerks realize how wrong they are. Good luck

Answer 7

Awww sweetie...you know what you're really supposed to do?? Talk as much as you want! Those kids are really misrepresenting Americans and I hope you don't believe that's how we all are. If anything they should be interested in where you come from and asking you questions about your country...I'm sorry they are like this but high school will be better they will be a bit more mature. Be proud of who you are and never shut your mouth for anyone just because they pick at you...just excel in school and show them that you can do just as good or even better than them and they will be silently humbled..

Answer 8

Sadly a lot of people (Americans or otherwise) like to make fun of things that are different. TRY not to let them know that they are getting you down. That just adds fuel to the fire. With luck, before too very long they will stop.

As for eliminating your accent there is probably voice coaching available that would help you smooth it out. Good luck.

Answer 9

It's unfortunate that you're around people who make fun of your accent. You must hang around with people who aren't used to being around bilinguals.

I live here at southern California and it's actually disadvantageous for you if you only know one language. Here, accents are tolerated.

What's ironic though is that you won't be able to get rid of your accent if you don't keep on speaking in English. Just keep on practicing and forget about them.

Answer 10

We make fun of "domestic" accents, too. For example, I'm from Rochester, NY, where people have a very distinct way of prounouncing the letter "a." When I went out of state I got laughed at for this all the time. Then there was this dude I knew from Texas... man, we picked on him all the time! Don't take it too personally. Learn to laugh at it yourself.

Answer 11

My dad's father and mom spoke ideal cockney, which comes from East London, not the Dick van Dyke version from 'Mary Poppins'. Londoners are extra probably to make relaxing of yank stupidity, lack of expertise of geography, president, overseas coverage, etc. than the accent. that is less difficult to make relaxing at Indian accents as 0.5 of england's call centres are in India.