Spanish speakers... what accents sound nice?

Question

Why is it that when an American tries to learn a language and has an American accent it is because we "haven't learned the language properly and aren't making enough of an effort to pronounce things correctly" and it's an insult, yet when someone has an accent speaking English, it's interesting and the "best they can do"?

I've been reading that Americans who speak Spanish with an American accent sound funny... are there any accents that sound nice in Spanish?

Answer 1

Colombia supposedly has the most neutral Spanish accent, although I think Mexican Spanish is close, because I can't really distinguish the two. Other dialects sound funny to me; Iberian Spanish is so lispy it sounds ultra-feminine, and Caribbean Spanish drives me crazy without pronouncing S. Argentine Spanish is pretty, but it does kinda sound like they're speaking Italian.

As far as foreigners speaking Spanish, based on what I've heard, there are no good foreign accents. It just goes from ok to awful:
Ok accent: Portuguese, Italian
Poor accents: French, American English, German, Swedish
Bad accents: Asian languages, Slavik languages
Awful accents: Australian English

Maybe it was just the Australians I met, but their accents were so bad that it hurt my ears when they spoke Spanish; even most of my Mexican friends joked they couldn't understand word that Australians said, in Spanish or English.

Answer 2

French accent when speaking Spanish sounds nice and can even be considered sexy. Italian accent with Spanish too, but I live in Argentina where there're a lot of words from Italian, so I guess it doesn't count.
And I don't think that people who speak Spanish with English accent haven't tried enough to learn the language. It's really tough to get rid of one's native language accent. It takes a lot of practice...

Answer 3

Our opinion of someone's language or accent is based on our opinion of that person. Any language or accent isn't necessarily "better" than another unless we say it is. That means if someone says that an accent is bad, it's really a reflection of the fact that they don't like that person. Likewise, saying that an accent is good is a reflection that they like that person.

As a result, you will hear both kinds of opinion about the same accent. The value isn't in the accent itself; it's a judgment placed on that language by the listener.

This is why it bothers me so much when people on Yahoo! Answers complain about people's languages, dialects, and accents, because it's really a reflection of just how much prejudice is out there.

Answer 4

I know American people living in Spanish countries for years, and still have the accent. Same happens with Germans, etc.

The reason is the phonetics, in which an individual from the learning stages absorbs and hardly can are corrected.

Answer 5

Personally, I think it's really sexy when Americans speak Spanish with an American accent.

Answer 6

in my opinion spanish from spain it self is as good as it gets , there's some kind of myth that explains why they speak the way they do and it's because an ancient king had a problem when he spoke and the people imitated his way of speaking so he wouldnt think they made fun of him, so the king was convinced it was ok to talk that way , i also like the argentinian accent influenced a lot by italy , but my favorite is the one i have ...chilean accent is a combination of fast pace spanish from spain but with out the lil problem the king had on his tounge.

Answer 7

Italians. I love their accent when they speak spanish

Answer 8

Italian girls speaking Spanish....sound beautiful.

Answer 9

yes, all the spanish accents sound nice, but my favs are from spain and costa rica. sus accento suenan tan sexy!

Answer 10

castillan accent sounds the best.