Do you laugh when someone mispronounces an English word?

Answer 1

Most people would be offended. If I had the opportunity I would repeat the word in conversation. So they could get the proper pronunciation without feeling stupid.

If it was a friend I would give them a hard time about it.

Answer 2

What I do is I correct the person and teach him/her how to say it properly. Unless I do not know the person, of course. Whenever I hear other people (those that I do not know) mispronounce an English word, I think of the correct way of saying it. I just keep it in my mind. That way, I learn the things/words that are commonly mispronounced by people.

I do not laugh at them because I make mistakes too and I wouldn't want other people laughing at me in such situations.

Answer 3

No. English is not my first language, and I mispronounce English words myself.

And who decides on "correctness" anyway. There are many words that are often mispronounced in Filipino English (e.g., inventory, hippopotamus, elementary, capillary, talented, broccoli are typically accented wrong), there are problems with diphthongs, even "simple" vowel sounds (long ang short), there are difficulties with "F", "V" and "Z", and so on. What is perceived as correct may in fact be wrong, so it's presumptuous to ridicule or judge others.

Answer 4

no.,,and besides although Filipinos speak two languages Filipinos are good in speaking and very confident. Grammar is just a piece of matter as well as the pronunciation/. Laughing other peoples mistake isnt good. There a lot of people who mispronounced and really wrong grammar but its okay.,,as long as you both understand each other..

Answer 5

I admit I do half of the time. To myself, not for everyone to hear. But more often, I try to correct the person because most of the time they really don't know they are mispronouncing the word.

Answer 6

Depends on who it is...
If it's a British or American guy, deep inside I laugh my butt off, especially whenever George Bush is the one mispronouncing (Nuclear--Nucelar).
But if it's a guy who is trying to speak it as his second language... UNLESS, he insists that his pronunciation is correct and that everybody should pronounce words like he does.
I know this Indian guy who speaks pretty good English (with the usual Indian-curry accent), and he always pronounced DIARRHEA as "JARYA". This is despite repetitive attempts b my British colleagues to correct him... but noooooo in his mind, he's Peter O'Toole.

Answer 7

No because my mind is too busy trying to figure out what word they meant to say. I know my skills in a foreign language are very weak and I wouldn't want someone to laugh at my mistakes.

Answer 8

no, in fact, accents and mispronunciation is like music to my ears,i love to hear them as it makes me feel i'm in a place of "melting pot" of different cultures. i just ask or can distinguish where that person originated.
but there was this one incident where i really laughed out till i nearly died,i was going to a certain place and my ex wife asked a gift on my return, a PENK TIDY BEER,of course, as muslims, i know it was not the alcoholic beverage she was asking, but something else, after a long explanation, i finally got it, a PINK TEDDY BEAR!

Answer 9

I'll laugh if it's someone I'm close to and can correct. But if it's someone I should be treating with more respect then I don't. If the way they pronounce it is offensive in any way, it's quite helpful if you say something like, "I believe it's pronounced ____".

Answer 10

No, I don't...unless they tease me about my accent first.
I don't think that teasing Arnold Schwarzenegger for his mispronunciations or accent is funny either.

I don't think many people recognize how difficult it is to learn another language and try to speak that language perfectly. In most cases, it is virtually impossible, because the original, native language patterns have already been set.