Native English speakers: Please give me some feedback on this question.?

Question

Do you have the tendency to correct somebody's pronunciation or phrase usage if that person you're talking to has an accent that's not from English speaking countries (like Britain, US, Canada etc) even though he or she might be fluent in English?

For example, if you are an American, you would probably understand it when a British says "rubbish" (as oppose to trash) but would you correct him/her by saying, "Oh, you mean trash?"? Are you more likely to correct that person if he/she is from a non Western country, say India or China?

I guess this is more about communication between peers or coworkers rather than client or managers because it would be inappropriate to do so for the latter. But I am just curious if native English speakers would unintentionally assume that non native speakers are not as good in the command of the language, thus, more likely to correct them despite their fluency in English.

Answer 1

No, I would only correct English if it was grammatically incorrect . I would only do this with someone who is a friend or I feel comfortable with. Learning English, or any language as a second language is difficult. It takes a lot of effort and confidence to attempt to speak with native speakers. I wouldn't want to discourage someone who is trying.

Answer 2

I would say it depends on my own fluency. If I know that rubbish is another word for trash then I have understood the communication and there is no need for correction. If they say a word I do not recognize and, through questioning, I determine that they are talking about trash, I would correct them. If the pronunciation is poor (or at least unintelliable to my ear) I might ask if they mean trash.

I have a tendency to speak louder if I am talking to non-native English speaker who I am having difficulty communicating with. I realize this is not particularly helpful so I try to not to do this. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

I'm not a native English speaker, but I can't tell you how many times I've been corrected because people think I haven't been speaking English for half of my life.

Answer 4

I would not correct someone's English, unless they asked me to, or I was having difficulty understanding what they were attempting to say. I guess in that case it would be more of a clarification than a correction. I find it rude when others correct me, so I can only assume everyone feels that way.

Answer 5

I only correct people's English if they pay me. Sometimes I point out that a particular usage isn't common to all varieties of English, if I think that information would help them in some way.

Answer 6

This is a negative. If I know what they are saying then I do not really care how they pronounce it. People I know use words like rubbish and they are not trying to sound British or anything. They are just synonyms which can be used to create better variety in speech patterns.

Answer 7

I dont know if they are really correcting you maybe they did not understand what you ment by rubbish, and they were just saying that to make sure you were both talking about the same thing..... And i dont really think i ever correct anybody unless its really bad grammer for instance using ain't

Answer 8

Absolutely not! People are perfectly free to use any slang or idioms they like. It makes conversation more interesting.

Even if someone speaks English poorly because they're still learning it, I would never correct them unless either they asked me to, or if I don't understand something they said.

Answer 9

No i wouldnt correct them i mean if they say trash then thats what they are used to its natural for them.