to hate people who put on an accent when they say a foreign word?

[JustAHolyFool]

It really grinds my gears. I was talking to someone the other night and he started talking about the "bella figura" thing in Italy, but every time he said "bella figura" he said it in an Italian accent.

Dreadful.

I speak German but if I say, I don't know, Doppelganger or Reichstag or something, I don't put on a German accent to say it.

My best friend also does this, trilling her r's like a good one if she mentions anything Spanish.

Why is it so annoying? Is it annoying? Is it just me?

After living in France for seven years I'm finding the accent does creep in when I'm saying a French word in an English sentence but I think it's because I've spent so bloody long trying to get French accent do I font sound like a twat here.

I do it the other way as well though. I cannot bring myself to ask for a sheezburrgerr or gouldun verrginia so the English accent comes out.

Oh shit, do I come across as pretentious to the French? I always thought I just came across as a bit of a nob with shit french.

The problem isn't that some people are trying to pronounce a foreign word with the accent of that country.
The problem is when they are trying to do so but are still using their awful english accent whihc then makes it completely not ridiculous both for english speakers and from the people of that country.
Take someone who speaks the language well and properly, then it's a very different matter imo.

dreaming, I think Paree might be pushing it.

Les Miserables is pronounced as you read my name. The les on the end is silent. Makes me scream when BBC presenters call it Misera - blay. They should know better.

just - erm, yes, that was my point!

Some simple folk like me would like to know which 'English proununciation' you'd like us to adopt for French words, since there's no consistent way to choose which one to use?

Being of simple brain, I quite like the fact that everyone can make a (crap) stab and a vaguely French accent and say 'crosson' or similar.

Trying to say it with English pronunciation - is it 'croy-iz-ont'? 'crow-izzent'. 'cruise-saint'?

Have pity one me and let us and do shite French accents and know where we stand.

Cother I am afraid you probably look pretentious to the the french... but you will always have the getting out card of being english so that it's normal for you to say it like this (But that will be a clear sign you aren't french if that makes sense?)

I think it depends on the word.

I would pronounce choritzo as choreetho, jalapeno as halapenyo, Bon Marche (can't get the accent over the e) as bon Marchay because they are the correct pronunciations and not to do so sounds wrong to me. I also pronounce Riesling as reesling, fajitas as faheetas and pinata as pinyata because do give them the English pronunciation would make me sound ignorant and uneducated.

I would pronounce Paris as Pariss and Barcelona as in the song.

For those that haven't heard it - please listen to footballing thug Joey Barton's French accent

Okay noted

I'm English. My Grandmother was Spanish. I say Chore ith oh and pie ay ah, it's the way I was dragged up. Can't help it and don't really give a damn about how wanky it sounds.

When we were at school learning Spanish and French they made it clear too us how important the accent was. We were FORCED to say stuff in a foreign accent which I just don't get. I mean foreigners don't speak English in an English accent do they? I don't get it. Although it does sound ridiculous speaking French in a Yorkshire accent

They do, though. I was on the bus the other day with a bloke speaking some language (I don't even know which one but something Slavic I think) and every now and again breaking into a lovely English accent to say 'Chesterfield' and 'Doncaster'.

Oh pants. Although I'm fairly certain the use of infinitives with forward or backward circling hands may give me away before the English accented words come out.

YAB(a little)U,
Or I'm a twat!
I can't NOT pronounce
paella as pie-ay-ya
Chorizo as choritho
And
Jalapeño as hal-a-pen-yo

Twattish tendencies perchance?

"I mean foreigners don't speak English in an English accent do they?"

Some do. We have an Indian friend who was born and bred in India, but went to university in Sheffield. He sounds nothing like those callers you get from Indian call centres. we have a Danish girl at work whose English is perfect. You would never be able to tell that she wasn't English.

I have a French DH and we (dcs and I) take great pleasure in pronouncing French words in an exaggeratedly English way to wind him up - something like croy -ssont, for example. But we always say 'money' the way he does - munnay'.

Poor man. I'm not really sure why he puts up with us.

He, on the other hand, pronounces sheep/ship or sheet/shit so that they sound exactly the same. He genuinely cannot hear a difference.

I get where you're coming from OP but now I'm in a quandary!

I think people who pronounce words in a foreign accent are wanky except when they pronounce croissant or jalapeño and maybe a few more.

My dh is Italian but has a plummy English accent and when he pronounces Italian words he does it in Italian with the correct accent so why does he sound wanky to me? And it does wanky! But he's Italian! It's not fair.

I have fun with those when I'm teaching English Sonia. One of my students said to me "I very tired because my arse is to big to do all the cleaning. It is one whole day to clean all of it". To me ages to explain why the aspirated 'h' is so important in English.

*too. I am qualified - honest!

This reminds me of the time French DH tried to order done 'cheezy bread' in a restaurant in France.

'Blah blah blah et un cheezy bread'
'Pardon?'
'Un cheezeeee brrread'

'Un sheeeezeee brrrreade'
'Ahhhhh, oui, très bien'

Goes both ways....

Dawn I'm not talking about the correct pronunciation I'm talking about putting on a dopy accent.

Cother

My DH apparently now has an English accent when he speaks French. I can't tell because he sounds French when he speaks English, which he does 99% of the time these days.

Last time we were in France a woman in a shop congratulated him on his excellent French. He was horrified that he sounded like a Brit. The kids thought it was hilarious.

When I studied Italian at uni I learnt that bruschetta is pronounced 'brusketa' and Moschino 'mos kino.' Now that I know I can't help pronouncing bruschetta 'correctly' even after the waitress "corrects" me. I don't use wild hand gestures though, or insist on the sing song accent. Does that make me wanky?!!

I draw the line at asking for 2 cappuccini though, or one panino.

My mum once had a stand off with a waitress insisting bourginnione (sp?!) was pronounced (bogey-nun).

I live in Spain and probably sound very wanky here. I WILL NOT call Zara 'thara.' OTOH it drives me mad when people say cher-itso. Always has done!

Cother - I live in France too and I also dislike using French pronunciation of English words. I had to ask for a "broo-nee" at the bakery the other day, which felt so wrong.

My pet hate though is things like 'un smarties' and 'un chips'...the s gets my goat!

Otherwise on the general topic, I do think that where its clear someone is using the foreign pronunciation just to show off it is U, but if they speak that language well or are of that nationality, its not necessarily U, could just be what comes naturally to them.