to consider taking accent reduction classes?

[Lilylo]

Hi everyone! I would love to hear impartial opinions on this.

I am originally from Italy, hence Italian is my mother tongue. I moved to the UK a couple of years ago and I have been working FT in a high-skilled job ever since. DH and I plan to settle and start a family in the UK (he is British). Prior to moving to the UK I lived abroad for several years in English speaking environments/ workplaces (US, Hong Kong, Beijing, Copenhagen), therefore I am pretty fluent in English.

I am often told by British colleagues and friends that my English is really good, but I still feel very conscious about my accent. I admit it is probably not terribly strong and most native English speakers understand virtually 99.9% of what I say, but you can still tell I am not a native English speaker.

For some reason lately I have been feeling more and more conscious about this "flaw", up to the point that I am thinking about paying £££ for accent reduction classes, in order to get rid of my foreign accent for good and possible sound a bit more native.

AIBU to spend £££ on getting rid of my foreign accent? If you are British, do you mind foreigners who are fluent in English but with an accent? If English was not your mother tongue and you have an accent too, how do you feel about it?

Many thanks for your comments!

I'm also a linguist, and I honestly would not have sussed from your posts that you weren't native British. So I am guessing that you have no problems communicating.

Don't have accent classes. The only drawback to having an accent is that it gets a bit boring being asked where you're from, and always being 'other'. But that equally applies to a Scot in England, a Brummie in Cornwall, etc.

Papa Dolmio? What about Monica Bellucci!

I think that if you're fluent it really doesn't matter. I like accents and find them charming. I actually think foreigners with very good english accents (like a lot of dutch and german people) can sound quite strange - because they're almost right but not quite and you can't quite put your finger on why. At the end of the day accent reduction classes only take you so far - I don't think it's possible to be taken for a native speaker either in terms of accent or understanding of idioms when you learned a language as an adult. But what a great achievement to have got to where you are. I think you should be very proud, not embarrassed.

What are you on about re the Italian community? I've not spotted any negative perceptions!

Do you feel that the current Brexit convos are resulting in anti-(mainland) Europeaner feelings? I hope not...

An Italian accent isn't a flaw if it isn't stopping you being understood. In fact it's probably a nice feature that makes you more interesting.

"What are you on about re the Italian community? I've not spotted any negative perceptions!"

Well, let's just say I was asked a couple of times whether I was in the UK to work as a waitress or as a cook after revealing I was from Italy..

Also some (British) people could not believe I was Italian because I was fluent in English and "Italians are well known to speak broken English".

Honestly don't do it! There is no point and it could even be counterproductive - if you have a perfect accent people will judge any grammatical lapses more harshly. I speak fluent Italian but still sometimes avoid words I know I will get wrong eg double consonants (damn you penne/pene ). If there are any words you consistently get wrong, learn those but don't change your whole accent!

I am in Italy btw.

OMG, Lily I'm sorry that you've met so many utter idiots!
On behalf of my country, I apologise!

And it's awful that Brits are saying that Italians are bad at speaking foreign languages

Arf at penne/pene

I agree with you. The locals cannot understand much of the rubbish you are put through because they don't have to endure it.

Yes, it is often the case that you are treated as "inferior" just because you have an accent and the most irritating thing is that that kind of behaviour only comes from the less educated segments of the population (the ones that immediatly assume yoy are in this country "stealing" their taxes).

I think Italian is a beautiful accent to have but if you would like to tone it down, you can try Get Rid of Your Accent App.

I understand the urge - I used to have a Brummie accent which draws a lot of assumptions, and I made a conscious effort to lose it because I was sick of people thinking I was thick, or even just mocking it "Buuur-min-gum"

People who don't have a distinctive accent (compared to where they are) will probably only ever see the plus side of sounding "exotic" but there's a significant advantage to just blending in. You shouldn't HAVE to take accent reduction classes, but I definitely wouldn't judge you if you choose to. It's the same for people who argue that teaching grammar is elitist - patois may work in some walks of life, but it can erect some rather large barriers too.

I actually understand how you feel and why you'd want to get rid of an accent that makes you stick out from the crowd. Contrary to what other PPs may think (and I'm guessing these would mostly be native English speakers), being different isn't always that great. Sometimes you just want to blend in, especially in a work environment, where you would rather be known for your skills rather than how you sound.
If you're feeling self conscious, it may help you. It might not get rid of the accent completely, but it may soften it a little.
I'm Portuguese btw, have lived in the UK over 25yrs, and though I'm often told I sound more English than most English people, I'll sometimes be caught out, especially when tired. And I know it shouldn't matter, but it does because that's when you get "oh, you sounded strange then? Where are you from?" And suddenly it's no longer about me, but about this bizarre exoticism they would like to attach to my person.

IME, the Italian accent is very easy to understand. And Allegretto has a point - I also speak Italian (though not fluently any more, sadly) and I try to steer clear of potential double entendres as well. Nobody likes accidental pene...

Rise above the idiots and allow yourself an internal giggle when they order larrrr-tays and cappucin-ohs

Can you get coaching to change it to a Geordie accent?

(;

Yes, it is often the case that you are treated as "inferior" just because you have an accent

its so true, I often deal with telephone stuff for DP as I have fairly educated accent, and they treat him really badly as they think he is Papa fucking Dolmio
I hate that bastard family

its easy for me the be flippant, but I know if what you speak

you do what's best. I think its a shame though

We have a large Italian community here (not London but I believe it's the highest Italian population o/s of London) and they aren't perceived negatively AT ALL.

Keep your accent and stop listening to nobbers

If you have the money and it would make you feel more confident, then of course you have the right to spend it as you choose. But personally I think it would be a pity - an Italian accent is gorgeous! And your writing indicates that your English is extremely good so please don't worry on that front.

I've got a slight accent too. It mainly comes out if I'm tired. I used to feel very self conscious about it but I don't let it bother me anymore.

Unless you've got an accent, I don't think you can fully appreciate why you would feel self conscious about it. The main problem is that some people seem to think you're opinion isn't worth as much and will start talking over you.

I went on a professional development course recently this and became very clear. A young woman on the course, very bright and highly skilled, had a strong accent (but her English was perfect). She was talking when suddenly a white, British, middle aged man started talking over her. She turned to him, gave him a stare and said "I'm sorry, but I think I was talking" and continued. It made me chuckle watching her shoot him down like that, I wish I had the balls to do it too!

Sorry....I also think this thread is bonkers.

You've just been unfortunate to meet a few sterotyping arseholes...they definitely don't represent the average view of the British person.

You definitely shouldn't throw away part of your heritage for a few whining Brits. If you're 99.9% fluent then you probably speak better English than some English people.

Plus....what is an 'English' accent? It varies massively across the various parts of England...

Be yourself. Celebrate your heritage and culture. Tell people who ask you if you're a waitress to fuck off.

I really wouldn't bother. If you are very fluent in English and can work at a professional level in a language that is not your mother tongue and be easily understood then you already have most British people's genuine admiration for that. To totally iron out any trace of your own accent is unnecessary and it's a bit of a shame that you feel a need to do it.

I won't tell you not to, but I will tell you you really don't need to. It won't gain you anything at all if your English is as good and as understandable as you say it is. And people like to hear a bit of national character in someone's accent, it's charming.

Problem is, what accent do you choose? In my opinion, a natural-sounding accent that gives away your Italian origins would be far preferable to a faked 'standard' English accent. It is really far preferable to sound like yourself, since your English is fluent as far as I can tell.

Non-native English speakers from countries (Germany, Italy) that have a poor view of dialects and hold up a 'standard' version of their language as the norm tend to misunderstand that English does not really have a standard accent, not any more anyway. The closest thing would be a neutral American accent but even that would mark you out as a 'Yank' when you are in the UK.

I do understand the frustration of always being asked 'where are you from? / are you Italian?' when you are fluent though. It gets old having to always answer the same questions and tell people your life story. I learned German to a high degree of fluency and if I ever gave away the merest whisper of an accent ever I would get the 'Are you from England?' question (which was even more enraging to me because I am Irish ). Eventually my accent got better but I still got asked 'Are you from Denmark / Sweden?' or even 'Where are you from in Germany?' because they couldn't place my accent. So you will get asked these questions no matter what!

I don't know why you would want to sound like someone else - are you ashamed of being Italian?

If not, why try and erase your own voice?

If so, why? We are born where we are born, no credit or shame to ourselves.

I think the reason why I feel so strongly about this is that I fear speaking with a foreign makes people perceive me as less "capable" than them.

I really wouldn't worry about that, honestly. It's what you say, not how you say it. So long as people don't really struggle to understand you it will make no difference.

It might be true that sometimes British people have certain preconceptions about some nationalities where we (rather stupidly and wrongly) assume they may not be as educated or as capable as we are, but I don't think Italian is one of them.

I've just spent a lovely day on the weekend working with an Italian woman. She speaks fluent English, although she does have a very apparent accent.

In the past, I worked in finance, where people from all over Europe worked in small departments. Nobody was concerned about losing their accent and for me, it was great to hear so much spoken diversity.