AIBU to ask if the English are judgemental against people speaking improper English?

[ConfusedWife1234]

Hey,
I am not a native speaker and I always wondered how English people think about people who make grammatical or other errors when speaking/writing their language. So far most did not say a thing but what are they thinking?

Well I live in Teesside so quite frankly it's the other way... If you speak proper English you're frowned upon 😂

I don't think so and IMO it would be ridiculous to expect non native English speakers not to make the occasional mistake. I'm more likely to be impressed that they speak English as well as they do.

However, I am judgemental about some of the diabolical English spoken by the British ie such horrors as could/would/should OF instead of HAVE and the incorrect use of myself etc being two of my pet hastes

I know this might be controversial, but I think people want to learn English for 'soft' reasons, not business reasons. The 'soft' reasons being music, movies, art, TV, and yes, maybe even football. Speaking English is perceived as really cool and trendy in other countries not because of business, but because of music/art/culture/movies.

It's interesting how accents are perceived. Watch any American film from the 80s or 90s and anyone with a British accent is the baddie.

My native language is German and we have the English desease which is rickets (by the way syphilles is called the French desease), English salt which is Epsom salt and english porcellain which is iron-stone China. The british leave or british army leave is how it is called when a guy leaves a woman with a kid he does not provide for.

I'm a native German speaker but I have never heard any of these. I'm not from a part of Germany that was in the British zone though, maybe that makes a difference.

Hillarious
It's interesting how accents are perceived. Watch any American film from the 80s or 90s and anyone with a British accent is the baddie.

I was always fascinated by that - some of our very best actors got great roles because of it - Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard 1 and the Sheriff in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves instantly come to mind.

I think the same still happens today albeit maybe to a lesser extent, ie with Tom Ellis as the Devil in the brilliant tv series Lucifer on Amazon Prime.

just look at Stewie in Family Guy - he is pure evil and he talks just like Rex Harrison...

The English accent is always a giveaway!

And it was obvious Emily wouldn't last long in Friends.

English people often think that all foreigners speak English and that English is the international language. That's because we can't understand any other languages so just pretend nothing else is going on.

It's amazing how people will search for example bicycle hire in google maps in a foreign country and then say that there isn't anywhere that does it. It wouldn't occur to them to search in the language of that country.

English is a really difficult language, with some very silly and inconsistent grammatical rules. Meanwhile I have a limited grasp of 2 other, much easier, European languages, so I have masses of respect for anyone who learns English to a reasonable standard.

I definitely get irritated in the workplace when people use poor grammar. My team get corrected- nicely, but the point is that I expect a good standard. To anyone with English as a second language, I always try to help try explaining it as best as I can.

Your post looks very good to me!

Oh the irony!

*by explaining it...

English people can be lazy about learning other languages and snooty about how other people speak English, even if in the case of some US English words and sayings (such as "gotten") there is no really sound reason for such snobbery

I'm not bothered by people whose first language isn't English but I'm a little bothered by those that it is their native language.
I agree with this statement, but confess that I wanted to correct it too!

I have no problem with non-native speakers not speaking English correctly. I'm usually impressed that they made the effort. I'm not impressed by non-natives who have been here for a while, but still don't speak even basic English. I also cringe when natives speak (or write) English sloppily.

I get this when trying to speak French and its can be quite annoying when they know perfectly well you are using a second language and you know dammed well that you have made yourself sufficiently clear.

Poor grammar, whether it's written or spoken, grates on me like nails on a blackboard and I definitely judge the culprit.

Being useless at other languages myself, I am in awe of anyone not a native English speaker who knows even enough English to converse to a reasonable standard - let alone looking for perfection! I would barely notice if someone made a mistake when speaking/writing.

I would be looking to understand the jist of it, not perfection unless it was a situation which required total clarity (legal or medical for example) and then I would work with the person to ascertain exactly what they wanted to communicate rather than assuming myself.

To be honest I find it completely endearing when I do hear or see any errors.

@Igneococcus Just googled ricket and syphilis just to find out how common the expression English/French desease is. Does not seem to uncommon, look it up...

However the German wiki article on syphilis is fun. I translate in different European countries syphilis was called the Italian, French, Spanish, French, English or Scottish desease. Everybody is blaming it on the others lol.

How do the british call syphilis?

But maybe depends on what region you are from if the words are used.

lol we just call it syphilis...

Confused - just syphillis, no with country prefix 🙂

*with no

I don’t care. You can tell it’s not their first language and it’s not their fault if they’re not perfect at a second or third language.

I’m more annoyed when English people are shit at their own language.

@LemonysSnicket most people can tell English is my second language because of language not usage. I hen written down ,no one can tell.

I think people can always tell when I talk because of my accent... but I think people can also tell when people write... at least sometimes... because non native speakers make different grammatical errors than native speakers,