it's unacceptable to to mock someone's accent

[nottooimpressed]

I've lived in the UK for almost 30 years and I speak 5 languages fluently. Yet, despite having a top degree from a UK uni and having worked in the UK for decades, I still have a very strong foreign accent and I find the pronunciation of some English words challenging, for example "paw", "wood" etc... My kids (UK born and with perfect British accents) mock me frequently and yesterday, when we talked at dinner and I said something about walking in the "woods" I got mocked again and I exploded. It's not the first time I got upset about it but yesterday I really had enough. I found it so offensive that kids would mock their mother about her foreign accent and pronunciation (the same mother who taught them to read and still helps them with their senior school essays...) and that my British husband did nothing about it and let them do it. I often meet Scottish or Irish people who keep their strong accents despite being in London for decades. It seems acceptable. Why is my accent laughable then? What is acceptable and what is not? Am I too sensitive or are they behaving like little twats? What does it say about my husband?

It’s a very English thing I think to make fun of other people just for not having an English accent.

Clearly the issue here isn’t your accent, either that or you’re hugely sensitive. Feels more like a build up of things. I don’t live where I’m from and there’s often wordplace banter about accents, including mine.

@EternalSunshine19 it is that deep when OP doesn't like it, she told her family to stop and they keep doing it.

Would you say the same if they laughed at her for being a woman, or something about her physical appearance, or the colour of her skin?

It's irrelevant what you and your partner do. OP doesn't like it.

Although I am not from a different country I am from a different county from my husband and boys. My accent is significantly different and sometimes I use different words for things.

I get mocked mercilessly from all of them. If you can't beat them join them!
My lads and Dh have a very strong northern accent and when they are dishing it out to me I am straight back at them with stereotypical northern comments such as 'oh shut up and sort your ferret out' 'Back from t' pit I see' and other nonsense.

I know OP, that you said you can't say 'paw' . I can never say 'Shut up' I sound like Joe Dolce when he sings 'Shaddup your face!' ( google, if it is well before your time!!) I get 'What's that mum, Shad.......what?' and so on.

My office has 5 different accents, including American, Scouse and Geordie.
The banter is good natured and everyone cops for it. We all give back what we get.

Are your kids being deliberately malicious and what are they like behaviour wise. Personally as I said I join in and mock back and don't take it as being disrespectful or a personal attack. If you don't want to do that you need to explain rather than explode at them and give them a deep dive as to why you are upset.

The main thing is if YOU don’t like it then they should have enough respect not to do it. End of discussion.

I like this approach. It's no use getting upset in front of your cheeky teens. You've got to keep the upper hand and be a bit above it all then they won't find it so funny. They have found your weak spot and are poking as annoying teenagers do. Whenever mine get cheeky with me and act as if I don't know anything important, am old or whatever, I just heartily agree and add something like 'I know I'm ancient, but I love the fact that I'm not GenZ' or 'I love my greying hair, it's sooooo Cottgaecore' or something similarly ridiculous and usually they just cringe and laugh and it is all light hearted.

Could you try flipping it? When they laugh at you saying 'paw' wrongly you just ask them to teach you. Then you keep saying it wrong in lots of different ways and keep going until they get fed up with it and move on. You can add, 'oh, pleeeeease teach me, I really want to learn, let's try again' and you say it exaggeratedly wrong again. You can then conclude by saying 'well I tried my best but it is hopeless, what use is being able to say 'paw' in 5 languages if I cannot pronounce it received pronunciation?' Just exaggerate and annoy them back. It all sounds too serious, it needn't be in your own family.

I remember a monolingual work colleague once started making fun of a customer's accent and level of English (after the customer had gone) and my response to him was just "Remind me how many languages you speak again?". Oh just one? Eejit.