It's not what you say, it's how you say it
By Ai Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-28 10:01
 |
Large Medium Small |
I remember once when I asked Eddie, my English ex-roommate, whose wedding he was going to attend over the weekend, he answered, "ma soeur". Only he couldn't roll the "r" in the French way, so it ended up sounding like "ma sir".
To me the "r" sound in French isn't tremendously hard to pronounce.
"You don't want an English accent when you speak French," I argued.
Eddie defended himself by saying he wanted to be original. I was amused and shocked at the same time.
Accents are actually very interesting. I converted from a very American English accent to a very British one after studying in England for a while. Partly because I found that people I talked to found it difficult to comprehend why I would have an American accent in the first place, seeing as I had never actually been to the United States.
And sometimes the unspoken thought I heard was - why American of all things?
Of course, the reason couldn't be simpler, as I pretty much grew up immersed in US pop culture, and while learning English of course you simply pick up an accent.
After all, nobody really wants to speak English with a thick Beijing accent.
So, after several months in England, I decided to change my accent so that I wouldn't upset people. The process was a lot of fun.
I remember listening to a Hugh Grant interview about his movie - or shall I say film - Bridget Jones's Diary, and he talked about Texas actress Renee Zellweger's wonderful job of speaking with an English accent in the movie.
"She did well, but at first when she spoke it sounded like she'd had a stroke," he said.
I will always remember that. I know Hugh's getting on a bit, but to me he will forever remain a charming hottie with irresistible charisma and I just love him for that posh accent he has. That alone makes him miles sexier than other stars. I know you'll laugh but that was also part of my motivation to adopt a British accent.
Back to Eddie and his I-speak-French-with-an-English-accent, he'd probably be happy to find some kindred spirits if he heard the "accent-inbetweeners" over here. I've heard so many people, who are painfully serious about trying not to sound Chinglish when they talk, but as they haven't found their ideal accent they just end up sounding fake or pretentious.
You can hear that type of accent in too many places, but particularly on TV, which is really torturous when all you want is to sit down and watch the news, but end up having to change the channel because you can't stand watching something serious with the voiceover sounding like they are in a portentous melodrama.
Anyway, back to Eddie's story for last time. A week later I saw him in his sister's wedding photograph, looking lovely in a kilt - the "homme" is Scottish.
For China Daily
