Leaderboard

Many language speakers have one accent or the other; has anyone been mocked or laughed at because of your accent and how did it make you feel? How easily did you fit in after the mockery? At work, with friends or on a holiday.

Sorry to hear you were constantly mocked for your accent. You should try visiting as much foreign countries as you can I think because British accents are appreciated in a lot of places and I'm sure having a much more "posh" type of British accent will only endear you more to the foreigners. I have heard french people are very particular about the accent used for their language to the point where many dislike Quebec accent which I guess is a little bit understandable in some ways but I don't think it's right to discourage people from learning a new language just because of it especially since it's a way of showing appreciation for the language and culture.

I've been having this experience quite often now that I'm in Japan, trying to find work or converse with people. In interviews, I am absolutely terrified of messing up my speech...so much in fact that I go into vapor lock and can't think at all. Naturally, this looks incompetent to the person doing the interviewing. Everything in my mind either downgrades to baby babble or to English. When I'm angry or stressed, I can't help but switch to English. The exclamation of curse words in the mother tongue provides waaaay too much relief. I have a French-Canadian friend who, though adept in Japanese and English, will immediately go to French and "breathe dragon fire"--as we call it. Seriously, I've tried this not too long ago. I sounded like a dying cat and ended up doing more laughing than being angry. Needless to say, the issue was mitigated and I decided I should probably practice expressing anger in front of a mirror first hahah.

Absolutely. As a matter of fact, scientific studies have demonstrated that when someone is feeling angry or upset, their pre-frontal cortex shuts down, as the lower limbic systems override decision making processes. So in other words: your rational mind literally shuts down as your emotional mind takes over. Furthermore, the areas of the brain responsible for language are heavily interconnected with the areas of the brain responsible for reasoning. So what happens to me is that I switch immediately to English and start berating whoever I'm talking with in an upper-class English accent x.X