Do you prejudge people who have accents?

[True2marie]

For a few years, I worked in the customer service department of a major insurance company. What bothered me about some of my co-workers is their judgement of callers with accents. They assumed many negative things about them.

I tried hard NOT to follow in their footsteps.  To  me, it's unfair. 

[pandandesign]

I don't because I have accents when I speak English. I don't see the point of being prejudice because people have spent a lot of time learning a new language and worked so hard to get to know the language. I would just appreciate how well some people speak the language even though they're not born in the same country.

[FatesWing]

I don't think it's that I judge, but rather become excited for the possible interaction that may follow. I love talking to people who may not be from where I am from and who have a whole other bundle of experiences that they're willing to show. I would encourage people not to prejudge those with an accent. Talk to them as you would with anyone else and see what you can take away from the experience

[Hardison]

I don't think I prejudge people with accents. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding some people with accents especially if they speak fast. I do hate to keep asking them what they said.

I do think some accents are very sexy. I don't know if that counts as a judgment or not.

[True2marie]

To add to this topic, I really think that people who hold onto stereotypes often prejudge people who have accents.

They determine how a person is based on surface factors. As a result, they miss out on discovering who the individual really is.

[brothainarms]

To add to this topic, I really think that people who hold onto stereotypes often prejudge people who have accents.

They determine how a person is based on surface factors. As a result, they miss out on discovering who the individual really is.

I really agree with this.  I mean, if you already head into a conversation with someone new with a prejudged idea of who they are as a person, I feel like you're automatically setting yourself up for either disappointment or losing out on the opportunity of meeting someone new.  The accent of someone can also add to this, and in my opinion doesn't add anything positive or negative to someone's personality.  It just gives you more information about where they may be from!

[DaBlink182]

To add to this topic, I really think that people who hold onto stereotypes often prejudge people who have accents.

They determine how a person is based on surface factors. As a result, they miss out on discovering who the individual really is.

Yea I was thinking the exact same thing. Prejudging someone based on an accent falls into the same category as using stereotypes to judge someone in my opinion.

Sometimes it might be hard to look past stereotypes because of bad experiences with that language and culture, but it's best to just leave it and talk to them like you would talk to anyone.

[dorannmwin]

Though I will admit that there are some times that I am guilty of doing this, it is something that I try not to do when it is possible to avoid it. The reason that I do not think that we should judge people because of their accents is because of the fact that we all have an accent of some sort.

I really started to notice this as I got a little bit older and I noticed that I sound a lot different from much of my family when I am talking. The difference is that I have always lived in the south and they are northerners.

[Peninha]

To be honest, one of the things I love about languages is the accents. I think the accents show where we are from and they give a bit of salt to communication, they make it better. So the answer to the question made would be yes, I do prejudge, but on a positive side, not a negative one.

[Trellum]

I don't at all   Since I have an accent as well, and I actually feel much better when speaking with someone who also has an accent, because I know that english isn't his/her mother language either.  My accent isn't very notorious tho, only with some words. But in general isn't (I've been told that).

I try not to prejudge people in general... accent or no accent   I think we live in a society that prejudges too much.  That's why things are going so wrong nowadays.

[sidney]

No, not really, I don't really judge people based on their accent, but I judge people based on their attitude. I think that it would be unfair if you judge people by their accent, at the most if you have negative opinions about it or if you think that it's funny then you should just keep your thoughts to yourself.

[Baburra]

I agree. It's not really a good measure of someone's knowledge or intelligence, so I doubt it can serve much purpose beyond just an initial impression. Accents are very hard to correct, so even a person who is well versed in a certain language can have trouble when it comes to this. I still catch myself doing this sometimes, I have to admit, but I correct it immediately.

[Rosa]

I consider it very unkind to prejudge people who speak with an accent . Somehow, I take an interest in  listening to people of different accent speak  . I must confess though that I sometimes miss a word or two but I still happen to figure out what they want to say.

[devilishomar]

That's not really the case with me. For me, if I come across a unique accent I immediately think it's cool. So it's sort of like judging someone based on their accent, but it's slightly different than that.

I don't judge people to be of a bad class based on their accent, I produce nothing but a good (or nothing at all) impression based on their accent .

[Astdua]

Not really, it may shock me a bit at first, because it's something out of the ordinary, but I never have any negative feelings towards people with accents. If anything, accents are very interesting, there's a sweet story behind each one, an explanation and a sort of enigmatic mystery, so I would like to learn more about accented people.

[True2marie]

I am happy to hear how many people feel the same as I do about prejudging others because of an accent. Hopefully, it's not just specific to the individuals on this forum. The world is becoming more diverse and as humans we have to learn to tolerate each others' differences better.

[lovemwaf]

I would have to say that i do. I think that the way someone speaks says a lot about them to be honest. I think that it depends on what kind of judging it is though. I think im more on the stereotypes and as the conversations progress, it is easier to not judge them so much and take it easy on them and get to know the real person.

[Daimashin]

Usually people that speak with an accent are thought to be pretentious especially when it's not an accent that is supposed to be used by that person. I don't prejudge if it's how they are taught to speak but some that pretend to speak like an American when clearly they are not irks me sometimes.

[lizbeth19hph]

It's not nice to prejudge people who speak with accents. What if they are real native speakers who talk in such a way? But if you know that someone is trying hard to speak with an accent, that's another case. That one is pretty annoying.

[justusforus]

I know those who do pre-judge based on an accent and there are times I have asked "how many languages do you speak?".  Often times this will quiet them down when they realize the person they are judging knows more than they do.  Actually, I find most accents intriguing and many people find accents charming.

[kristinaw]

I don't judge people who have accents. I think that is ridiculous. You have to be fair to everyone.

[sos]

It is unfair to judge people for something that they have no control over in this case accents. For me whether someone has an accent or not for me it does not matter. The reason is simply, I am dealing or talking with a person not their accent.

[TheHandThatThieves]

I must admit that, on occasion, in the back of my mind I will make a slight judgement when talking to somebody who has one of the "less pleasant-sounding" British accents, even though I know I shouldn't. As just about everybody in this thread has said, it's a terrible thing to judge someone for as they have no control over it. Linguistic prescriptivism applies not just to written language but to speech as well and is something that should really be avoided.

[caparica007]

I don't think prejudging is a bad thing, I think we all prejudge people with an accent, we locate them in a region or a country due to the accent. I think this is what make languages so beautiful, we all speak them at our own way.

[TheHandThatThieves]

I don't think prejudging is a bad thing, I think we all prejudge people with an accent, we locate them in a region or a country due to the accent. I think this is what make languages so beautiful, we all speak them at our own way.

Well yes, but I don't think that's what the OP was getting at. It was my understanding that "prejudge" here refers to making judgements of their intelligence or personality (for example), which isn't a good thing...