My dad has a strong German accent (quite often he is mistaken for being a Scotsman lol). It's not the accent, it's the attitude of people. If you take the time to listen, and listen carefully, with 100% attention to the person speaking, you'll find that you can understand them better. Maybe not perfect, but better. I used to work with a lovely Scottish girl who had a lovely, but very strong accent and it took me a very determined month to really catch on to everything she was saying. After that, I had no issues. True, in a random encounter, you don't have that opportunity, but still, I see many people having deliberate issues with accents.
Dave
PS for some reason people keep asking me if I'm a New Zealander or Irish - probably because I roll my vowels, much like you would in Gaelige in many instances.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AstralTraveller
There is nothing harder to shift than an ingrained accent, especially a Scottish accent. My grandmother arrived at the age of 14 and lost her accent completely. Grandad arrived at 18 and never lost it. He died at 84 and was still so broad that my wife had trouble understanding him. I also know another family where the older children never lost their Scots accent but the younger ones sound completely aussie. My German mother-in-law arrive when she was 20 and still has a bit of an accent but not that much. (With her you can understand the words - just not the logic  And, yes, my wife would agree). |