[Ailist] FW: Dialiect Coaching (no quoted material)

[Chuck Craytor]

I would agree with Roger's last remarks. I occasionally hear people ask how
is it that I can understand so well people who speak English as their second
language and yet have a very strong accent influenced by their native
language. It comes from the experience of working with people of diverse
cultures and a strong desire to understand. 

Additionally, it does help to have some understanding of the relationship
between a person's native language and culture of that language. The
linguistic structure of one's native language and culture does influence how
we relate to others regardless of what language we might be speaking at the
moment. If our desire and commitment to understand is strong enough, we will
find a way to bridge the gaps in understanding, however. 

Chuck Craytor


-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Davies
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 8:05 AM
To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: [Ailist] FW: Dialiect Coaching (no quoted material)


Just to make the point that there is a big difference between dialect and
accent. As an Englishman in America I had terrible trouble getting people in
NC to understand my name. Of course it's hard to write in an accent but when
I said may name in an English accent it drew blank looks. When I eventually
got through and heard the local pronunciation it still sounded perfectly
understandable to me but obviously very different to them. Maybe I was used
to hearing many different accents as the UK has the same breadth at least as
the US and separated by much smaller distances. I suspect people brought up
in cities or who are widely traveled will have less of a problem
understanding different accents.

Dialect however is a different use of words and colloquialisms. Here in
Minnesota the accent issue is almost non existent. However my 'six of one
and half a dozen of the other' translates into the Minnesotan phrase of 'A
horse a piece'. My experience is that when you registers a blank look all
you have to do is explain or reframe what you mean in different terms.
Eventually you get to understand and it becomes quite fun. 

I was brought up in Yorkshire in steel mill and coal mining country and my
Grandfather had a very strong accent and dialect. I spent my college years
on the east coast of England which has a strong Viking influence. I remember
hearing a radio broadcast about language with an extract of a guy speaking a
very strong dialect from a village on the west coast of the UK where I'd
never been. It was a mixture of Yorkshire and Viking and I understood it
perfectly. Apparently people from that region have made themselves
understood in Iceland without knowing a word of Icelandic.

My advice would therefore be to find people who had roots in very
multicultural societies or were very well traveled. I think it's more of a
desire to understand and communicate thing than it is a linguistic issue.
There are many more ways of communicating that language. 

Roger ( or Rarrrgerrr as they'd say in NC!!)