So effing rude!

[PhilipDT]

refused my tip

Am I supposed to be tipping the taxi drivers here? Maybe thats why they always try to run me down when i'm crossing the street....

 

[PhilipDT]

And I was treated badly by someone who laughed and derided my accent, which would get them the sack in many other countries because it's racist behaviour

How is it racist behavior?

 

[steveinbsas]

How is it racist behavior?

Because the United Nannies (UN) says so.

 

[igor]

And I was treated badly by someone who laughed and derided my accent, which would get them the sack in many other countries because it's racist behaviour.

When in a description of job position there is a line "Good communication skills are required" do you consider it to be racist as well? This is a common practice in "many other countries" (or in the USA at least) to get rid of foreigners. Well, unless their english is perfect. So this is believed to be just an evaluation of skills and presumably has nothing to do with ethnicity.

Sorry if it sounds too simple, but if somebody laughs at your accent and it bothers you so much, just improve your spanish. Take a pronunciation course. If you can not do it right now, hire a translator or a personal assistant who is a native spanish speaker.

The important thing is to realize that it is your problem. Just deal with it. Don't blame the Argentines.

 

[Celia]

I am pretty fluent in spanish....but it's nearly impossible to erase an accent. I didn't go to an English school but attended a French lycee full-time from 5-16 and I always retained an English accent as did the few other pupils of English parentage on both sides. Some people will always laugh at others and call them deficient, even when they're not.

 

[John.St]

right!! and who invented "colonization."

AFAIR it was the Greek some 2,400 years ago.

 

[michal1047]

Just remember.....in any other country that has native speaking spanish speakers.....and out side of Buenos Aires......THEIR spanish is the butt end jokes of most.....Hang in there, and remember your spanish in most cases is better than their English.....I have only a few times encountered laughter with my attempts to speak a language. I speak english, french, Japanese and a bit of Spanish....

Sick of government plebs who complain they can't understand my accent. Talking about the Registro Civil today...

No my accent's not great on the phone, fine, but I could tell the girl switched off as soon as she answered the phone and heard an "extranjero" - ugh how they hate extranjeros, I could tell she was holding the phone away from her ear in distaste.....they don't listen, don't try to understand....
today the girl laughed very rudely and said, well you'd better come down here because I can't understand a word you're saying! Of course when I asked why can't you understand a word of what I'm saying? she managed to laugh again and answer, so she understood that much!!!
They just hate foreigners and I'm sick of it....

In my country, we make an effort and if we don't, we get the sack....

 

[starlucia]

Try pronouncing "ball" and "bowl" in English in the US and Canada and see how well they can make you out.

THANK YOU for this (also, hi, Sockhopper! ) People seem to forget how easily mispronunciation can completely muddle a sentence's meaning. Koreans learning English pronounce "bees" as "peas", "sit" as "shit," "rice" as "lice," and "result" as "dessert." So an English teacher might know what they mean when they say, "Don't shit on the bed" or "Koreans eat lice every night," but the average American plebe is either going to be baffled, or burst out laughing.

In Spanish, stressing the wrong syllable or enunciating badly can completely change the meaning of word (esta vs. está, quedo vs. quedó, sábana vs. sabana, cana vs. gana.) It makes the speaker incomprehensible, and sometimes, frankly, people will find it funny. If your pronunciation isn't good enough to be understood and/or respected by locals -- improve it.

 

[Johnny]

THANK YOU for this (also, hi, Sockhopper! ) People seem to forget how easily mispronunciation can completely muddle a sentence's meaning. Koreans learning English pronounce "bees" as "peas", "sit" as "shit," "rice" as "lice," and "result" as "dessert." So an English teacher might know what they mean when they say, "Don't shit on the bed" or "Koreans eat lice every night," but the average American plebe is either going to be baffled, or burst out laughing.

In Spanish, stressing the wrong syllable can completely change the meaning of word (esta vs. está, no quedo vs. no quedó, etc.) It makes the speaker incomprehensible, and sometimes, frankly, people will find it funny. If your pronunciation isn't good enough to be understood and/or respected by locals -- improve it.

Exactly, though improving one's ability to speak a foreign language is more difficult for some than others. Not to forget, one of the main explanations for the difficulty many have with improving their diction is the 'ol tongue. It is not accustomed to the twists and turns necessary to switch languages fluently. Overcoming that takes time, effort and constant attention and many folks, particularly those folks learning a new language relatively late in life, just won't become very adept at the nuances of a new language. I know, my spanish stinks !

 

[PabloAriel]

THANK YOU for this (also, hi, Sockhopper! ) People seem to forget how easily mispronunciation can completely muddle a sentence's meaning. Koreans learning English pronounce "bees" as "peas", "sit" as "shit," "rice" as "lice," and "result" as "dessert." So an English teacher might know what they mean when they say, "Don't shit on the bed" or "Koreans eat lice every night," but the average American plebe is either going to be baffled, or burst out laughing.

In Spanish, stressing the wrong syllable or enunciating badly can completely change the meaning of word (esta vs. está, quedo vs. quedó, sábana vs. sabana, cana vs. gana.) It makes the speaker incomprehensible, and sometimes, frankly, people will find it funny. If your pronunciation isn't good enough to be understood and/or respected by locals -- improve it.

Although I agree with you, I'll only find it funny if I know the speaker, otherwise laughing at a foreigner pronunciation it's just rude, even more rude if the one who's laughing is the one who has to help you.