Job Discussion Forums

[rocketboy]

What's the story with Chinese students believing Americian English is the only correct form of English and they can only understand the English of North Americians and not from say like the Brits and Aussies. Have they ever been to the southern states of the USA, try understanding their accents with that southern sounding vocals. Students told me if they were to visit the UK or Australia it would be a problem because these people don't speak correct English. In my experience traveling around Australia didn't encounter problems speaking in my mother tongue English, we all understood each other but maybe it's different for Asians.... What if for an example a Chinese persons who has studied English and has to do business in English with a European do they have to speak in American English to be fully understood or bring in an American translator?

[Brian Caulfield]

In the two and half years I have been here , I have found it the opposite . They want British English . They like the eletism of British culture . In China Beijing Chinese is the standard for them . So they think that London is the standard for English accents .

[7969]

[thrifty]

Perhaps your students are just telling you what they want you to hear.

No accent is neutral.

[andrew_gz]

"Perhaps your students are just telling you what they want you to hear."

You're probably right.

My experience tells me they haven't got a clue.
Try this if you get the chance.
Get a colleague with you from another country.
Ask the class if they can guess where you are from.
The results can be unintentionally hilarious.

[sheeba]

[Gregor]

I simply want to ask the OP to please use correct punctuation, i.e. question marks after questions, full stops (periods) after statements. That post is VERY difficult, and even more annoying, to read. The use of commas would be nice as well, but I may be opening up a can of worms, judging from the writing sample. Commas may well be quite beyond the scope of the poster, so don't confuse the issue more with those. Just try to distinguish between questions and statements.

[Steppenwolf]

Expressway, Interchange, Tapestry - look at the textbooks (and VCDs) and you know why they think they "prefer" American English.
Then there are the TOEFL exams. In the past you would automatically want to acquire an "American accent" because you had to pass the TOEFL.

This has changed a bit since the IELTS has come to China, and since some schools have adopted the Baccalaureate International diploma as high-school leaving cert (that opens doors to European universities). When the IELTS came to China many U.S> Americans sounded aggrieved. But their sorrow was premature - most students never make it at either the TOEFL or the IELTS.

[prof]

[cj750]

One international school in Beijing just fired a Australian teacher due to her accent..and then hired and American..as per the parent's request...

I have often told Chinese that they would stand a snow balls chance in he!! of understanding my kin...also the text book (as Steppe sez)..American ones are so expensive..but the BI program has done a lot to secure the English in there language struggle in China...

One school in Changchun use to advertise "Pure North American English" and only hired Canucks and Joes....they did pretty good with that "pitch"

Funny thought about the southern dialect..if applied while learning Chinese ..it will help the pronunciation of the tones...as the drawl naturally occurs where the tone would...

[jammish]

[daodejing]

It's funny, after travelling around Asia I met a lot of Brits and Aussies (I'm American), but they were backpackers and obviously not a cross-section of those cultures. I got used to their accents, but only later did I realize how muted they were. The Brits were pretty close to standard, and the Australians had been gone so long their accents had totally morphed into something else. Then I heard the John Howard, Australia's p.m., talking on the radio one time...man he has a thick accent...I guess that goes down well there. And when I heard interviews with "regular" Londoners...wow...I never knew you needed so few consonants to speak English...I had a little trouble understanding.

English came from England, so I feel like we should use their standards. Just like how the US invented basketball, but then when we play internationally the key is mis-shapen. What's up with that? We invented the game and have to play on court with the lines in different places? I'm half joking there; it's kind of a shallow argument.

Besides, the (standard) British accent is much more pleasing to the ear than the American accent, as both North Americans and Brits mostly agree. If the North American accent is easier to understand, I agree with others that it's probably because of pop culture.

[ghost]

[laodeng]

James Naismith. But I have the impression that he created the game after he had immigrated to the U.S.

[tw]