[Fwd: PRESS RELEASE: FAU Graduate Students Offer Speech Therapy Via Webcam to Republic of Rwanda Citizens]

[Mark P. Line]

Maybe it's more palatable to their Rwandan clients to hear "your English
is too British for the Americans" than to hear "your English is too
African for the Americans".

-- Mark

Mark P. Line
Bartlesville, OK (experiencing a heat wave at 19F)


Natalie Weber wrote:
> Thinking cynically here:
> Like Carlos and Mark, I doubt that a British accent impedes business in
> America. But I do know of Americans who have trouble with African accents.
> And African accent + British turns of speech would be even more difficult.
> I
> wonder if it would be more accurate to say that this "therapy" aids in
> developing a more American accent, no matter what English dialect you had
> previously learned, and is called "speech therapy" to make it more
> palatable
> to those who pay for the service? Many language courses do not emphasize
> natural pronunciation, assuming that "it will just come when you are more
> fluent", so I would imagine such a speech therapy service could be in high
> demand.
>
> No way of knowing for sure, of course, without partaking in the speech
> therapy course itself or asking the people involved. But this is what it
> sounded like to me from the description.
>
> --Natalie Weber
>
> On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 8:29 AM, Carlos M Nash <carlosmnash at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I find it absolutely embarrassing, frustrating, and depressing that, in
>> the
>> 21st century, this sort of philosophy is being passed on to future
>> academics. With the significant amount of British media accessed by
>> Americans on a daily basis, and exposure to different varieties of
>> British
>> English from British actors in Hollywood, you would think there would be
>> some negative indicator (e.g. lack or loss of profit) if there were
>> difficulties for the average American consumer to comprehend
>> non-American
>> varieties.
>>
>> In the meantime, I'll watch another 30 minutes of BBC News before
>> walking
>> to
>> campus in subzero temperature.
>>
>> Best Wishes.
>> ------------------------------
>> Carlos M Nash
>> Department of Anthropology
>> University of Kansas
>>
>
>