Delightful!

Loved your post! It made me laugh heartily.

grammar for english teachers not important?

Hello. I agree with Talia. Of course an English teacher should have grammar skills. Would a math teacher not have math skills?

I am also with Talia,in that, what is the point of listening to someone you can't understand? Grammar is important. Accents not so much, as long as the person can be understood.

I once got yelled at a job because I couldn't understand someone on the phone who had a very thick accent. Seems backwards thinking to me.

As a person born and raised in Boston, I still understood people in California and Missouri and now in New York - an American accent is still not the same as someone who can barely speak English. When I first met my husband, who is Spanish, there were sentences I didn't understand and at first I thought he said something very nasty. By the way, he, who is Spanish, but born in America, believes that English teachers should be grammatically correct. So it is not a matter of anything but logic and common sense.

Quality writing Susan.

Quality writing Susan. Congrats on being blog of the day. When I travel to the US nobody understands me when I ask for water - my kids laugh and tell me it sounds as if I am asking for washer. Accents----------tell me about it! m

arizona

much ado about nothing

arizona only reiterating the federal laws that aren't enforced. Where is the sympathy for the dead rancher, the dead family, the kidnap victims, the destroyed property, the extreme drain on states' (all states) resources?

new

You know, I used to think that we in Wisconsin didn't have an accent. Then I met a woman who was from the opposite side of the state and realized I was wrong. My accent has Minnesota influence and her's has Michigan influence. Yep. We have an accent too! This is one hilarious post. Arizona can take a flying leap! Anyone who speaks out loud with their mouth has an accent! And honestly I think it comes out in nonverbal ways too sometimes.

accents

Susan,

I enjoyed reading this post. It’s hilarious. But it’s true that we are all masters of our own language.

This afternoon, I was at the “Sakuragicho” station in Yokohama. When the tape ran for announcements in the car, I heard the same native Japanese speaker pronounced “Sakuragicho.” The speaker has a weird accent. This drives me nuts. A funny thing was that I noticed today that on the same tape, “Sakuragicho” in the English version was closer to the standard Japanese accent. It was ironic that the English speaker had an American accent.

From ministers to announcers on television, most of them, even though they were born in Tokyo or Yokohama, have accents. The other day, I went to listen to an amateur French-songs concert. All performers and audience were Japanese. And one woman was singing about “Wasi (Japanese rice paper).” I didn’t know why she was singing about Japanese rice paper. I thought it odd. Later, I read a pamphlet and found out that she was singing about eagle. They are both wasi with different accent. I told a friend of mine about it who went with me, but she was quiet about it. I think she didn’t notice. Japanese ears are trained not to notice differences in accents. That was a big issue a few years ago when I gathered a reading group for my play.

Anyway, the day after the concert, I talked with the organizer. I told her about the French song and pronunciation of wasi. She said she was busy, so she didn’t notice it, but that singer used to be a principal of a school.

After my 35 years away from Japan, the language has changed so much. And whether I like it or not, if the majority sings “rice paper” to mean eagle, that’s the way it will be.