Swedish with an accent vs. perfect english
When I moved here from the U.S. 10 years ago, I was shocked to run in to many americans and englishmen who refused to or hadn't even bothered to learn swedish, despite living here 10, 20 even 30 years. Most of them understood everything that was said to them, but they always answered in english. I found this to be hyprocritical and disrespectful. Had the shoe been on the other foot, (a swede refusing to answer a person in english in America) the swede would have been harshly dissed and challenged to go back to where they came from.
I made a vow to not be that way and I studied SFI like all of the other immigrants and loved every second of it. I figured it was better to sound like a 5 year old and be respectful to the country I loved living in, than than to sound like the educated person I am in english and disrespect the swedes I had grown to love.
So I have simply done my best. I get around ok and rarely find myself in a situation where people do not understand what I am trying to say. Now suddenly, I am apparently a just babbling idiot. Would I gain more respect by answering everything in english a la Simon on Design: Simon och Tomas?
I can slow my speech down. Try to articulate better. No question that I can help the situation in that way, but the accent is here to stay, ladies and gentlemen! Would actually be very nice to just speak english all the time and let everyone else accomodate me. What a luxury that would be!! ...but in my opinion, a disrespectful luxury.
My heart has never been to disrespect the swedish language. In fact, the opposite is the case.
I made a vow to not be that way and I studied SFI like all of the other immigrants and loved every second of it. I figured it was better to sound like a 5 year old and be respectful to the country I loved living in, than than to sound like the educated person I am in english and disrespect the swedes I had grown to love.
So I have simply done my best. I get around ok and rarely find myself in a situation where people do not understand what I am trying to say. Now suddenly, I am apparently a just babbling idiot. Would I gain more respect by answering everything in english a la Simon on Design: Simon och Tomas?
I can slow my speech down. Try to articulate better. No question that I can help the situation in that way, but the accent is here to stay, ladies and gentlemen! Would actually be very nice to just speak english all the time and let everyone else accomodate me. What a luxury that would be!! ...but in my opinion, a disrespectful luxury.
My heart has never been to disrespect the swedish language. In fact, the opposite is the case.
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