I’ve tried learning a few languages but one thing that’s always puzzled me is whether you should or shouldn’t pronounce words in a relevant accent. My mate who speaks a few languages says you should and not doing’s disrespectful, but i feel really awkward aping pronounciations and feel more comfortable learning the words (where possible) even if they’re not phonetically accurate.
This is me being stupid, isn’t it? I’ve been thinking about trying to learn Catalan. I’ve been watching a couple of programmes and it seems an incredible language, but so far out of my comfort zone. Guess it’s a case of…ignorance vs embarrassment, eh. If i teach foreign mates English words they’d pronounce in their own accent, but as an English-speaker i’m wary of doing that.
What’s correct? Do accents not develop over time? Does it depend on the language? Is it just a matter of pronouncing words correctly versus not doing? Would, say, a Catalan person not be offended by a monosyllabic Brit butchering their mother tongue?