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Old 04-24-2011, 11:35 PM
 
4,135 posts, read 10,782,060 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
Most of us have travelled or frequently travel to countries other than our own. Unless we are wearing our country’s flag on our chests, the people who see us almost always assume we are of nationality X. Sometimes their guess is accurate, but often it is not.

What I am wondering is: do you often get mistaken for a nationality other than your own, and if so, which one?

The way you look, the languages you speak and with which accents, and which country you are visiting, often has a big influence on this. This is why it is useful to describe oneself.

Here is my description:

Actual nationality: Canadian

Racial appearance: generic Caucasian

Languages and accents: French (native) with a Quebec French Canadian accent; English (close to native) with generic Canadian accent and very slight French intonations; Spanish (non-native, accent really good and somewhat misleading, giving impression I know more than I actually do)

Specific situations:

Anywhere in the world where people speak French (France, Switzerland, Belgium, francophone Africa, etc.): immediately identified as a native speaker of French from Quebec/Canada; although on very rare instances I have been asked in France if I am from Belgium or “the provinces” (e.g. rural areas) of France itself

In English-speaking Canada: I generally fit in quite well as a local, though some people regularly clue into my slight francophone accent; interestingly enough, when with family and friends and speaking French between ourselves, every once in a while English Canadians will ask us what language we are speaking – and when we answer French some even ask if we are from France! The likelihood of this happening increases as you move further and further away from Quebec.

In the United States: in the parts which are heavily travelled by people from Quebec (coastal Maine, Vermont, Broward County, FL), most people quite easily recognize us as being French-speaking Canadians from Quebec; they are often pretty good even at picking us out from the way we speak English and also how we dress I guess.
Elsewhere in the United States (not as heavily travelled by Quebecers): most people are somewhat clueless about where we are from, and we probably pass as generic “foreigners”, vaguely European, but perhaps not since we know how things work in America much more intimately than most visiting Europeans. We are probably a bit enigmatic.

In the main Commonwealth countries (UK, Oz, NZ): I use my English there, much of my French accent soon fades away, and to most people the notion of a distinctive French Canada is a bit abstract, so most of the time people seem to think I am American because of my North American pronunciations and vocabulary.

Non-anglophone and non-francophone Europe (Germany, Sweden, Italy, etc.): Probably a bit enigmatic there as well ; people in these countries see a lot of visitors that don’t speak the national language and use rough English as a lingua franca to communicate with them. My guess is that I often use bits of English, French and Spanish to make myself understood (depending on the language skills of my interlocutor), that I am probably lumped into some type of “generic foreigner” category people have in their minds. If they are really good in English and attuned to accents, they may perhaps lump me in with Americans.

East Asia: lumped in with the generic group “Westerners”

Africa: lumped in with the generic group “white people”

Caribbean and Latin America: almost 100% accurate recognition of who we are in places like Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, etc. A bit enigmatic elsewhere – not always lumped with Americans for some reason in this part of the world.
Being trilingual is an advantage; why worry if the person gets your home location correct? I live across the border in the Buffalo NY area and your English would give you away to most people here , just as ours gives us away in Canada (like simple differences in pronouncing some words, as "about" ). I think most people would also assume here, if you were speaking French, that you were Canadian -- not many French come from Europe. If you were speaking Spanish, then it might be more of a tossup -- we do hear quite a bit of Spanish here, from many areas.

I make an attempt in Montreal to be polite and ask directions or order in my (very rudimentary) French ; if I fail to be understood and go to English, the native French speaker knows I tried, and the result is generally a better exchange than if I started with English. The same when I am speaking to someone who is a native Spanish speaker, no matter where I am.

Why on earth does it bother you that people think you are from a "different" place? Just tell them you are French-Canadian.
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Old 04-26-2011, 09:07 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,785 posts, read 37,774,664 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant View Post
Being trilingual is an advantage; why worry if the person gets your home location correct? I live across the border in the Buffalo NY area and your English would give you away to most people here , just as ours gives us away in Canada (like simple differences in pronouncing some words, as "about" ). I think most people would also assume here, if you were speaking French, that you were Canadian -- not many French come from Europe. If you were speaking Spanish, then it might be more of a tossup -- we do hear quite a bit of Spanish here, from many areas.
(...)
Why on earth does it bother you that people think you are from a "different" place? Just tell them you are French-Canadian.
I never said it bothered me. I was only asking the question for fun!

As for the average American and even many Canadians (especially true when you get further away from Quebec), I am not sure that the majority of them can distinguish between French, Spanish, Italian or even other languages casually overheard in strangers' conversations in a public setting.
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Old 04-27-2011, 10:22 AM
 
170 posts, read 767,303 times
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some people told me that i would look like a " lighter skinned Hispanic", "Southern European/Mediterrean" or "Middle Easterner". I'm Caucasian, however, my grandfather was "mixed white/black" this is probably the reason, why I have an "olive complexion"
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Old 04-27-2011, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Flanders, Belgium
268 posts, read 875,919 times
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When I'm travelling with my closest friends, people sometimes try to understand us. Not easy for them, because we speak a dialect called "Limburgs". It is dutch with german influences (words like "ich", instead of "ik", the dutch "I".) Limburgs is also a lilting language (like Scandinavian languages)and spoken by 1 to 2 million people.

Anyway, others think we are from Germany or Holland.
And Istanbul, we came from Sweden.

Last edited by 2360039; 04-27-2011 at 11:56 AM.. Reason: language
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Old 04-29-2011, 08:18 PM
 
4,135 posts, read 10,782,060 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
I never said it bothered me. I was only asking the question for fun!

As for the average American and even many Canadians (especially true when you get further away from Quebec), I am not sure that the majority of them can distinguish between French, Spanish, Italian or even other languages casually overheard in strangers' conversations in a public setting.
I understand that you asked as "fun". However, many people basically assign a "caste system" based on accent and some isn't too pretty. My mother, born and bred in a very upperclass area of Brooklyn in the 1920s & 30s, went off to a good job in the mid 1930s and never saw her speech as unusual. However, even if you were lace curtain Irish (my mother was 4th generation in the country, had a father who was college educated and she had been educated at private, not public, schools), your speech was not that of the snobs of Manhattan that you worked with. My mother was appalled at the rude way people treated her and mocked her "accent". She made very sure that I learned to speak unaccented English.
42+ years ago, I moved from NY/LI to Buffalo. No one ever could place where I was from.... the most consistent question was "Are you from Canada?".... on listening to the rude way people from the NY/LI area generally spoke & made themselves obnoxiously known, I understood what my mother had endured... and I bless my mother for teaching me to speak without an area dialect.

Personally, I will take unaccented speech any day.

Last edited by BuffaloTransplant; 04-29-2011 at 08:28 PM..
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Old 04-30-2011, 10:38 PM
 
Location: Southern Minnesota
5,984 posts, read 13,371,284 times
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I'm American, and I get mistaken for Canadian when I'm in the South or Lower Midwest. When I'm overseas, people just assume I'm American.

I can always pick out French Canadians when they speak French -- the accent is very distinctive. I can also tell a Quebecois accent in English, but not all French Canadians have that accent -- some just sound "normal" to me.
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Old 05-02-2011, 07:44 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,785 posts, read 37,774,664 times
Reputation: 11561
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant View Post
I understand that you asked as "fun". However, many people basically assign a "caste system" based on accent and some isn't too pretty. My mother, born and bred in a very upperclass area of Brooklyn in the 1920s & 30s, went off to a good job in the mid 1930s and never saw her speech as unusual. However, even if you were lace curtain Irish (my mother was 4th generation in the country, had a father who was college educated and she had been educated at private, not public, schools), your speech was not that of the snobs of Manhattan that you worked with. My mother was appalled at the rude way people treated her and mocked her "accent". She made very sure that I learned to speak unaccented English.
42+ years ago, I moved from NY/LI to Buffalo. No one ever could place where I was from.... the most consistent question was "Are you from Canada?".... on listening to the rude way people from the NY/LI area generally spoke & made themselves obnoxiously known, I understood what my mother had endured... and I bless my mother for teaching me to speak without an area dialect.

Personally, I will take unaccented speech any day.
I can appreciate all of this, but it seems to be an entirely different topic from that which we were discussing.
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Old 05-03-2011, 03:39 PM
 
4,135 posts, read 10,782,060 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
I can appreciate all of this, but it seems to be an entirely different topic from that which we were discussing.
Not really. You were discussing how people were mistaken for nationalities while travelling. If I go to Canada, in Ontario I am sometimes figured for American/sometimes for Canadian. Where I live, I am often (for over 40 years) asked if I am Canadian. It doesn't ever happen when I go to Quebec -- they speak French first and do not "hear" me as an English speaking Canadian, they assume American.

Point being: it is the accent you have while speaking that gives you away. I sincerely doubt I would have spent over 2/3 of my life being sometimes asked if I was Canadian if I had not been brought up to speak proper unaccented English.

You are thought to be what you sound like. Had I ever picked up the "New Yawk" mode of speech as a kid, I would be definitely pegged as American anywhere.
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Old 05-04-2011, 06:50 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
26,785 posts, read 37,774,664 times
Reputation: 11561
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant View Post
Not really. You were discussing how people were mistaken for nationalities while travelling. If I go to Canada, in Ontario I am sometimes figured for American/sometimes for Canadian. Where I live, I am often (for over 40 years) asked if I am Canadian. It doesn't ever happen when I go to Quebec -- they speak French first and do not "hear" me as an English speaking Canadian, they assume American.
.
Most French-speaking Quebecers could not distinguish an American accent (from the northern half of the States anyway) from an English Canadian accent to save their lives.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant View Post
Point being: it is the accent you have while speaking that gives you away. I sincerely doubt I would have spent over 2/3 of my life being sometimes asked if I was Canadian if I had not been brought up to speak proper unaccented English.
.
There is no such thing as "unaccented" English, "unaccented" French, "unaccented" Spanish. Everyone has an accent to someone else's ear.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant View Post
You are thought to be what you sound like. Had I ever picked up the "New Yawk" mode of speech as a kid, I would be definitely pegged as American anywhere.
Of course. But there isn't anything wrong with that.
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Old 05-04-2011, 03:04 PM
 
88 posts, read 222,645 times
Reputation: 87
LOL! You guys think it's so interesting. Try being Asian American.

When I travel to countries, often times people think I'm Japanese. However, if I got to Japan, China, or Korea, they think I'm local and speak to me in their native language which I don't understand.

Even Americans in my hometown will look at me like I'm from a different country.
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