The other day Olof and I were in a local department store, buying a gift for an event we’ll be attending this weekend. At the checkout, the cashier mentioned something about a possible discount, I asked for a clarification, and she answered me in English. That rarely happens to me–particularly up here in the hinterlands–but when it does I am invariably embarrassed, insulted, and irritated. I would be less insulted and irritated (but still embarrassed, of course) if the switch were because the person in question couldn’t understand what I had said, but that clearly wasn’t the case, as she answered appropriately the question I had asked in Swedish. Olof thinks that she probably heard the two of us speaking English to each other and had gotten herself all geared up to speak English as well, not registering when I actually spoke to her that it was in Swedish. Could be, but man, that irks me.
The next day I had a hair appointment and got to chatting with my stylist, as you do. At one point I had to say a word that always gives me a little trouble, so I half-muttered it, hoping the lack of enunciation would cover up my bad pronunciation. Of course, she didn’t hear me and had to ask me to repeat it. So I did, and she got it the second time, and we went on from there (my hair looks fab, by the way).
That got me to thinking, though, about this business with accents. English speakers, by and large, are much more accommodating when it comes to hearing our language spoken by foreigners. There are exceptions, to be sure, but in the main we adjust our hearing easily enough when we encounter someone with an accent, and in most cases we even find the accent charming. Swedes, on the other hand–my own children included–often react to anything other than native-quality pronunciation as “you’re saying it wrong.” I suppose this rigidity shouldn’t surprise me–and it truth, it doesn’t anymore, it just catches me off-guard sometimes–but I don’t think I’ll ever grow entirely accustomed to it.
We had an exchange student from Sollentuna last year and she would really get on my case if I tried to copy her Swedish! She did, however, give my dad high marks for his Swedish. He was born in Stockholm and moved to the states when he was 13. I guess he still kept enough of his accent to win the approval points!
I’ve noticed this a lot with the international students/teachers at school. Most of them rarely speak Swedish even when they can. And they understand but always answer in English. I’ve asked some of them about it and they said that Swedes are just mean when it comes to their language. And it is really hard to speak Swedish if everything you say is wrong and it is pointed out that it is wrong.
Well – I’ve noticed a strange thing. It used to make me crazy when I would talk to people and they wouldn’t understand – it was always the vowels, too, actually, not the consonants, interestingly enough – when I first started speaking in what I thought was proper albeit tentative Swedish. I mean, what else could I be saying, how could they have so much trouble understanding me? (My most aggrevating and annoying memory: when a taxi driver couldn’t understand my “Lumavägen” which wasn’t Leeeeeeeeewma-y enough.) But when I became a lot more confident (and as far as I can tell, less careful with my accent – although I like to think I have a fairly decent accent, especially if I really concentrate on it) people suddenly never misunderstood me. Or switched to English. Much.
Which doesn’t really explain anything.
But I agree with your husband, I think it was because she was all geared up to speak English and just did it even though you spoke Swedish with her.
I have also thought about that. That English-speakers are much more accepting of accents than Swedes. Could be that the people in the UK are so used to people around speaking some other version of English – due to these places having been colonised by the English – and Americans have all grown up with similar experiences, but from a modern melting-pot. For Swedes immigration is a new thing. That said, I always think children, American and British alike, react to accents more than adults. But not in a bad way, just because of children’s natural curiosity. They ask but don’t judge.
I may link to your post if I may. We had languages as the Friday theme two weeks ago and I could do a follow-up post on this.
I understand the feeling. I think your husband was right though. She probably really wanted to get the chance to speak English.