[BrianW]

Hello,

I have found that my English has actually improved since I started teaching English in China. I find myself correcting more and more poor grammer and re-learning the use of some verbs. I also am a firm believer that "GOT" is inappropriate English in any form. Take the time to learn the proper verb.

Thanks

Brian

[Denis DNT]

Behold! Who could have thought it works the other way round also!?

[HUE]

I've noticed my English has become a lot more "internationalized," for lack of a better word. Vocab and phrases from Australians, English, Scots, Canadians, plus the usual Japanese-English I hear so often, has gotten incorporated into my everyday speaking. My accent has also become a lot more neutral, and can't even speak with my Chicagoan accent anymore.

[Denis DNT]

Do you feel more comfortable with your new neutral accent (which many more persons can understand) or you would prefer your original accent?
Just curious

[HUE]

Good question! I hadn't really thought about it.

I suppose, while in Japan, it's a benefit. I understand, and use, much of the slang and word choices that my expat peers use. In the classroom, many students have said that my accent is very easy to understand, which greatly helps lower-level learners.

When I visit family and friends back in Chicago, though, they all comment that I talk a bit funny for the first few days. They also comment on how slow I speak.

So I guess there are pluses and minuses.

[Denis DNT]

I am sure you couldn't guess why I aksed that question Hue, but it's fun to know how divided you are in your way of speaking. It's happening with every one of us.
I was in a debate recently and the issue came up when a speaker drew our attention to the fact that ESL speakers are fast outnumbering native English speakers. God alone knows howmany English accents the world will have in the next decades and who can guess the accents that will be dominant?
Gone are the days when the English language was used as an identification tool for Americans, The British etc.