Stephen Howard6/12/03 4:10

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 14:42:59 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:



That is an outright lie. Mary said
" He refused to lose his German accent, even though he'd been here for about
seventy years"
That seems to me to be a straightforward statement of fact. Please point
out where the "berating" bit comes in, or retract.

As someone with an Austrian mother, I find the notion of 'refusing to
lose' an accent to be a rather curious proposition.
Actually no - preposterous more like.

I found it extremely offensive. As if someone should be *expected* to lose
a native accent, simply because they live in another country.
I have French and Italian relatives, German and Scottish friends, who have
lived here for many years and who could be said to "refuse to lose" their
accents - in fact, why should they?
And in the case of one, she has lived in UK for about 53 years, one for 20,
another for about 40. Perhaps they should all be 'elocuted?
The rest of the description of an old, old man who was devoted to his craft
and gave so much to it and to others was just beyond awful, IMO.
snip
--

Sacha
(remove the 'x' to email me)