Stupid Missionary accent

[KillerDog]

Why do dudes come back from spanish speaking missions with that weird spanish missionary accent. It isn't a latino or spanish accented form of American english, it is something else. I find it as irritating as the constant "I forget the english word" crap that they do to show how good of a missionary they were.

[Donuthole]

Why do dudes come back from spanish speaking missions with that weird spanish missionary accent. It isn't a latino or spanish accented form of American english, it is something else. I find it as irritating as the constant "I forget the english word" crap that they do to show how good of a missionary they were.

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter Because I'm Actually Going to Have to Take All 120 Credits to Graduate

Do some RM's ham up the accent and inability to transition back to English? Yes. Are most instances legit? Yes. But I wouldn't expect a unilingual soul like you to be able to distinguish between the two.

[TripletDaddy]

My guess is that they were speaking the language for 2 years, so there is going to be a little transition time.

My friends that went to the UK (London and Scotland) came back with a noticeable British tone in their voices. They would end every sentence with an upward inflection.

It happens.

For awhile after I came home, I would accidentally mix up the following words:

"Reunion" instead of "meeting"
"Assist" instead of "attend"

I still call discussions "charlas." It just makes more sense to me.

I never "forgot" how to speak English, though. Missionaries may be taking it a bit too far if they go that route.

I am sure missionaries from other countries come home and accidentally let slip some foreign stuff. For example, when EPU came home from Italy, he was probably used to simply murdering anyone that disagreed with him. I am sure it took some time for him to get out of that habit.

[Indy Coug]

Why do dudes come back from spanish speaking missions with that weird spanish missionary accent. It isn't a latino or spanish accented form of American english, it is something else. I find it as irritating as the constant "I forget the english word" crap that they do to show how good of a missionary they were.

Since I won't be so presumptuous to assume you went on a mission and I won't be so insensitive as to ask you where you went on your mission in case you haven't served, have you ever at least had a time in your life where you spoke a language other than English on a regular basis?

[kccougar]

Happens in the States missions as well. I hate that breathless fake-gentle voice they all use when they come home. In our mission (PA), we noticed that the sisters all developed a unique accent as well. We called it the sister slur.

[Indy Coug]

My friends that went to the UK (London and Scotland) came back with a noticeable British tone in their voices. They would end every sentence with an upward inflection.

I didn't suffer from a change in accent, but it took me probably a year or two to completely weed out British figures of speech or equivalencies (eg. flat vs apartment) from my conversation.

However, from living most of my first 18 years in the South (Texas, Tennessee) or in places where most of the people were from the South (American oil employees in Saudi Arabia from Texas & Louisiana), I did slip into a bit of a drawl even though my family is thoroughly Yankee.

[TripletDaddy]

I didn't suffer from a change in accent, but it took me probably a year or two to completely weed out British figures of speech or equivalencies (eg. flat vs apartment) from my conversation.

My friends did that, too. In fact, when we all came back to BYU, they would introduce me as their flatmate.

I think stuff like that is totally normal and to be expected.

I know what K-Dog is talking about, though, because there always seemed to be the knucklehead that pretends to really struggle putting together a sentence in English, even though he has been home for over a month. Also, this struggle always seems to happen around a group of girls.

[wuapinmon]

Probably because I still use Spanish for hours a day, and I speak to my children in Spanish, I will look at my wife or some of my colleagues and start speaking in Spanish without thinking about it. Usually about five or six words into my sentence I realize what I'm doing and slip out.

I still say things like "reunion" "guard this for me" and he "falls me bad."

And I've been home 14 years. K-dog, when you internalize something for two years, the way that some elders do, it can be difficult to remove yourself from the mindset, whether its an accent, a tone, or a way of carrying yourself. I remember dudes who would ride their bikes around Provo like they were still elders.

To be sure, some people ham it up, but I can tell you that there are many times when I simply cannot recall the word I'm looking for in English because the Spanish one is the only one that comes to mind.

[Mormon Red Death]

Probably because I still use Spanish for hours a day, and I speak to my children in Spanish, I will look at my wife or some of my colleagues and start speaking in Spanish without thinking about it. Usually about five or six words into my sentence I realize what I'm doing and slip out.

I still say things like "reunion" "guard this for me" and he "falls me bad."

And I've been home 14 years. K-dog, when you internalize something for two years, the way that some elders do, it can be difficult to remove yourself from the mindset, whether its an accent, a tone, or a way of carrying yourself. I remember dudes who would ride their bikes around Provo like they were still elders.

To be sure, some people ham it up, but I can tell you that there are many times when I simply cannot recall the word I'm looking for in English because the Spanish one is the only one that comes to mind.

No "man she molests me"?

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Why do dudes come back from spanish speaking missions with that weird spanish missionary accent. It isn't a latino or spanish accented form of American english, it is something else. I find it as irritating as the constant "I forget the english word" crap that they do to show how good of a missionary they were.

I'll tell you what's worse than the fake accent- the cheeseball RM wearing the soccer jersey to class. I'll admit that I bought a Bayern Munich jersey while in Germany and mistakenly wore it one time when rollerblading around.

[wuapinmon]

I'll tell you what's worse than the fake accent- the cheeseball RM wearing the soccer jersey to class. I'll admit that I bought a Bayern Munich jersey while in Germany and mistakenly wore it one time when rollerblading around.

What's wrong with wearing a soccer jersey? I don't, but so what? You like dick-in-a-box bands.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

No "man she molests me"?

In German the difference between the word for humid and gay is that one has an u with an umlaut (the two dots) and the other has a normal u Correspondingly, the umlauted u is one of the sounds that Americans have a hard time getting right and the word for humid requires that sound.

It was often very gay outside during the summers in Germany. It seemed to get even more gay in University towns where one would find numerous hotties with extremely short skirts on riding bikes around.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

What's wrong with wearing a soccer jersey? I don't, but so what? You like dick-in-a-box bands.

There's nothing wrong with wearing a soccer jersey around as long as you don't care about looking like a geek.

Also, it's better not to get personal about music choices on this board, and you're crossing the line when you rip on CMB. I spent literally hours trying to crack and "get" their 1991 debut album.

[SeattleUte]

Our resident GA Gene R. Cook spoke flawless Spanish with the worst accent I've ever heard. He refused to roll his R's. It was quite a feat to speak such impeccable Spanish, better than most of the natives on the street, in terms of structure, with such a thoroughly Anglo accent. I used to love to immitate him. In retrospect I think he did it on purpose.

[wuapinmon]

There's nothing wrong with wearing a soccer jersey around as long as you don't care about looking like a geek.

Also, it's better not to get personal about music choices on this board, and you're crossing the line when you rip on CMB. I spent literally hours trying to crack and "get" their 1991 debut album.

My point is, you like CMB, they like wearing soccer jerseys, both are considered geeky be different sides; ergo, quit calling stuff geeky. I like CMB too. I bought their CD, though my tastes have changed since then.

Let them wear their jerseys in peace. If they won't stop talking about it, ever, that's another point entirely.

There's no accounting for tastes.