12.26.2012

When Sergio said, "Merry Christmas"...

Today's EL PAÍS has an article about...well, I don't really know what it's about - it's kind of a summary of "we speak English as badly as they speak Spanish but in the end, everything is OK."  Articles like this bother me, and I never know if they bother me because they're so inaccurate (what, exactly, are they complaining about?) or because they seem to try to talk about all sides of an issue and end up not offering information about anything.

I've spent twelve years helping actors, secretaries, help desk staff, politicians and doctors improve their accents, and I just want to say this: Sergio Ramos is fine. Nobody has to speak like Sir Laurence Olivier if there isn't a clear, definite reason to speak that way. Ramos is a twenty-something kid from Cádiz who probably doesn't speak English on a regular basis, and his accent reflects that. Anyone who feels the need to really beat up on Ramos because of his accent has a serious problem with self-esteem.

Personally, I think that if Sergio Ramos spoke English like Olivier, that would be bizarre. It's not like Ramos is like Gael García Bernal, who lived and studied in the UK - and is an actor who works with English-speaking directors. García Bernal needs to sound like Laurence Olivier. Ramos may want to speak that well, but there is no rational reason for him to speak that way.

Don't give yourself more problems than you already have -- learning to use English well is tough enough!

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