Do you think it's offensive to tell someone with a thick accent that you're having difficulties understanding them?
by 
nurse7263
ANSWERS: 24
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no... if u cant understand them what else are u suppose to do?
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With working in a shop i come across all sorts of accents from scottish,irish ,american and many others,if i cant understand them i do say im sorry i cant understand your accent and and they are usually ok and laugh and slow down their speech.
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Not if you do it politely. I was a hairstylist for 12 years and I had to do a lot of people who didn't speak hardly any English at all. I had no choice but to tell them I didn't know what they were saying. I would just say that I was having trouble understanding them and would offer them a book to use to pick out pictures that were what they were looking for. No one was ever offended because of it.
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NO, how else are you going to communicate with each other? Its better to speak upi and say something so there is no communication breakdown.
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No. Not at all. Working in a travel agency, you cme across a lot of different people. Because their requests are so specific, and it could make or break a holiday we sometime polietly point out that their accent is very strong. They usually slow down, or write down what they want.
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Yes, as long as you aren't nasty about it. Sometimes, Indian people and my mexican hubby are hard to understand on the phone. I have no choice but to ask them to repeat it until I get it. Sometimes hubby gets pissed, but it passes quickly enough.
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No i dont think so i work as a receptionist and when there is someone i cannot understand because of an accent i say pardon me, i cannot hear you well.. i think it depends on how you say it if ur rude about it then yes but if you respectfully ask then its fine
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Just saying "what?" can get kind of annoying. But point out you're having problems isn't that big of a deal.
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No. As long as you just politely ask them to slow there speech down most people will not have an issue with that.
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I just hand them a pen and paper
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No, not if you truly can't understand them :)
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Of course not. How do you respond if you don't understand. If I have someone on the phone that I don't understand, usually computer help, I ask for another person--saying politely that I can't understand and need someone else to talk to. Isn't the bottom line communication? And if you can't communicate with that person-it shouldn't be offensive to say so. But be polite.
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No. The insult would be in pretending to understand what they are saying.
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No, it would be more offensive to ignore them.
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Not at all. I have told people that I have trouble understanding you and I am sorry. Please speak slowly and I will try to understand. Of course they could be trying to tell you your hair is on fire but that was not the case.
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From their point of view, YOU have a thick accent!
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No... Especially if you ask them not to be offended, first. They know as well as we do that there will be difficulties communicating, and shouldn't be offended, as I shouldn't be if I have to explain something in multiple ways so they will understand. (BTDT! ;-) )
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I have a strong accent which is not remotely similar to the accent of the people where I now live. I found it just as difficult to understand them as they did to understand me. Time sorts that out. The only thing you can do is to, politely, say that you are having trouble understanding them and ask them if they could speak more slowly. If particular words are causing you a problem ask them to write down the word.
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No it should not be offensive because a long time ago when I was a young kid this foreigner guy with a thick heavy accent was trying to teach me about God and the Bible and for a long while I thought he was talking about a goat. 😖
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Some people are offended by it... but: no, I don't consider it offensive to explain honestly why **I** cannot understand **YOU**.
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It's fine if you do it in a polite way. I am good with accents, but even I have the occasional problem with a really thick one. I usually say, "I'm so sorry, but I'm having trouble understanding you. Could I ask you to repeat that/speak more slowly?"
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on the phone i have said i cant understand them at times and i was not being racist or rude ,i was stating a fact ..... i have problems with accents as i talk to some face to face so i just pretend i understand them fully . lol
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No.
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Not at all offensive
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