SA accent voted as 15th friendliest globally

Have you ever felt judged because of your accent?

The South African accent was recently voted the 15th friendliest in the world, and that’s off the back of our accent being voted the sexiest in the world a few years ago.

The rainbow nation is made up of 12 official languages, leaving room for a variety of accents.

This is evident when people from different parts of the country come together and engage in conversation.

There is always a pause followed by, “Where are you from because I can hear you are not from around here?”

People believe employment opportunities, intelligence, attractiveness and friendliness are based on how they speak.

According to a global study, the top five accents are American, British, Australian, Canadian and German.

“The meanings of English globally are also changing rapidly across a range of dimensions.

“For instance, while British English has historically provided an international model for ‘correct’ English, people who live in countries where English is being learnt for access to the global marketplace increasingly prefer American English as their standard.

“As such, the attitudes toward English in this survey reveal the fundamental ways we continue to navigate our social relationships through language and our ideas about language,” said associate professor of linguistics at the University of Warwick, Dr Christopher Strelluf.

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