Language Seeker

The usual goal of acquiring skill mastery in a foreign language is so that all speakers of that language can understand you when you converse with them in their language. This, of course, demands that your use of that language observes certain universal standards that most native speakers of that language adhere to. When attempting to acquire verbal mastery of an international language such as English, the learner has to ensure that his/her use of the language is not so ideosyncratic as to be incomprehensible to the listener.

While some English-speaking countries, regions or cities within some countries, or specific neighbourhoods within some cities might have very pronounced or vowel-distorting accents or an overuse of slang terms, these same people would generally have no trouble understanding those who do speak English in a more traditional and universally accepted manner. This makes it extremely important for the English language seeker who wants to advance his/her verbal skills through homestay study in an English-speaking country, to be aware of the degree to which the common usage of the language in that country, region, city or neighbourhood observes the more universally accepted norms of the language. This is not quite as easy as it might seem at first glance. There are some examples that are more apparent than most: Australian, South African, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Jamaican, Texan, etc. accents are generally regarded as not fully representative of universal norms. The widespread and often preferred use of slang in some urban neighbourhoods are even further from accepted usage.

A particular irony of what has become the international or universal verbal standards of spoken English, is that England itself is no longer the standard of accepted usage. It is more likely that the majority of native English-speakers no longer follow the originally intended pronunciation of a number of words, or in some cases, even the originally intended vocabulary of mother England. The pronunciation and vocabulary of most of Canada, New Zealand, parts of the U.S.A., parts of the U.K., some Caribbean Islands, a few former British colonies, parts of India and even some Scandinavian countries are generally regarded as closer to the accepted norm than the often well modulated, rounded tones of the well educated Brit.

Like with all important decisions in life, good research is necessary on the part of the language seeker, before he or she decides in which country to seek homestay study, in order to advance verbal skills in English. I'm sure that similar regionalized language problems pertain to language acquisition skills in other languages, as well.