Background: English is my second language and my current accent is mixed but mostly neutral (based on Essex where I lived for the past 9 years and learned English for the first time)
Recently I've had people tell me to stop trying to imitate the accent of the city I moved into (Glasgow) and to speak 'normally' at the moment as it's quite bad and very exaggerated and it comes off as mocking or condescending. That's not my intention at all as I really love the accent and I'm actually trying to blend into the society that I'll spend a huge chunk of my future in. What I don't understand is how am I supposed to learn something by not using it and being criticised for using while learning?
Although I have friends who support me learning the local way of speaking, most people, not only Glaswegians but also people from South London, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle told me that 'unless you're from [insert area] do not attempt to imitate our accent' or 'the only way is to live in the area for long enough and your accent MAY develop naturally'.
I understand that historically there's always been a lot of stigma when it comes to regional accents vs standard English but the problem is I'm a foreigner and my brain doesn't normally pick up accents that easily and I need to actively try to imitate people but hearing that I could be 'beaten up' for a poor attempt at the accent is very discouraging and it feels like I'm doing something very offensive.
Any thoughts?
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