# Do people ever think you are foreign?



## Mind Swirl (Sep 7, 2011)

I've been mistaken for a foreigner a few times (people have thought I seemed European or Canadian, I guess). I can think of quite a few instances where this happened. The strangest instance was when someone asked if I was Canadian because of my "accent". It doesn't bother me at all, I just think it's funny because I don't know what they're picking up on. 

Has this ever happened to you?


----------



## Planisphere (Apr 24, 2012)

In appearance, I've been likened to either an English or German exchange student. In accent, people assume I'm from either England or Ireland. Sometimes I put on my Irish accent a bit thick, but most of the time, I'm just talking normally. I assume there's an Irish undercurrent that most people pick up, because even when I know I'm not trying, people still point it out to me. Doesn't bother me at all.


----------



## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

There used to be a lot of russians who would work in my home town during the summer, and sometimes I would get "oh - you speak english!" from people who assumed by looking at me that I was one of the russians. *shrug*


----------



## Mammon (Jul 12, 2012)

I was waiting at this bus station when some dude randomly talking to me asked if I was Italian... So I was shocked to know that he was shocked to hear that I was not... I don't even look Italian.

First time that I got that. I mostly get Albanian, Ukrainian, Russian and sometimes even Afghan(<WUT)...


----------



## bales33 (Aug 8, 2012)

No, I have been mistaken for a christian though... It's something like "Can you believe they don't let these kids pray in school? I know if we had are way they would pray everyday".... Um, okay. 

You would be surprised to find out what country people will say to their cashier... I'm sure glad I quit that job. Though the girl who asked for my opinion on condoms was pretty funny.


----------



## BlissfulDreams (Dec 25, 2009)

Whenever I go to the US, someone thinks I'm latina. (I don't think I look it at all.) I've been in line twice for food at restaurants and had the cashiers speak in English to everyone in front of me but then when they get to me, they speak in Spanish. And when I went to Disneyworld, there was a huge group of Argentinians who thought I was a part of their group and they started speaking to me in Spanish. I don't mind this at all. I just find it a bit peculiar. Though everyone comments on my accent in the US. They all know I'm Canadian.

I have never been mistaken as foreign in Canada. The closest thing to that is being mistaken for the wrong ethnicity. I've been asked if I'm half Asian or half black and that just makes me laugh because I look even less like these than I do hispanic. And once at university, I was dressed very conservatively and I passed an Arab guy who was kissing his white girlfriend. I thought I had just paused for a second and thought, "that's unusual", but he flipped out like his mom had walked in on him doing something inappropriate. I'm guessing that he thought I was of the same background as him and that I was judging him. How strange. I have given up on trying to understand people's reasoning. I guess I just have a chameleon face.


----------



## Miss Mimmi (Mar 4, 2012)

I'm German living in the UK and I get all sorts of reactions. Some people hear my German accent right away, others just notice that I've got an accent and others even think that I grew up bilingual or that I'm British. Sometimes people get confused because my English apparently sounds neither particularly British or American or anything really. It's just standard English with a hint of a foreign accent that they can't define.


----------



## Sea Anenome (Mar 11, 2011)

In America, I've never been mistaken for a foreigner. When I went to Argentina and Chile last year, I tried to be a good visitor and spoke Spanish whenever possible. I guess I was too obviously American because people always replied to me in English.


----------



## Eerie (Feb 9, 2011)

Nope, I look very average. And I have a slight southern accent from living where I do.


----------



## wisterias (Jul 15, 2012)

Of course they do. I'm an Asian living in a non-Asian country. My family's foreign, but I was born here.

When I go down South, some don't talk to me or talk extremely slowly/loudly/using very simple words because they assume I can't understand even when I'm replying to them in perfect English.

I've been asked if I'm Japanese/Korean, lol.


----------



## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

I surprise a lot of foreigners with my wealth of knowledge about their country. I always was a geography nut. I have traveled extensively, so I pretty much know _something_ about every major country in the world. I have found, particularly in the last few years, Europeans don't believe I'm American because I seem too knowledgable and open-minded. They have this stereotypical idea that all Americans are close minded, overly religious, ********, who are prude and ignorant about the rest of the world (and unfortunately, there are far too many Americans who are reinforcing that interpretation). 

When I show interest in what they know, and where they are from, I notice their surprise. When I can tell them I've tried their native beer, or food, or know a few words of their language, they become enthused. I like being able to shake up their assumptions of Americans.


----------



## perennialurker (Oct 1, 2009)

Hahaha, I've been called Arab, White, Hispanic, Asian, and Eastern European. I wouldn't call it interesting, but nor does it bother me. I'm multiracial so some of those guesses are partially correct.


----------



## Michael Nihil (Sep 21, 2012)

Mind Swirl said:


> I've been mistaken for a foreigner a few times (people have thought I seemed European or Canadian, I guess). I can think of quite a few instances where this happened. The strangest instance was when someone asked if I was Canadian because of my "accent". It doesn't bother me at all, I just think it's funny because I don't know what they're picking up on.
> 
> Has this ever happened to you?


LOL yes. I'm Australian, born and raised here. I'd say my accent is fairly 'Aussie' sounding. Yet one day working in this warehouse one of my co-workers was talking to me about something and our discussion went into nationalities; I asked him where he was from, he said India, then he said I didn't need to tell him where I was from because he already knew by my accent - he said South Africa.


----------



## friendly80sfan (May 12, 2011)

I've had someone ask me if I wasn't origionally from America. I am and I told him that. He said that I sounded like I had a bit of an accent and he thought I was from somewhere in Europe. It made me happy.


----------



## SnowFairy (Nov 21, 2011)

I've tricked strangers into thinking I'm British, Irish, or Scottish on multiple occasions! It's fun. :laughing:


----------



## staticmud (Jun 28, 2012)

I live in the United States of America and sometimes people think I'm from Europe, typically the UK or France. I've also heard Canadian a couple times. 
But usually people think I'm Australian.


----------



## ShadoWolf (Jun 5, 2012)

I don't know why, but people used to think I wasn't American? I'd like to know.


----------



## OldManRivers (Mar 22, 2012)

No, not foriegn -just strange. . . 
With my deep south accent there is never ant doubt where I am from. . .Y'all.


----------



## MyName (Oct 23, 2009)

Only when I'm abroad.


----------



## skycloud86 (Jul 15, 2009)

I'm English living in England and I don't think anyone has ever said that I look foreign What do people think I look like, in terms of nationality/ancestry?


----------



## Adesi (Aug 9, 2011)

I'm of Scottish/English descent living in the U.S.

I've been asked by a stranger if I'm German/German descent. That doesn't seem too off, really.
I've been asked by three people if I'm of Asian descent (because my Scottish last name sounds Asian?). (I do not look in the least bit Asian. See Scottish/English descent).
I've been asked if I'm Canadian based on the fact that I used meters to refer to a measure of distance.

So...yes!


----------



## Adesi (Aug 9, 2011)

Just a note on the survey. I imagine more people that have had this happen to them will be attracted to the thread than those who haven't. So I wouldn't think it would be very accurate.


----------



## Siren (Jun 25, 2011)

Sort of. Usually when I am traveling in Scandanavian countries strangers ask me questions or directions in the native tongue. I'm not even blonde.


----------



## 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 (Nov 22, 2009)

Yes, its my voice. Its very low, monotone, and I annunciate my words (becuase if I don't, they become garbled with my low voice).

I live in Louisiana and was born here. Yet, people here ask me where I'm from all the time. Most guess England. A student from Germany asked if I were Polish, becuase he said he knew Polish that sounded just like me. Another guy said I had a voice like a nobleman. Once I went up to Tennessee and someone asked me where I was from. I said "Louisiana." They told me I had a very common accent from Louisiana, called a "New Orleans Accent" (I'm not from NO and my accent is not close to people who are).


----------



## nádej (Feb 27, 2011)

Once and it was *bizarre*.

I'm from the U.S. - born and raised.

At the airport about a year ago I was by myself, flying Chicago to Seattle. I was going through security and the security guard started speaking to me in Spanish. I answered in Spanish, not thinking anything of it. We kept up the conversation for a little while because I had (per usual) done stuff wrong and they needed to put it through the machine again. The security guard started asking me about where in Mexico I am from. I literally had nothing with me that even said the word 'Mexico'. I had not mentioned Mexico in conversation. I speak fairly Mexican Spanish, but...that's it. I said that I'm not from Mexico at all and I learned Spanish through school and talking with Spanish-speakers. He acted completely surprised and told me that the only reason he'd started talking to me in Spanish instead of English in the first place is because he thought I was Mexican. I'm blonde and blue-eyed and very very fair-skinned, so this is just so weird to me. Not that there aren't Mexicans that look like me - I'm sure there are - but if one was to guess my nationality based solely on my looks (and it couldn't be American), much more logical guesses would be Irish or German.


It was so weird that right after it happened I called my parents to tell them and they thought it was some bad joke I was trying to make, but in reality it was just a strange story.


----------



## fihe (Aug 30, 2012)

yes, all the time. it's come to bother me a little at this point. I tell people I was born here in NJ, USA and that English is my first language but they still think I'm from another country


----------



## hulia (Sep 13, 2012)

Nope, never. I'm as Aussie as they come.


----------



## SnowFairy (Nov 21, 2011)

Siren said:


> Sort of. Usually when I am traveling in Scandanavian countries strangers ask me questions or directions in the native tongue. I'm not even blonde.


Not all Scandinavians are blonde. :wink: Most of my Norwegian family members (myself included) are brunettes! lol.

I often get asked if I'm Norwegian (by decent not nationality), because I have a few Scandinavian looking facial features. Makes total sense though, as I'm almost half Norwegian. If I traveled to Scandinavia I'd probably run into the same issue you were having. :lauhging:


----------



## KateMarie999 (Dec 20, 2011)

Hmm never happened to me. I sometimes speak with a British accent just for fun but not in front of anyone.


----------



## gatsby (Sep 6, 2012)

This happens to me fairly often. And I've lived in America all my life, so the fact that people hear a little accent behind my words is...intriguing. I've never asked them where they _think_ I'm from though, I'll have to remember to next time because I'd like to know.

My grandmother is English, and I'm fairly good at a British accent, so maybe that's what they're hearing


----------



## BreakOfDawn (Oct 6, 2012)

gatsby said:


> This happens to me fairly often. And I've lived in America all my life, so the fact that people hear a little accent behind my words is...intriguing.


The same thing happens to me! I don't know why, but even though I was born and raised in the U.S.A., a lot of people somehow think I have an accent... Just last week, a girl I was talking to asked me out of the blue, "Something about the way you talk...You don't sound like you're from around here. Are you Spanish?"

Another time, these two people my sister and I had just met practically went into hysterics at our 'funny accent' and kept asking us to say words, but I thought that they sounded just like us!

I don't know what it is, but all my family members seem to have the same thing happen to them a lot, too...People usually think we're Hispanic or from somewhere in the Mediterranean like Italy or Greece, since we have darker skin and features, but we're Eastern European. It's odd. My sister, on the other hand, who doesn't look much like us and is far paler, gets quite a few people thinking she's from Britain. They even think she has a British accent sometimes! Altogether, we've been mistaken for Puerto Rican, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, Italian, Brazilian, and English. I think it's strange, but kind of interesting!


----------



## Aqualung (Nov 21, 2009)

Here in the U.S. Hispanics have spoken Spanish to me a few times. I guess I look Hispanic to some. My mom's side of the family sure does. My grandad looked Mexican & spoke fluent Spanish so I asked my mom once & she said "No, we go back to England & Ireland. Got a German last name from my dad. My Hispanic in-laws said "Dang dude, you sure don't look German!" : ) Once a soccer player from Wales spoke French to me. But I was in Paris. Turns out neither of us knew much French & we busted out laughing when we figured out we both only spoke English. He was in Paris for a European soccer tournament & we were both lost at night in the rain. But we had a nice long chat. He asked me about living in Texas & I asked him about soccer. I gave him my city map & wished him luck in the tournament. Anyway, sorry I get carried away with story telling, as you know by now.


----------



## ParetoCaretheStare (Jan 18, 2012)

My friend made a really funny remark about me at a jam last night saying that I'm a russian hippie. I guess some sort of accent leaks out sometimes in my speech , even though I've lived in the states since I was three. I guess it is sort of a funny combination.


----------



## Particulate (Sep 21, 2012)

I've gotten English ALOT.

I live in the midwest so I have a "neutral accent" by the standards of most of America. To my clients in New York I sound funny, to those in LA and San Francisco I sound unusual and the same can be said of the Miami crowd. But the area in which I live in is ringed by a vastly agricultural base and the manner in which I pronounce words is often seen as out of place (My mother always insisted that I pronounce things correctly). 

Even people from other countries have trouble placing me sometimes. When I met Diane Von Furstenberg, who is Belgian, she thought I was a Welshman with a speech impediment, which considering my heritage isn't a total stretch. But yes, because of how "clean" my accent is and how clearly I pronounce words I am often mistaken for not only speaking English but BEING ENGLISH.


----------



## Nekomata (May 26, 2012)

I'm English, and grew up in England, but people keep commenting on my accent and asking where I'm from xDD. I'm sure if I didn't tell them the reason for that god knows where they'd assume I'm from....


----------



## Le Beau Coeur (Jan 30, 2011)

It has happened a few times.


----------



## SkyRunner (Jun 30, 2012)

No, I sound like I'm from the United States and look it too. Typical brown hair and pale skin. My eyes are a mixture of green, blue and gray but still pretty normal in the region I live in. The U.S. is so boring. 

My town is full of white middle class people. Most girls are like clones of each other and many guys act idiotic. There is barely any diversity and things are dull. There are no hispanics, African Americans or other ethnic minorities in my neighborhood. It's all white middle class. And it's either families or elderly people (mostly elderly).


----------



## Northcrest (Sep 21, 2012)

People have asked me if I'm from Africa due to my overall physical features and darker than most skin color. Also I guess I 'speak' differently then the stereotypical Blacks according to some people. Though once I say 'yall' people tend to be like never mind he's from the south.


----------



## unINFalliPle (Jul 8, 2012)

Yeah. A lot of the time. My parents are Italian and Czech. I'm Canadian. My dad still has a heavy accent. My ex was Romanian. This week at work I made conversation with clients and asked where they were from. I thought it was Romanian, but it was Russian. I told them I had a Romanian friend and thought it was that that they were speaking. They then asked my ethnicity/nationality/wtv it's called and told me they thought I was Romanian because of my accent. What accent? I've been in Canada all my life. Someone else said I sound like I have a french accent. My french is not that great. Or people seem to think I'm not from around here. Alien is moi.


----------



## Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Jun 5, 2012)

i've gotten that i'm english, swedish, russian or something else. i live in America. Even people from my home town ask me where i am from and yet i keep having to respond that i have lived there my entire life. Basically, i have speech impediment where don't seem to pronounce my "r's" right. it used to be the same thing for "s's" as well but not anymore just "r's". sometimes it's annoying; other times it is cool.


----------



## .17485 (Jan 12, 2011)

That I'm from the United States. I'm from the UK


----------



## LexiFlame (Aug 9, 2012)

I often speak Italian to my brother, so when we're in public, lots of people assume we're from Italy. I don't mind it at all, I just clear up my background for them.


----------



## goastfarmer (Oct 20, 2010)

Yes. A million times over yes. 

I was born in Texas, but I am sure over half the people I meet think I am from some foreign country due to my "accent". They usually guess Britain, England, or New Zealand, however I have had people guess France (once), Germany (three times), Romania, Spain (once), and Estonia (not that I think this particular guy was being serious). Some people will guess American cities like Boston or New Jersey. One time someone said my accent sounded like it was from Michigan... I don't even know what that kind of accent is. Only once has someone ever guess Louisiana, which is the closest thing to the truth.

I have never lived in the state though. I visited New Orleans twice though---once when I was three and a second time the January after Katrina for a funeral (non-hurricane related death though). I lived in Colorado essentially all my life. Compared to America as a whole, they don't have their own (special) accent---not that I talk like anyone else in the state.

You see for whatever reason, I talk like my mom who was born and raised in New Orleans, which is why Louisiana was a good guess. However, I am not entirely sure what the accent sounds like because my mother eventually lost it, and I didn't run into enough people in the city who had it. It's not exactly common or something. Though, there might be a bit of Colorado influence over my speech. In fact, I think half my speech is accentless compared to Colorado. I would like to say my Texan family might have influenced me, but you can't hear an ounce of it in me. 

Though, I went through years of speech therapy as a child in order to "correct my speech". I am also tone deaf as well as "sound deaf". I haven't found a technical term for what I believe to be wrong with me, but I have troubles distinguishing minute sounds from each other like how being tone deaf constitutes an inability to hear different notes but the ability to hear changes in notes. If you take that into account with where I have lived and my mother's accent, you get this very odd accent. I like to call it idiosyncratic (which I once told a dude who then responded with, "Oh, so you're from the Philippines?" which prompted a second response from another guy, "That's like near Guam, right?") because I essentially have my own way of speaking. That fact is emphasized due to my quirky personality where I will often stress words in different and weird ways. Like some days, I do sound like I am from New Jersey because I will stress the Q sound in the word just like New Jersey people do. Then if I start talking about Harry Potter or something, I am sure to start sounding very British, which I also think happens when I am trying to be professional. If I start talking about the South or the country... then I will sound more southern with select words.

I am a fucking anomaly, head case when it comes down to it. -______-

Does this bother me? Eh. It's just how it is, but I don't like it when a person immediately inquires about my accent when just meeting me. I also don't like to be asked about in more than three times a day. Though, I only get truly pissed (and I mean pissed) when people (only three so far) tell me to speak English because I fucking speak English. Hell, some people even think I am English, and you can't get more English than that. However, I probably understand English better than they do themselves even with their "normal" accent since it was always my best subject in school. Given I don't always know how to properly pronunce a word, my vocabulary is bigger than the average person's. But, I always respond with, "Do you not understand my American?" Though, I do have a tendency to talk real fast, so... sometimes I do sound like I am spewing out jibberish. *shrugs*


----------



## dancingmoonbaby (Oct 4, 2012)

I have had people coming up to me speaking Arabic before which I thought was interesting, as I do have Middle Eastern ancestry down the line


----------



## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

<.< they don't which is odd and I have to tell them...I'm freaking Hungarian you know ..living in Romania and yeah its odd, I knew this girl from the US, who at first loved the accent...right up to the point where I got comfortable and it vanished. ( I speak a reasonably clean north american when calm. If I watch true blood for a while it can turn southern PPP)

Maybe its also down to my typical dirty dishwasher blonde caucasian with roman nose and green eyes appearance I have. So many cultural influences mix here, nobody gives a shit.


----------



## Kainita (Aug 31, 2011)

I get mistaken for Mexican, Cuban, or even Puerto Rican... I don't get it, but oh well. (My mother is German and my father is Scottish, don't ask) It tickles my funny bone when it happens, cause the only thing I have in common with them is my skin color.(My olive skin is naturally dark so it looks simular.)

Oh, I also don't speak good english(As in I don't pronounce words correctly) so that may be a factor.


----------



## FlaviaGemina (May 3, 2012)

Miss Mimmi said:


> I'm German living in the UK and I get all sorts of reactions. Some people hear my German accent right away, others just notice that I've got an accent and others even think that I grew up bilingual or that I'm British. Sometimes people get confused because my English apparently sounds neither particularly British or American or anything really. It's just standard English with a hint of a foreign accent that they can't define.


Same here, German living in the UK. My pupils often ask me "Miss, are you Polish" because apparently I look Polish _to them_. I used to work in the MFL department at my school, so lots of kids think I'm Spanish or French because these two languages are taught at my school. Other kids say I sound Irish or "half American". I get all kinds of mixed reactions from adults, some say I sound English and they wouldn't have thought I'm German, others comment right away that my accent sounds different but most can't tell that I'm German.


----------



## EternalNocturne (Nov 4, 2011)

This happens all the time.. I'm used to it. I think I sound like an American, but apparently my pronunciation of certain words leaves people with the impression that I'm European, and usually from the UK.


----------



## EternalNocturne (Nov 4, 2011)

Kainita said:


> (My mother is German and my father is Scottish, don't ask)


Wow, that's awesome!
That's somewhat the case with my parents.
My mother was a Hahn, and her father was mostly German. (Ancestry is scary.. The page is full of names like Freida and Adolph Glockzin, etc).
And apparently one of his grandparents had some fun with Quanah Parker or one of his kids, I don't know.. So we have a bit of Comanche thrown in.
My maternal grandmother was English, and Irish.
And on my father's side, it's his father's father married a Ferguson.. Our surname is Scottish already, so I'd say we have quite a fair bit of Scottish.
And my paternal grandmother, was mostly Cherokee.


----------



## magical faerie (Oct 17, 2012)

Usually people assume I'm from another country solely off my appearance, but one time I was mistaken for having an accent. I think I was just nervous when I spoke to this person and when I'm nervous my voice does strange things. That day in particular, it gave me an accent.


----------



## RobynC (Jun 10, 2011)

@Promethea



> There used to be a lot of russians who would work in my home town during the summer, and sometimes I would get "oh - you speak english!" from people who assumed by looking at me that I was one of the russians. *shrug*



When I first saw your picture, I thought you were Jewish. Many Jewish people are Ashkenazi, which is basically a mix of Russian, Polish, Ukranian, and Bulgarian -- I could imagine they could mistake you for Russian.

Nothing wrong with it though as you're attractive.


----------



## Vanderlyle (Jan 19, 2012)

I was born in England and lost my accent when I moved to Canada. There are some words that I still pronounce with an 'accent' (Yogurt and vitamin to name a couple) so when I tell people where I was born they're usually like "Ooooh, you know you still have an accent sometimes?", unless they've already asked me about it themselves. 
So yeah, they assumed correctly.


----------



## Doll (Sep 6, 2012)

Someone asked me what race I was when I was in the lobby at my work one time. 

My answer: "um... white....?" (I am translucent-white. It's sad). He went on to say he thought I was Irish. I thought it was neat, but it happens a lot (I think because I have green eyes?) My family is actually German/Irish, but there's far more German in me.


----------



## MEGPOCKET (Jun 23, 2021)

Mind Swirl said:


> I've been mistaken for a foreigner a few times (people have thought I seemed European or Canadian, I guess). I can think of quite a few instances where this happened. The strangest instance was when someone asked if I was Canadian because of my "accent". It doesn't bother me at all, I just think it's funny because I don't know what they're picking up on.
> 
> Has this ever happened to you?


 LOL yes. I get asked what country I am from all the time because of my "Accent" I am from UTAH. lol. But the thing is, nobody asks my brother or sisters where they are from.


----------



## ImminentThunder (May 15, 2011)

I’ve had people think I’m Arab (like from the Middle East), Mexican, Hawaiian, and even just a really tan full white person. I’m half Filipino and half white, always lived in the US and never been outside of North America.


----------



## mia-me (Feb 5, 2021)

Yes and no. As an obvious Asian of some form, although most can't quite pin my ethnicity 'cause I'm mixed, one can assume that people's brains think Asian. But the minute they hear me speak, since I have a generic North American accent, the 'fereigner' aspect dials down, at least for non-racists.


----------

