[mikejharrison]

I'm English. A couple of years ago I started learning Italian by listening to podcasts (Coffee Break Italian) and reading children's books. I then travelled to Assisi to try it out for the first time. The locals were fantastic, they slowed down and spoke very clearly. It's a beautiful place.

I agree though, travelling and learning about new places in another language is awesome, it unlocks so much, and really encourages you to learn.

[FearNotDaniel]

> they slowed down and spoke very clearly

I wish Austrians were the same... unfortunately most folks here tend to switch between fast German with a thick local dialect, or talking back to me in English, neither of which helps me to actually improve my German...

[robocat]

If a foreigner came to my country and asked me to speak to them with an accent from another country, I would be insulted.

If living in a region or a country I like to learn the local dialect.

Although I admit that leads to general laughter later e.g. when I spoke Spanish in Seville people laughed at my hick Cuban accent, and then in Madrid they laughed at my hick Andalusian accent!

However I think trying to learn accents helps you a lot later with your spoken language ability... I have seen how strongly some regional people negatively react to a "correct" Spanish Madrileño accent (seen as very snobby/uptight/unfriendly). I had fun the other day taking to a Chilean: I could hear some parts of the accent which were reminiscent of Sevilla, so I could mimic some of the Chilean accent and not sound like a twat (and we had an awesome discussion about it too).

[CydeWeys]

I've given up the idea of ever considering learning German. It's simply not necessary. They all speak English. Unless you're going to live there long term, you don't need it.