@venom
are accents frowned apon in Japaneses companies, or is it just that its hard to understand them?
It's considered impolite not to speak standard Japanese in formal/business contexts.
I think that's considered impolite in every language xD and I'm native from two.
Well, there's dialect and there's accent. Unlike in some languages, where regional dialects are close to being separate languages, US English definitely has discernible regional accents, but they're mutually intelligible unless you're talking about specific vocabulary and idioms, usually class-based.
in other words, businessmen from Minnesota and Tennessee would pronounce a number a words very differently, and the cadence of their speech would be quite different, but they'd think nothing of it when speaking to one another in terms of politeness. But both of them might have trouble understanding people from very rural areas of their own home states who were speaking a particular regional vernacular.
I'm from Pennsylvania, and I had sometimes trouble following Amish people from my own hometown when they spoke (although that's a bit of a special case).
Well, I'm from Spain and if I talk galician (one of the four languages we have) people always told me "you're talking too serious!" because of my form to talk it, sometime I even were mistaken for a portuguese woman xD but my way to talk spanish with this accent tend to be easygoing and I change my form to talk if I'm talking in formal speech because I think it's impolite if you don't talk how the rule says (or at least that's what they teached me). That's why I think it's a normal thing, if you have rules, just follow them in formal speech.
Fun fact: In older times, the formal version of the Kansai dialect was frequently used by prostitutes and geisha, as it sounded "high class" and "sexy". Incidentally, prostitutes weren't viewed as "whores" in any derogatory sense; they were viewed as women of culture and beauty, whereas the "common woman" was simply there to make kids and take care of the home. :p
Wow, I didn't know it o.o how curious. Thanks for sharing!