Which should be given more priority, Accent or Grammar ?

Question

http://www.neutralaccent.com

Answer 1

Grammar first then worry about the accent!

Answer 2

Both are very important, but I'd chose grammar.

Answer 3

Grammar.  Lots of people, myself included, view poor grammar as a negative much more so than an accent.  It's viewed as a sign of laziness and ignorance.    

Answer 4

grammar. accent is nothing if your saying everything incorrectly.  

Answer 5

Poor grammar is a big turn off. So i'd say grammar is more important.

Answer 6

Grammar, of course but the whole point is to be understood.

Answer 7

Grammar, without a doubt. That your speech has a logical and familiar structure to the native speakers of a language must be much more importance than the conformity of the sounds.

Answer 8

if you have proper grammar, wouldn't that make you sound fluent hence making your accent seem a little less noticable because you speak properly?

Answer 9

Grammar. Having the perfect accent isn't necessary; what's necessary is understandable communication, pragmatics and grammar. Accent is usually a cultural matter and not having an authentic accent can make one appear uneducated or inferior, but that's wrong.

Answer 10

A wide range of accents is a good thing. Poor grammar is not. Albeit some accents are infuriating, but if we all spoke uniformly it would be boring. The s**y Spanish guy on your holiday who whisks you away would speak the Queen's English or whatever. Rubbish. I have noticed one example of finishing a sentence on a prepostion in the responses to this question (which is technically wrong but sometimes a bit too clumsy to avoid.) Poor grammar though can hinder the speaker's/writer's intended message. It is not solely a pedant's OCD. Grammar and punctuation were invented so that we can understand each other better. Saying this I try my best not to correct people on their grammar in everyday speech most of the time even though i notice far too many people getting "less" and "fewer" mixed up or "your" and "you're" in writing, or "must of" instead of "must have" etc.

Answer 11

grammar!

Without a doubt. haha i spelled grammar wrong the 1st time. Thank god for spell check. What does this have to do with LGBT though? haha

Answer 12

Grammar

Answer 13

On an online forum like Yahoo! Answers, GRAMMAR!!!

Answer 14

Start with grammar, as good grammar will allow you to be more easily understood.

Thick accents can make spoken language a bit harder to understand, but no grammar equals gibberish.

Answer 15

Grammar.

Answer 16

Oh defiantly grammar!  An accent can be very hard to either create or get rid of.  Grammar is just studying rather than changing your self.  I personally HATE bad grammar.  I think people who live in a country and have to learn a new language, but don't even try to learn the language correctly are just insulting the native speakers.

Answer 17

in the "friggin'" US:  grammar...and punctuation...!

accents are cool!!

Answer 18

Depends whether you prefer speaking or writing.  So here and now, grammar every time.

Answer 19

Grammar. No question!

Answer 20

For native speakers much important is grammar but for foreigners it is the accent and pronunciation.