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Originally Posted by Tdol  However, people with very strong regional forms might well find the professional horizons are more restricted in the globalised age. If people fifty miles outside your city can't understand you, will clients in Shanghai? |
Many people are bilingual within their own language. Just as many people would say, "Did you have a pleasant journey?" to a client but, "So you got here in once piece?" to a friend, so many people will tend to speak formal standard English in business contexts while speaking broad dialect at home. Often without realising it.
I notice this with my wife, but in German. Because I am not a native speaker, she unconsciously moderates her accent considerably when talking to me; but put her in a room with her family members and a bewildering transformation takes place -- suddenly her accent is thick enough to insulate a house with.