Hongkongers find the British accent the sexiest foreign accent when speaking English, according to a survey by language learning platform Preply. The poll, which was conducted on 1,000 residents of the city, also found that the Hong Kong accent came out on top when it came to the most attractive Asian accents when speaking English, and ranked second among all vocal stylings. In addition, the survey revealed that Hongkongers find the Indian and Japanese accents the hardest to understand, but still wish to be fluent in Japanese.
50% of Hongkongers say the British accent is the sexiest
The survey revealed that 49.8% of respondents find the British accent the most sensual when speaking English, followed by French (31.0%) and American (28.4%). The Hong Kong accent (43.1%) claimed the top spot among Asian accents and was ranked the second-most attractive way of speaking English overall, showing that hometown pride was a major factor among poll-takers. The Japanese accent (22.3%) was voted the second-most desirable Asian accent, with Singaporean (15.9%) rounding out the top 3.
English speakers in Hong Kong rated Filipino as the most alluring Asian accent, with it being the most popular pick for 27.7% of respondents. Overall, the Pakistani, Nepali, and Vietnamese accents were among the least enticing accents. Another interesting finding is that more men in Hong Kong (48.9%) preferred their hometown accent than women in the city (35.6%). Additionally, 33.4% of participants surveyed said that they had no preference for any accent in particular.
One-third of Hongkongers judge co-workers based on their accents
When asked if they allow their co-workers’ accents to influence their opinions of their skills on the job, 31.7% of respondents confessed to forming opinions about their colleagues based on the way they sound when they speak English. It also seems that younger members of the workforce are particularly guilty of making these judgments, with 39.9% of Gen Z survey takers admitting to accent bias, and 30.7% of Millennials saying they do the same.
In addition, Preply’s poll found that most Hongkongers surveyed find it difficult to follow the Indian accent, with 40% of respondents saying they struggle to understand English spoken this way. This is followed by Japanese (24.9%), Pakistani (19.9%), and Chinese (14.5%). However, residents of the city seem to have little difficulty comprehending English spoken with American (3.0%), British (4.8%), and Hong Kong (5.0%) accents.
A will to learn Japanese, Korean and… Cantonese
When asked which language they’d like to be well-versed in overnight, 64.2% wished they could be fluent in Japanese if they had the chance, while Korean (42%) and Cantonese (24.3) emerged as the next most popular choices. However, respondents didn’t seem particularly keen to learn Lao, Khmer, and Hindi as only 1.4%, 2.4%, and 2.8% respectively showed interest in picking these languages up.
Preply also discovered that many respondents want to learn Cantonese — the most widely spoken language in Hong Kong — with 35.4% of English speakers and 47.1% of survey-takers who cited other mother tongues hoping to learn it. Native English speakers said they’d also like to study Mandarin (24.6%), while even more respondents who have other first languages (44.1%) said it’s on their language proficiency wish-list.
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