My name is Arnau and I'm from Barcelona.
Over the last few years, I've been exposed to the British culture a lot (I have British friends, I've been living in Brighton for a while, I watch British TV shows, etc.) and I've kind of 'developed' a British accent. Obviously, I don't speak like a native speaker but many Brits have told me that my pronunciation is pretty good.
However, I've recently noticed that whenever I speak with non-native speakers of English (my classmates at uni, foreigners, my friends, etc.), they tend not to understand me if I speak with my 'default' accent which is non-rhotic. And in order to make them understand me, I need to repeat what I said in a rhotic accent.
So, for example, the other day I was answering a question that my math teacher asked (who's Spanish) and the conversation went like this:
MY TEACHER: What is wrong with these propositions?
ME: You have to change the order (/'ɔː.də'/).
TEACHER: Sorry?
ME: You need to change the order (/'ɔː.də'/).
TEACHER: You need to change what?
ME: The order (/'ɔː.də'/). (I pronounce it slowly and she doesn't answer anything. So, I repeat 'order' again with a rhotic accent.) The order (/'ɔːr.dər'/).
TEACHER: Ah! The order (/'or.der/).
Another situation. I was talking to a friend from France.
MY FRIEND: I don't think I'll ever pass the exam.
ME: Maybe you need to work (/wɜːk/) harder (/'hɑː.də/).
FRIEND: I need to what?
ME: Work (/wɜːk/) harder (/'hɑː.də/).
FRIEND: I don't understand you.
ME: You need to work (/wɝːk/) harder (/'hɑːr.dər/).
FRIEND: Ahh okay! Yeah, you're right.
You see what I mean? Why does this happen? Is it because when they teach us English, they only teach us the rhotic variety of English?
Any thoughts?
Thank you.
P.S.: This only happens to me when I speak to non-native speakers. If I talk to my British or American friends with my non-rhotic accent, I don't have any problem being understood.
This only happens to me when I speak to non-native speakers
because many European learners think the letter R should always be pronounced, and probably their teachers at school emphasized that letter in their speech patterns due to 1st language (mother tongue) interference. Tell your friends, colleagues, and acquaintances that your pronunciation is correct (but not hearing your accent or your pronunciation, it's impossible to know for certain).