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I think that depends where you are. I'm a Londoner, and I can generally pick out who is or isn't a native speaker, but I don't remark on it. Lots of people here

I think that depends where you are. I'm a Londoner, and I can generally pick out who is or isn't a native speaker, but I don't remark on it. Lots of people here aren't native English speakers, and all I'd accomplish by pointing that out would be alienating them. I imagine you get a similar feeling in New York or San Francisco, not that I've been to those places. Conversely, if you go to some parts of the North, people absolutely _will_ remark on it.

opheliate 6y ago
That seems like a pretty sweeping generalisation of the North and South. I'm aware that I'm responding to anecdotal evidence with an anecdote myself here, but I come from a fairly small Southern town myself, and I've been harassed here before for "sounding foreign" (my family are Irish, so my accent is a little strange, despite living in England for my entire life). Conversely, having moved to the North for university, no-one's ever remarked on my accent. I don't think this is necessarily a regional thing.
- jgwil2 6y ago
  It's a question of whether you're used to encountering foreigners in your daily life. People in big cities and university towns are; people in rural areas less so.