belong Archives - Every Speaker Counts

Motivation, VideoDecember 17, 2023April 17, 2024

Where are you from? How to react to this question

I often hear that if your pronunciation in English is clear, your foreign accent doesn’t matter. Then why do I meet so many people whose English is intelligible and fluent, but they still cringe when someone asks where their accent is from? In this post, I’m gonna talk about having a foreign accent in the […]

MotivationJanuary 15, 2023April 17, 2024

What to do when others comment on your accent

Never lose your accent. You sound so cute.” I used to hear this sentence a lot when I first moved from Europe to Minneapolis, Minnesota and started to speak English. While I nodded and smiled politely, my soul was screaming from the inside: “I don’t want to be cute when I speak. I’m not a […]

MotivationOctober 23, 2022October 23, 2022

The power of community – a weekend in NYC

One of the strongest desires we humans have is the need to belong. Even the most individualistic people – the ones who like being alone and working on their own – strive to have a community of like-minded peers with whom they can share their views, ideas, and passions. As I was on my way […]

CultureAugust 7, 2022August 9, 2022

Seven things I am still not used to in the US

Although I have lived in the United States for over twenty years, there are still some things that I am not used to. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life here and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Although I enjoy traveling, I consider the US my home. Through the years, I’ve made many […]

CultureJune 19, 2022June 19, 2022

Companies to nonnative speakers: you can’t apply

How would you feel if you saw a job posting that said: “Our company is looking for physical labor workers who can lift 100 pounds or more. Only men can apply.” Or what about this one: “We are looking for a teacher. Only women will be considered. Please specify that you are a female when […]

CultureMay 15, 2022May 15, 2022

Declining fluency in your native language?

Last night I had a dream that I was back in my native Bulgaria. I was in a store, buying something, and the cashier asked me where I was from. “I’m from here,” I responded, confused as to why he’d asked me this question. “You have an accent,” he responded. I felt devastated. “Bulgarian is […]

MotivationApril 17, 2022June 23, 2022

Bias against foreign accent and how to handle it

When I first came to the US at the age of 25, I couldn’t wait to learn English. I didn’t doubt my abilities because I had already learned Polish in my early 20s and knew that English grammar was easier. I imagined that when I learn grammar and enough vocabulary, I would be a confident […]

Culture, MotivationJanuary 2, 2022August 3, 2022

You in a new culture: to blend in or to stand out?

Is it better to blend in or to stand out? As a little child growing up in communistic Bulgaria, I always wanted to blend in. Not that there were many opportunities to stand out anyway. Everyone was wearing almost the same clothes, watching the same TV programs (no wonder, we only had two TV channels […]

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