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 child.” I’ve even had some coworkers who tried to imitate my accent, thinking that this is quite entertaining. And it was. For them, not for me.
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In the San Francisco Bay Area, where I now live, having a foreign accent is pretty common. Many people from all over the world come here to study or work in the biggest tech companies, and they all have different accents when they speak English. Most of them, however, are software engineers, scientists or doctors, and because these professions are often occupied by foreign people, having an accent in these fields has become the new normal. But there are many other occupations, such as writers, journalists, customer service agents, public relations and communication specialists or other jobs that require good language skills, and only few people whose mother tongue is not English occupy those.
It’s a common practice here for a person who is looking for a job to first go through a phone screening before being invited for an interview. Although this might be just a routine for native speakers, many nonnative speakers are terrified because they think that the interviewer will judge them based on their foreign accent. And research shows that they might be right.
Although most people claim that they don’t treat others differently based on a foreign accent or dialect, some studies show that in fact many native speakers perceive nonnative speakers or those with foreign accents to be less intelligent and trustworthy. There is a study showing that interviewers actively discriminate in telephone-based job interviews against applicants with certain foreign accents. Another study shows that people judge trivia statements such as “Ants don’t sleep” as less true when the words are spoken by a person with a foreign accent. That is, a native speaker saying exactly the same sentence was perceived to be more believable. This is a huge problem considering the fact that millions of people live and work in a country they migrated to as adults.
But can we really blame people for discriminating against speakers with foreign accents? Research shows that listening to people who speak with accents makes the human brain work harder. Different parts of the listeners’ brains are activated when they listen to a native versus nonnative speaker. And because the brain has to work much harder in order to make sense of the unfamiliar, this could lead to unintentional discrimination. Being aware of this fact is a very important step towards eliminating the bias.
Although most of us say that we don’t want to stereotype, all human beings do. We stereotype when we expect a person with a French accent to be quite knowledgeable about wine and cheese. Or when we think that every Italian knows how to cook pasta. Or that a person with a British accent must be super smart and sophisticated. Regardless of whether these beliefs are true or not, most of us share them. Even though stereotypes have a negative connotation, they are generalizations that come from some previous knowledge that we’ve acquired. Sometimes these generalizations might be false beliefs, but many times they are based on facts and help us make faster decisions. But although they might be helpful on many occasions, it’s important to determine when to question them.
For example, my accent tends to become stronger when I’m nervous. I remember some years ago when I was on my first phone screening for a job, I was so excited and nervous that the only thing I was thinking about was my accent. The reason I was so tense was because I was applying for a content writer position in a company I really wanted to work for. And since in the past my language skills had been questioned due to my accent, I knew that it would be harder for me to impress the interviewer over the phone. I usually do much better in person. But the more I tried to speak better, the more anxious I got and hence I could barely talk. Needless to say, I didn’t reach the next level of the interview process. Maybe it was because my nerves got the best of me on that phone screening. But based on my previous experience, there is a big chance that the interviewer questioned my competence in the English language because he heard my foreign accent.
Now, after years of working on both my English pronunciation and my self-confidence, I know that I would handle such a situation differently. I would face the elephant in the room by openly mentioning my accent and explaining to the interviewer that while English is not my native language, I learned it quite well and I am able to write at a professional level. Had I done that back then, I think both of us would have focused on having a more productive conversation.
What to do when you think your accent is hindering your success
Below are five tips on what you can do when someone makes a comment about your accent.
1. Differentiate between accent and pronunciation
Make sure that you distinguish between these two terms. Pronunciation training is different from the “speak like a native” and “lose your accent in 30 days” courses that target people’s insecurities and set false expectations. According to research, after puberty it is almost impossible to completely lose one’s foreign accent. By early childhood, a solid foundation of the native language phonology is already formed, and these sounds serve as a reference point for decoding the sounds of other languages that are learned later in life. So most people who learn a second language as adults will have a foreign accent, regardless of their full mastery of grammar and other aspects of the language, such as semantics and pragmatics. But nonnative speakers can still benefit from pronunciation instruction because it increases not only speaking and listening skills, but also self-confidence.
So if you think that people don’t understand you and you could improve your pronunciation, look for a course or a coach to help you with that. If you learn how to communicate clearly in English, don’t worry too much that people can still notice your foreign accent. You can brag about knowing more than one language – something that not many people can say about themselves.
2. Mention your accent
If you have an important meeting or an interview and the only thing you can think of is that your competence is being questioned because you have an accent, address it. Maybe you can make a joke like the Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman Arrianna Huffington did remarkably well here. Or maybe you can acknowledge that you are a bit nervous because people have commented on your accent before, but that doesn’t have anything to do with your knowledge on the matter being discussed. Just make sure that you appear open and friendly. If you do that, other people will want to help you and make you feel comfortable.
3. Reevaluate your goals
There are certain people who are close-minded and nothing you do or say would be good enough for them. If you find yourself in a situation when someone laughs at you or tries to imitate the way you speak, ask yourself if you really want to be around them. Sometimes the best you can do for your own sake is to move on and cut communication with such people.
4. Educate others
If someone asks you where you are from or comments that they hear an accent, this is your chance to share with them something interesting about your culture and language. For example, I always tell people that Slavic last names have different endings depending on the person’s gender. Many Americans don’t know this and are truly amused when I tell them this fact. You can share something that is unique to your language or something that was challenging for you in the beginning when you started learning English. This is a great icebreaker and gives you an opportunity to shine.
5. Stay confident
This might be one of the hardest things to do when someone comments on the way you speak. At such moments, we all become self-aware and sometimes we just want to cave in. But even if someone claims they don’t understand what you are saying or asks you to repeat several times, try not to apologize for the way you sound. Of course, you can work on improving your pronunciation, but remember that you speak another language, so try to stay confident.
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Has anyone ever made a comment about your accent in English? How did you feel about it? Let me know in the comment section or just shoot me an email. Sharing is caring 😉.
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