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They told me to stop focusing on accent

February 14, 2020 By Daniel

“people don’t care about accent”

You know who told me that? People who don’t speak a second language. Try walking one day in the shoes of someone who LIVES in their second language. You have a big advantage don’t you? Confidence, prejudice, easy communication, opportunities, Maybe you like that advantage… I focus on accent because Im asked to.

I don’t know if Chinese will ever become the next global language, but if it does become the global language be suspicious of anyone telling you not to sound more native.

I recently wrote a post on this topic on Linkedin.     Here are some of the comments from people:

“I’m an English native who speaks Arabic and I can absolutely testify that accent is key. Predominately if you wish to be treated equally in the local country. And with Arabic, the accents vary so drastically that they are the pinnacle to local interaction. If you don’t learn the accent, you’ll always be viewed differently. It’s just human nature unfortunately.” –  Jack Heyton

I am nearly 50% deaf at the frequency of human speech. (An ironic disability for a linguist, I know.) I miss a lot of what is said to me and need to frequently ask speakers to repeat what they said. I cannot hear whispered speech, no matter how “loud” the whisper. Thick accents from NNS make a bad situation worse. I rely on guessing and prediction to “fill in” missed words, and if speech is heavily accented I may miss too many words to get enough context to fill in the gaps. I have given up on numerous business interactions or sometimes basically handed the phone to my partner out of frustration and let him finish the call. – Heidi Brumbaugh

Daniel Wolfson, Accent Reduction Coach -sounding more “native” allows a person to be accepted but being knowledgeable of meaning of words should not be forgotten. English is my first language & do have a second language that I am not so fluent in and this is Bahasa Malaysia. I have spent the last 40 odd years learning the meaning of many Aussie slang. I myself think that having clear understanding is also very important! –Anushiya Selvarajah – Customer Service Professional

Well said, Daniel Wolfson, Accent Reduction Coach! 🙂I do certainly agree that prejudice, opportunity and confidence go hand in hand with the accent. I live my days in third and fourth language sometimes and I totally get how difficult it could become for a non-English speaker with an accent! –Anu Wat  Immigration Consultant

Contrary to beliefs, proper accent and diction is vital for a good conversation. Language sounds all the more refined when accent is improved especially with people who use English as a second language. Honing and reducing the slur as well as the intonation along with the rolling of the consonants is by far a mammoth challenge in pruning the speech of a  person. Speak English as it’s meant to be spoken. Chaste and precise!! – Carol Sankhe  Author, Editor & Freelance Writer

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