A common reason that people schedule a consultation with Well Said Coaching is that they want to speak English with a native accent.
Leaving aside the fact that there are dozens of native English accents across the world (10 or so alone in the U.S., depending on how you count), my first question is often, “Why?” Not because I doubt the person's sincerity or discount their concerns, but if I know why someone wants to lose their accent, then I can help them set an achievable goal. When I ask, “Why do you want to lose your accent?”, the most common answers I hear are:
All of these are perfectly valid reasons. But losing your accent is not necessarily going to address these concerns. Here’s why:
Case in point: I was once visiting a very rural part of Wisconsin in the Midwest, and a clerk in a convenience store asked me where I was from. He thought I was from South Africa (I'm from New Jersey!) But to his ears, I had a foreign accent. I completely understand that being asked, “Where are you from?” can be tiresome and even, in some circumstances, insulting. But remember, the U.S. is a big country. Use that to your advantage. My suggestion is to answer the question and then ask it in return: “What part of the U.S. are you from?” And then, when you hear the answer, strike up a conversation. Ask questions about their home state or town. Mention that you have visited there, or would like to. The point is to get them talking about where they are from, rather than where you are from. It’s called “re-directing”. And it works like a charm. Of course, accents can sometimes provoke discrimination and unfair judgment. I don’t want to minimize that. But given the arduous, if impossible, task of eliminating an accent, it's important to explore alternate ways to address the reasons for wanting to lose that accent in the first place. In short, aim for what is doable, not what is dubious. Well Said Coaching focuses almost exclusively on reason #1: speech clarity. We help our clients acquire the speech patterns of another language, in this case English, rather than eliminate their accents. In other words, we strive for accent clarity, not accent elimination. So why do you want to lose your accent? If you clearly define the reason, it can lead you to the best intervention--one that you can help you achieve your goals without losing your beautiful accent. Comments are closed.
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AuthorTips and tidbits about speaking English well from Karen Schiff, founder of Well Said Coaching. Archives
August 2023
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