by Jocelyn Luk

Created on: February 16, 2010

Growing up in Hong Kong, I was accustomed to be surrounded with various accents. There were the remains of the past British colony, which influenced our education. There were also American movies and dramas which caught our attention. There were Filipino maids. Of course, there was also the common Hong Kong accent. To me it was just natural for accents: you come from a different place, hence a different accent; it was still English, right? I never realised there was this big debate on accents until I was in my late teens, when some of my friends came back for holidays after studying overseas; mostly, it was between the British and the Americans.

Later, I myself was sent over to Australia, and I realised how a foreign accent could really be an obstacle. Initially, I tried to fit in by speaking more English – they didn’t appreciate it. In fact, I slowly saw how “true” locals see us: if you don’t speak in their accent, you’re not speaking English good enough. Speaking with an accent reveals your true identity, and until you speak theirs, you will never be regarded as one of them. It is a cruel reality. You can’t blame anyone, though: imagine yourself at your home country, and someone comes speaking to you in your language, but in a different accent and makes a few random mistakes here and there. Apparently, this person is trying very hard to blend in. After a while, I managed to master the Australian accent (not perfect, of course). Ironically, one day my friend pointed out to me, “Your English improved.” It had not – I only changed my accent.

Speaking with a foreign accent not only labels you as “immigrant” or “foreign”, but you are in general stereotyped as having bad English, or even poor communication skills. I would like to point out that there is no equation here. There are many people who master English very well, but speak with an accent only because of where they grew up. My Australian English teacher once told us that in fact many Hong Kong or Singaporean teachers have a more solid grammar foundation than they do. During my university years, a fellow classmate, who was local, pointed out that a Malaysian in the class had poor communication skills because he had an accent and she couldn’t understand what he was saying; 20 minutes later, this same girl insisted that “grateful” is spelt as “greatful”. Interestingly, other accents are actually honoured. For example, if you speak with a Swedish accent, you are considered to be a pretty amazing person.

What I am trying to put here is this: speaking with a certain accent does not indicate your level of ability. Sure, you might have poor English, meaning you can’t communicate your ideas through effectively in an English-speaking world. However, it is no indication of one’s accounting experience, work efficiency, or organisational skills. There is too much unnecessary debate on accents, when it’s only one language after all.

We are now in a world with great mobility. So what do we do, when we can’t escape from meeting people of different ethnicities speaking different accents? Stop paying too much attention on someone’s accent, and get to know more people from different backgrounds. It will make you a more lovable person than anguish which stems from thinking “Amerrrrricans eck-ceent” or “Austraiiiilian accunt”.

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