accents are sexy unless it's the wrong type of accent
a tidbit on language hierachy and accent perception
When my mom came to this country in her late 20s, she had a Filipino accent. To this day, she still kind of does but it’s a lot less prominent.
To Americans, her accent was never seen as a sign of courage. It made her an outsider. It made her an outsider even to Filipino-Americans.
Personally, I love accents. So much of one’s identity, story, and history can be informed through their accent—even when a native English speaker speaks another language! There is a lot of bravery and courage that goes into learning another language and I think it’s such a shame that collectively, we don’t see it that way.
I can’t even imagine the courage it took for my mom to leave the only home she knew to live in an entirely new country with an entirely different culture and lifestyle. The Philippines has a very collectivistic culture where families and communities play a central role. She was surrounded by friends and family. America on the other hand is a very individualistic country. She left her close knit community of friends and family to move to a country where she literally only knew one person—my dad. That’s terrifying. And it takes a lot of courage.
While I do think it’s important to be understood while speaking another language, I wish we could feel less ashamed when we get pronunciations wrong. Learning and speaking another language is really cool and your accent just shows one’s openness and worldliness! (Sex tourists: this does not apply to you. You are not cool and will never be cool and you do not have a genuine appreciation for the culture.)
In America, xenophobia and racism motivates people to reduce their accent as much as possible. When my mom first started working in Corporate America™, her accent made her seem like she was somehow less educated, less smart, and not worthy of being taken seriously. Yeah, all because she pronounced words a little bit differently despite literally speaking 4 languages fluently. Seriously, who cares if someone has an accent if they speak 4 languages? America is so ludicrously illogical lmao
Whenever I try speaking another language—even if I have an American accent at times—I’m always commended by native speakers because at least I’m trying. Yet when a non-native English speaker speaks English with a foreign accent, it’s never commended. Do you know how difficult of a language English is to learn? Even native speakers pronounce words wrong because it’s not a very phonetic language. Why is Kansas pronounced Kansas when Arkansas is pronounced Arkansas? America, exblain!!!
I also think it’s important to note the difference in treatment that (western) European accents receive vs the treatment that South American, African, or Asian accents receive. French and British accents are always so *sexy* or ~dreamy~ while Mexican or Chinese accents are seen as low class or ignorant. Not all accents are created equal in the home of the Brave, land of the Free!*
*Disclaimer: not all Freedom is attainable nor distributed equally
On the flip side: when I was living and going to school in the Philippines and pronounced certain words with an American accent (the syllable and stress patterns between Tagalog and English are so different), I was nevertheless perceived as educated because speaking proper English was still more valued than even speaking Tagalog at all. This is certainly one of the many consequences of American colonialism. When I was trying to learn fluent Tagalog, sometimes I was told that speaking konyo was better than speaking Tagalog straight.
Konyo in the Philippines refers to a manner of speaking Tagalog & English in a way that is used by youth in the upper classes of society. It became very apparent to me that it was more than just a manner of speech—it was also a class marker. It’s a bit different from speaking Taglish, which is where a sentence is primarily in Tagalog with English words thrown in. With konyo, it’s the opposite—it’s a primarily English sentence structure with Tagalog words thrown in.
So I could get away with speaking two incomplete languages yet still be seen as literate. And honestly? The acceptance of my lack of Filipino speaking skills is the reason why I’m not completely fluent in Tagalog to this day! When I lived in the Philippines, if I didn’t know a certain word or phrase, I would just say it in English and it was fine. This + time away from the Philippines is definitely why my Filipino vocabulary is so limited lmao
Also isn’t it weird that when you know how to pronounce 김치찌개 it’s inconsequential but when you know how to pronounce ~*~hors d'oeuvres~*~, you’re suddenly super cultured and bougie? There’s undoubtedly a language hierarchy in the world and accent perception is associated with that.
This is just your reminder that if you’re learning English and/or you have accent, you’re BRAVE. You are stepping completely out of your comfort zone and doing something that 99% of Americans never even attempt in their lifetimes outside of the ¿donde esta la biblioteca? in their required 9th grade foreign language class.
Even in you’re a native English speaker and you’re speaking a new language with an accent, you’re still stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something that 99% of English speakers never even attempt in their lifetimes outside of the ¿donde esta la biblioteca? in their required 9th grade foreign language class.
Side note: isn’t it funny how ¿donde esta la biblioteca? is like one of the first ‘helpful’ phrases that you’re taught in Spanish class? If you’re in Guatemala and you ask someone where the library is, you are going to find yourself in a library full of books that are written in a language that you neither speak nor understand (presumably, since you are in week one of Spanish class.) I just think that’s funny