CW: Is there anything wrong with having an accent? LD: An accent is only a problem if people misunderstand you or can’t understand you at all. People must be able to understand you on first hearing. The bottom line is, people don’t want to work that hard to understand you. If you have a strong accent, people have to listen very carefully to understand what you’re saying. Since most people don’t want to work that hard this puts you and your ideas at a disadvantage. Having a strong accent can cause problems in business when interactions and communications involve money, time and resources. When you’re presenting important data and ideas to executives who can’t understand what you’re saying, you’re literally wasting their time. And time is money. Consequently you may be relegated to being just a team member or a bench scientist or a data entry clerk instead of being given visibility and a chance to interact with management and move up the corporate ladder.
CW: Are there personal and financial benefits to reducing an accent? LD: You’ll receive more professional opportunities, recognition and status. You’ll increase your self-confidence. You’ll improve your potential for promotion, resulting in greater income and enhanced lifestyle.
Reducing your accent improves the clarity of your English pronunciation. It doesn’t affect the overall coloration and flavor of how you sound. Many international heads of state, scientists, technology entrepreneurs and media professionals speak English clearly and correctly but definitely retain their national personality, color and “flavor.” You can understand them perfectly and it’s a delight to listen to them. The reality is: if you improve your pronunciation, you will diminish your accent, but not lose it entirely unless that’s your goal. In that case, the more time, effort and practice you put in to improve your pronunciation, the less obvious your accent will be. The choice is yours.
