---
title: "“I have a bad English accent”"
teaser: You can hear my home country from my first sentence. And so what?
tags: communication,dei,inclusion
author: Rémy Hannequin
published_on: 2023-10-03
---

English is not my native language. My mother tongue doesn't really matter but I
know that my nationality, as many others, has the reputation of having a strong
accent when speaking in English. thoughtbot is my first job having to speak in
English throughout the day, and even if I know I have improved my English level
since I joined, especially spoken, my native accent remains strong. Working in a
foreign language is a double-edged sword: you're continuously challenging and
improving your skills, but it also
[requires extra work](https://thoughtbot.com/blog/working-in-my-native-language-requires-empathy).

I used to feel ashamed of my native accent. I would regularly ask my teammates
if I was understandable, or asking for feedback about my accent. When I asked
for people to be honest, I usually heard nice things, but also confirmation that
my native accent remained strong, and thought of all the work I still had to do
to fix that. <q>I have a bad English accent</q>.

But why exactly did I want to reduce my native accent? If not my native one,
which accent was I aiming to have? With some introspection and talks with
friends, I discovered that many of us might have bias when hearing people with a
distinctive accent. We are more focused on trying to understand the sentences
when we're not used to the accent, rather than what is actually said. To some
extent, there is even sometimes a feeling of the person being less qualified.

> Like the non-male, the non-white and the non-able-bodied, non-native speakers
> often face an uphill struggle to be heard and taken seriously. Research shows
> that they are seen as less intelligent and competent, are less likely to be
> found suitable for higher-status jobs, and are less likely to be believed when
> delivering trivia statements.
>
> _([source](https://theconversation.com/heres-how-your-foreign-accent-can-unfairly-destroy-your-credibility-125981))_

I am doing my best to work on this bias but I am convinced that I suffer or used
to suffer from this on both sides: unconsciously judging people based on
their accent, and fearing to appear less competent because of my mine. This
probably fuelled me to work harder to reach someday the “proper English accent”.

## There is no such thing as a proper English accent

In my mind, I had to sound more British or North-American. Not only will we see
why this goal is motivated by the wrong reasons, but even selecting "British or
North-American" is arbitrary and doesn't make sense. Is the British accent the
one from London? Which part of London? What about Manchester, which is as
British as London. What about Glasgow, with the Scottish accent famously
considered _stronger_, which is also a British accent.

Even if we could miraculously agree on what _the_ British accent is, would it
make it the "right" English accent? Would then another accent from Texas, USA,
or Ontario, Canada, be _right_ as well? Where is the limit?

Now, let's talk about Singapore. English is one of its official languages and is
even the [_lingua franca_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca). The
standard form of English used in Singapore is called the Standard Singapore
English, also known as Singlish.
[Singlish being heavily influenced](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish#Phonology)
by Malay, Hokkien and Cantonese, can any accent from anyone in Singapore be
considered proper English? The answer is yes. As can any accent from people speaking
Jamaican English or Nigerian English.

[There is no such thing as proper English](https://www.elliggroup.com/against-proper-english/)
or proper English accent, because **any accent is legitimate**.

## The accent doesn't matter for correctness but inclusivity

When I had doubts about my native accent, my team lead once said to me: "Most
people like hearing _my national_ accent". They also said: "The British accent
is overrated". That is what inspired me writing this blog article. At first,
what they said reassured me, thinking that my native accent could be
appreciated, even if, in my opinion, incorrect. Later, it helped me realise this
thinking wasn't relevant. **Our ability to communicate and share knowledge and
experience matters most.**

In my team, there are more than a dozen different nationalities and even more
accents. We can all speak English and understand each other, while having very
different ways of speaking it. **This diversity is what really helped me
improve my English**, more than my own dedication to learn the language.

We already talked about
[having a diverse team](https://thoughtbot.com/blog/thoughtbot-s-journey-toward-dei)
on this blog. Another positive aspect is
[being open to any voice](https://www.lessaccent.com/accent-reduction-programs/diversity-and-inclusion/)
whatever it sounds like. Having a team with people from a lot of different
backgrounds will bring many different accents, and **many different accents will
help make a team more equitable and inclusive, where people can be themselves**.

## What accent should I have?

I still want to improve my English accent, **to be able** to sound less of my
native accent. Not because I want to sound more qualified, but because I,
personally, want to be able to master my accent and my pronunciation. This is
not required for my work, this is not needed for speaking with clients. This is
part of a process to improve my English overall. I want to be able to decide
whenever I want to share part of my identity through my accent or not. And also
because it's fun to master a skill.

I do my best not to think too much of my accent. It is part of who I am, where I
come from. My pronunciation can even sometimes bring context about some existing
English words. My accent, as my nationality, my background or my story, is an
opportunity to bring my part to a diverse team where we all learn from each
other. I have a ~~bad~~ accent in English, and that's okay.