Does accent affect your daily work & life?
Tiger L
4 replies
For non-native speakers, accents can sometimes create barriers in professional environments. For instance, a strong accent might lead to misunderstandings or require additional effort to ensure clear communication. This can be particularly difficult in meetings or presentations where precise information is crucial. Similarly, when dealing with customer service representatives who have strong accents—such as an accent that might be hard to understand for some callers—communication can become challenging.
How has your experience been with accents, either as a non-native speaker or when interacting with those who have different accents?
Replies
Desire Waterman@desire_waterman
Accents can make presentations a bit nerve wracking. I often worry people won’t understand me, so I speak slowly and clearly.
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Accents can definitely cause some communication challenges at times! I had a similar situation with a customer support rep - their thick accent combined with a bad phone connection made it really hard to understand them and resolve my issue. It was frustrating for both of us. But overall I try to be patient, listen closely, and ask for clarification if needed. Accents are a natural part of human diversity after all!
@liampatricksullivan Yep. It’s important to appreciate the diversity accents bring. Clear communication is key, and asking for clarification when needed is a smart approach :）
In my global team, accents definitely add some communication challenges, especially during calls. We’ve had to adapt, but it can be tough.