When you come to America from another country,
sometimes, knowing English is just not enough to fully assimilate with American
culture. The thickness of your accent can be a big detractor in some
situations, but it really is not a big deal in most. In the few situations
where your accent get you in trouble, it might be a good idea to seek out
classes or tutoring to improve on your English speaking skills and smooth out
your accent to be understood better.
I am of the belief that having an accent is
nothing to worry about or be ashamed of. The only things that you should worry
about are being understood, but as long as I can understand what you say, it
should not be a problem. Unfortunately, there are people out there with
prejudice, whether they know it or not. In some professional settings, it might
help you out to get rid of your accent and make sure that you are as
understandable as possible. It might be the difference between winning a
project and losing out. The sad fact is that people like people that they feel
similar to and language can be an instant difference maker that gets you in
trouble.
There was recently a story at an Ivy League
university about a graduate school professor that circulated a letter shaming
Chinese students for speaking their own language in the lounge in their free
time and not using the time to learn English. That kind of bigotry is not
acceptable in this country, but there are still lots of people out there that
have backwards views about people that are from other countries. It can be a
big help to at least improve in some ways, especially for your own sake.
So far, I have made it seem like losing your
accent is just to appease others, but that is not the
only reason that you might want to go to English
speaking classes. There are also lessons that you will learn in idioms and
American sayings that can help you assimilate both professionally and socially.
There are some cultural differences and phrases that only make sense to
Americans that you might not know that will leave you totally confused. It can
be really difficult to ask when you are confused and you might choose to just
laugh along, but that is why learning in a relaxed setting could be a great
idea.
Another way that you can improve on English
speaking on your own is through television and other media. It is a good idea
to vary the material that you watch because you might get locked into a
specific accent that makes no sense with your background, but TV shows are a
good way to learn some of the American idioms that are confusing. There are
even a bunch of comedies that have made jokes using those specific
international differences in language. There are a lot of people that say that
they learned English from sitcoms in America and it can be a good way to have a
community of Americans even when living among people that speak your native
language.
