<p>I have to give a few presentations this semester, but the problem is that I have an accent. Many people have told me that my accent is "soft" but perceptible enough. I've been living in the U.S. for 10 years, and in the past, I've been made fun of because of my accent. There are times when people exchange perplexed looks, as if saying; "Did you understand what she said?" </p>
<p>I'm very self-conscious about it, and as a result, it has stirred anxiety in me. My old fears remain: Will people laugh at me? Will I ridicule myself? Will they understand me? Please understand that, however much we try, non-natives still have trouble pronouncing some words. It is not a matter of "speaking clearly and slowly." If we could, we would.</p>
<p>Without hearing you speak in a presentation, it is hard to say if your fears are baseless.</p>
<p>There are accent reduction classes, often at community colleges. The four-year college I teach at has a good international student support program, and they have ESL and accent reduction courses. All their ESL classes have a lot of silly presentation, like how to boil water, how to find a new car, etc. so there really isn’t too much work putting them together, and then everyone talks about the different issues together.</p>
<p>One of the tricks is to teach people how to say <em>near</em> the right sound in their own language, but not the exact equivalent. Sometimes what happens is that trying for the exact sound in English ends up worse than making it up on your own.</p>
<p>For example, my dad’s native language doesn’t have a J. Instead, it is modeled as “DZ” and comes out closer sounding to a J than trying to say a J exactly.</p>
<p>You also could try to contact people who speak your language, maybe through a cultural center or house of worship, and ask them for advice.</p>
<p>Please remember that making fun of you is wrong, but if someone cannot understand you, that’s not good either if you want to remain in an English-speaking country. If someone asks you to slow down or speak clearer, it might make you more nervous and less likely to speak clearly, so if you focus on them trying to help you not hurt you, that might make you less nervous.</p>
<p>Be calm and up front about your accent. Mention in your presentation that you realize that your accent might be difficult for some to understand, and that you will be glad to clarify any cloudy issues afterward, if anyone asks. And say this with a big smile. Your accent is a part of you and there is nothing wrong with it other than how it might hinder communication. Dealing with it pleasantly and with humor, rather than painful embarrassment, will put both you and your audience at ease.</p>
<p>If you use powerpoint, be sure to put important points on the slide. That way, people can get the sense of your talk visually as well as aurally.</p>
<p>Remember to breathe. When we’re nervous, we tend to talk more quickly and our natural speech patterns, such as accents, become stronger.</p>
<p>I’m a mathematics major and in fact this semester I have 5 professors and they’re all from different countries. Many students in my classes have accents as well. The fact of the matter is it’s college and it’s very common for people in college to be international students with accents. You’ve been in the US for 10 years now which is pretty good so I doubt you’d have even close to as thick of an accent as many internationals at your school. To me, all of the students at my school are more or less used to the concept of someone having an accent. Here, it would not be an issue of thinking someone is weird or laughing at them because of their accent. If there was an issue, it would instead be about understanding you and nothing else. People understand that coming from a different country means you’ll have an accent so that’s not weird. I think what you currently need is more confidence. The reality is that your accent isn’t as big of a deal as you feel it is.</p>
<p>If your accent is soft, then others will be able to understand you just fine. 10 years is enough lessen an accent significantly. It’s also stupid that people made fun of you for having an accent. It’s not like you can just decide one day that you don’t want to have an accent anymore! </p>
<p>I think you’ll be fine. Personally, the only time I have trouble understanding people speaking with accents is if they just came to the U.S. within the last year or so, because the accent is still thick then. If you’re worried you’ll mispronounce words, just glance over your presentation ahead of time, and look up the pronunciation of any words that you are unsure of, or ask a nice friend if they think you are saying it correctly. But, really, just calm down, because you’ll do fine! <em>hug.</em> </p>
<p>It could be that the stress of doing a presentation brings your accent out more (I know that happens to me - if I get stressed or emotional my accent comes out).
Just practice presenting beforehand; you could video tape it if you are really curious.</p>
When we’re nervous, we tend to talk more quickly and our natural speech patterns, such as accents, become stronger.</p>
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