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Intparent: But how do you really know unless A) the college doesn’t allow non-native English speaking profs/TAs or has a relatively high level of English speaking capability requirements (speaking - not written) and tests to it orally and enforces it or B) you’ve heard every prof and TA speak? I don’t see how this can be avoided just because the school is smaller unless one of those two apply.</p>
<p>Regarding ‘accents’ - I don’t think accents are the issue - inability to speak reasonably understandable English is the problem. There’s a big difference between the two but I agree some of it’s subjective (i.e. the midewestern kid who can’t understand a New Yawker). As an example, I deal with a fair number of people from India and some I can understand well, most I can understand ok if I try hard enough, but some I simply can’t understand even though they’ve been living in this country for several years.</p>
<p>Regarding international students having to deal with it when they attend college here - well, they knew where they were coming and what to expect. I don’t think most students attending college in the USA are necessarily expecting to encounter a TA/prof they that can’t be reasonably understood by most students. If my kid decided to attend college in Japan that she knew would be taught in Japanese it’d be silly of her to complain she couldn’t understand the native Japanese speaker.</p>