Many American people have told me that they cannot understand what I say because of my strong English accent. When I was young, I used to take it personal. I use to get hurt by their wording.
I majored in English language in the university and the graduate school. At my university, I learned English Phonetics. The professor taught us how to pronounce English words theoretically. With the knowledge of Phonetic symbols, the professor trained us to pronounce each symbols. So, I know English pronunciation “theoretically”. However, knowing and doing are two different things.
During my struggling days living in America, one day when I was having a meal with many Americans, somebody made fun of my English accent. So I told him in front of everybody that “please do not expect me to speak natural English accent. I can speak slightly better grammar than Yoda”. People busted to laugh. They nodded and agreed with me. I felt comfortable. Since then, I have started feeling comfortable with who I am and stay being me.
I finally have noticed the important thing. I am Japanese and I speak proper Japanese. That is what I have, and I should be proud of that.
I was not born here in America. English is not my mother tongue. I learned English as my foreign language. Considering that, I think I am doing pretty well. I am a Japanese living in a foreign country. In this country, I am registered as an “alien” anyway. An alien is supposed to be something that people have hard time to understand, right?
So, the same thing can be applied to everybody. We don’t need to force ourselves to become somebody else. Instead of trying to become somebody else, it might be easier to accept what we have and make the best use of what we have.
♬ Any feedback? (^^♪
three wisdom 