Accents
Deciphering accents isn’t something I had to worry about in the states. Pretty much everyone I talked to and dealt with, all spoke with US accents. There were times I had hispanic clients, but they were still able to explain themselves in a way that I could still understand. Even people from the South, that I would talk to, I could still understand them. It seemed like the accents that were visible, were all very easily to comprehend.
Since being here in Australia, there have been a number of occasions where I haven’t been able to understand someone. Most of the time, I’ll nod my head and make it seem like I understand what they’re saying. But there have been many times where I can’t do that. I try to pass off as understanding them. I don’t like to ask people to repeat themselves. It makes me feel like I’m not paying attention. When very well, I AM paying attention, I just can’t quite understand what they are saying.
For instance today….I was yet again, walking from one place to the next, and someone stopped me. Some gentlemen of Asian decent wanted to look at a certain tv. The screen had the “snowy” background and they wanted to know if they could test it out. I was unfamiliar with t.v.s and wasn’t too sure what to do. I asked around, and they said that for some reason, it wasn’t hooked up and that no one would be able to take a look at it till tomorrow. I tried to relay this information to them, but it was hard for me to understand their questions. I managed to finally understand that they would come back tomorrow, and that hopefully there would be someone who had fixed the t.v.
It’s amazing at how many different times I have had to say “sorry, what did you say?” when someone asks me something. Sometimes I even have to ask the manager I work with to repeat herself. She’s a doll, and is very friendly. I think she’s from some middle European country. But sometimes I have to ask her to repeat herself, and she has to do the same with me. But I don’t know what I sound like. I wish I did. But I guess to some people, they have a hard time understanding me.
Here in Australia, there are SOOO many people who have such strong accents. In truth, I tend to have the hardest time understanding are the Asian people. And what makes it worse, is that because I’m Asian, they assume that I understand them. Sometimes they’ll go off talking in their own language, and expect me to understand. I could go into more detail about THAT, but I’ll save that for another time and place. But there are so many people who don’t speak in broken English and it just makes my job even harder. I try to be civil and cordial, but sometimes I get a little annoyed. Is that bad of me??? I don’t really know how else to handle it, or how to handle it professionally. I try my best, and just hope that the other person doesn’t get offended if I keep saying “what, what?” when I can’t understand them.
-current mood-MY BODY IS SORE, did a lot of heavy lifting today.
Since being here in Australia, there have been a number of occasions where I haven’t been able to understand someone. Most of the time, I’ll nod my head and make it seem like I understand what they’re saying. But there have been many times where I can’t do that. I try to pass off as understanding them. I don’t like to ask people to repeat themselves. It makes me feel like I’m not paying attention. When very well, I AM paying attention, I just can’t quite understand what they are saying.
For instance today….I was yet again, walking from one place to the next, and someone stopped me. Some gentlemen of Asian decent wanted to look at a certain tv. The screen had the “snowy” background and they wanted to know if they could test it out. I was unfamiliar with t.v.s and wasn’t too sure what to do. I asked around, and they said that for some reason, it wasn’t hooked up and that no one would be able to take a look at it till tomorrow. I tried to relay this information to them, but it was hard for me to understand their questions. I managed to finally understand that they would come back tomorrow, and that hopefully there would be someone who had fixed the t.v.
It’s amazing at how many different times I have had to say “sorry, what did you say?” when someone asks me something. Sometimes I even have to ask the manager I work with to repeat herself. She’s a doll, and is very friendly. I think she’s from some middle European country. But sometimes I have to ask her to repeat herself, and she has to do the same with me. But I don’t know what I sound like. I wish I did. But I guess to some people, they have a hard time understanding me.
Here in Australia, there are SOOO many people who have such strong accents. In truth, I tend to have the hardest time understanding are the Asian people. And what makes it worse, is that because I’m Asian, they assume that I understand them. Sometimes they’ll go off talking in their own language, and expect me to understand. I could go into more detail about THAT, but I’ll save that for another time and place. But there are so many people who don’t speak in broken English and it just makes my job even harder. I try to be civil and cordial, but sometimes I get a little annoyed. Is that bad of me??? I don’t really know how else to handle it, or how to handle it professionally. I try my best, and just hope that the other person doesn’t get offended if I keep saying “what, what?” when I can’t understand them.
-current mood-MY BODY IS SORE, did a lot of heavy lifting today.
posted by Gaylicious© at Thursday, December 29, 2005
1 Comments:
Maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it, hun.
You've spent most of your life in the States. And even accounting for regional differences, the american accent is understood universally. Well, pretty much anyway. In fact, what i've noticed about most foreigners who visit for an extended period or who live in the US is the eventually acquiring of an americanized accent. It just makes it easier for the people they're around to understand them.
Now you're in a country where people speak with a different accent. I don't know if Australia and the UK have this is common, but i didn't feel the need to anglicize my own weird accent (which has influences of german, american and filipino) to be understood. I did however enjoy speaking English as opposed to american. I still do and it annoys my mother no end...
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