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Well, I have an accent. Despite English being one of my native languages, it wasn't the only one; I learned English and Spanish simultaneously growing up between the mainland US and PR (dad was a Marine). Then, when I was five I learned Italian, and around the age of eight I learned Portuguese (thanks to movies and TV in those languages, I asked my mom to buy me books and methods to learn those languages). Then, in my teens I self taught myself Japanese just to download Japanese comics (manga). So, I learned all those languages because I liked them and used them quite a lot. Growing up people would say I had an odd accent, but I thought they were being a nuisance. Later in life, I discovered I have an odd accent indeed after years of being in denial.
My accent, judging to what most people had said, sounds quite different from most Spanish speakers; the majority of people I had known think I'm Romanian or Hungarian when they first meet me.
That being said, is my accent keeping me from getting a job?
What is your educational background? With those mix of languages I'd look at fed jobs. With a degree in something like economics, finance, math, business, engr, etc or a combination of those I'd think that they'd love to talk to you.
If your accent is not so strong to make it unintelligible/hard to understand by a native speaker, then you should be fine in most cases. You would only be in trouble if you are trying to obtain positions that are:
(1) Heavily depends on your oratory skills (e.g. reporter)
(2) Is heavily client-facing (e.g. consultant)
(3) Is in a sensitive field (e.g. intelligence professional)
Accents are hard to fully be removed once someone has become an adult, simply because you have made neural connections to articulate yourself with certain speech patterns that result in the accent. That said, it is not impossible, and many people do indeed remove their accents in adulthood. It takes conscious effort on your part to mentally correct yourself when speaking and to instead speak in a manner that minimizes your actual accent. Practice frequently; it is best to have a native speaker to regularly speak to and receive feedback from.
Smart people don't care about the cadence of your voice or an "accent" ...They care about what kind of person you are...If you are charming....polite and sincerely love people...you will not have a problem....if someone does not like you simply the because of the way you sound then you really don't have a future dealing with a person who is essentially stupid..be patient and let your personality glow...You will be fine.
This is just my opinion.....but your accent is part of your personal identity and your natural heritage - who you ARE - and I would never think you should "lose it" just to obtain a job. With your ability to speak so many different languages and the abundance of different nationalities here in the US - I would think your language skills would actually work in your favor. I don't know what your job preference is but maybe you should consider translation jobs or like Weichert said - Federal jobs or law enforcement jobs where they need people with your skills. Gotta tell you though - my husband are both white bread, USA born in the midwest - no accent at all - and still having hard time finding work. I don't think your accent is holding you back - it's this economy!!!!
Nah man... I guess it depends where you live but all my friends have accents (India, Spanish, etc...) and they all have government jobs where they have to interact with the public.
If you do ever decide that you want to reduce your accent, google "accent and dialect vocal coach" (or some combination of those words)- this is a specialty area of vocal coaching that is designed to help people with this very problem.
Smart people don't care about the cadence of your voice or an "accent" ...They care about what kind of person you are...If you are charming....polite and sincerely love people...you will not have a problem....if someone does not like you simply the because of the way you sound then you really don't have a future dealing with a person who is essentially stupid..be patient and let your personality glow...You will be fine.
You'd be surprised how many people judge others based on their accents and speech patterns. There are a lot of shallow people out there.
You'd be surprised how many people judge others based on their accents and speech patterns. There are a lot of shallow people out there.
Or the fact that I live in the south and lots of people think accent=foreigner, and may think I'm not an US citizen.
Also, I do have a degree but it's in communications (bad choice). I cannot work in the federal government in the near future because I had a security clearance that I lost due to financial reasons earlier this year (I'm slowly getting back on my feet with the help of my spouse). I also have military service under my sleeve and a little experience in IT (mostly Windows). Also, I was found guilty of reckless driving two years ago; that could also be hurting, but it's bothersome showing to an interview and having interviewers asking the very illegal question of where are you from. I had tried to dodge that question by answering that if they meant to said if I'm legal to work in the US, then yes, I'm authorized to work in the US.
Losing a security clearance is a serious red mark. You pretty much only have a future in the private sector to look forward to.
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