Accents

[validquestion]

Ok, I have name changed for this in case it is too sensitive...

I work with a few people who have very strong accents, but otherwise fluent English, and at times I and others really struggle to understand what they say (after asking them to repeat themselves a couple of times I just find it embarrassing and pretend to understand). This is a real problem when they are working with clients.

I recently gave birth and the team delivering my baby seemed to have difficulty in understanding each other due to the strong accents of the two doctors.

AIBU to think that this isn't just me and should be addressed in the work place? Is there a way to tackle this without just sounding racist?

I've always gotten used to accents very quickly, some people don't I suppose!
I don't really see a way of tackling it apart from maybe eloqution classes, but tbh it doesn't bother me at all!

OP I can see why you have namechanged. And I think that if you did bring this up at work, you would be perceived as being racist.

Presumably your employers were happy enough with their verbal skills to have employed them...

Trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrollllllllllllllllll.

Too easy.

No, there is no way to tackle this without sounding racist - I'm surprised you have to ask.

I thought this was going to be another southern v northern thread.

Tbh, I don't really see much difference in not understanding a foreign accent and not understanding a regional (British) accent. You wouldn't hesitate to tell a (for example) Geordie that you can't understand their accent and can they please slow down so you can understand what they're saying, so why shouldn't you ask someone who speaks English as a second language to repeat what they've said?

Google "active listening" for some tips.

You don't say whether you mean strong non-British accents or strong regional British accents. It shouldn't make a difference though. It can be just as difficult for someone unfamiliar with e.g. a Glaswegian accent to understand someone with a strong accent, as it is to understand someone speaking fluent and correct but heavily accented English as a second language.

If you're just referring to non-British accents, then yes I think it is a bit racist. If you're referring to all strong accents, then I think it's one of those things that we all have to learn to deal with.

We all have an accent to some extent. People might find your accent difficult to understand.

Communication is a two-way process and the onus is on both parties to ensure comprehension.

D

It's a well known issue at work and is commented on as a problem by clients. They are employed as the best available to fill the vacancy but that just means that they are better than no one or the other candidates - we have trouble recruiting.

OP didn't say whether she was referring to regional accents or foreign accents. Personally I don't see the difference. If it is hard to understand it is hard to understand. That's not a judgement on the person with and accent, it's just a reflection of the degree of familiarity the listener has with that accent.

OP suggestts that she is speaking about foreign accents by the use of the word 'racist' - if she is talking about regional accents then racism would not be an appropriate word to describe it.

It's just life though isn't it? What you gonna do, ban accented employees?

My mother has real problems with accents (regional and no-British). But it's part of a problem she has with hearing. She fractured her skull as a teenager and it did something to her auditory processing. She simply cannot understand what people are saying. She has the same problem with non standard syntax. Poetry is utterly lost on her. And it's very difficult because she spends a lot of time apologising and asking people to repeat things slowly.

She has found that asking people to write things down and apologising because she has a problem with her hearing is never interpreted as anything other than what it is.

I once had a client at work with a very strong Geordie accent, I couldn't understand a word he said. He came back the next day with his mate to interpret for him.

If familiarity is an issue then is there any onus on people with unusual accents for a given location (whether foreign or regional) to work to make themselves more comprehesible in the work place?

In some cases they will be working with people who have not met them before or work with them only occassionally (as in large teams in hospitals who vary who they work with all the time or with patients or similar situations).

altimkum - one of my sons recently saw a health professional with a Glasgow accent. I understood her fine, but because she works with children, she is aware that many of them won't be familiar her accent. Right at the beginning she told him that she knew he might "miss" some of what she said, and he should ask her to repeat herself it that happened. I thought that was good example of encouraging him to be assertive and her being accommodating.

OTOH, I can see that a genuinely racist person might be prepared to make little effort in trying to understand an accent, or ridicule someone's accent

I think if somebody is speaking to clients they have to be understood, your boss must have been able to understand them at the interview surely, otherwise they would never have employed them.

Ive been in USA for 22 years,everyone laughs at me cos of my strong accent. When i go home (to Scotland) I get laughed at cos Ive got an american accent. Cant win I guess

I agree - you can get used to it very quickly!

I have lived in a lot of places across Britain now Britain and I often fail to notice an accent from the places I have lived (unless is it very strong).

There are some individual accents (individual not regional) that can be a little annoying (especially loud fake 'posh') but that is a different matter.

At the risk of being flamed I think there is a problem, especially in the health service. I have often seen doctors, espectially in a&e, and frankly could barely understand a word they said and yes I did ask them to repeat it, but sometimes it was four or five times. That I think is pushing what's acceptable up to the line. I managed to understand because I was an adult and not ill. Had I been elderly and vulnerable and ill I may not have been able to continue asking until what I needed to explain was clearly understood and I would not have been sufficiently on the ball to ensure that they understood me too. In those circumstances I think it is essential that people can be clearly understood because communication for a health professional is very very important. Unfortunately, in these circumstances far too many people will not complain for fear of racism and it isnt' racism it's trying to ensure that an essential service is fit for purpose.

what onceamai and validquestion said. After my anasthaetic went wrong on my EMCS, a senior anaethestist (sp?) came to see me and gave me a long speech about it.

He had a very strong accent and I honestly didn't understand anything other than "policy". I tried so hard to understand but it really was impossible to understand him. I engaged with him, eye contact, lip read, but to this day I have no idea what he said. He obviously had a great deal of knowledge but could not impart that knowledge. I didn't complaina I didn't want to be seen as racist, but what he had to say was important and affected me and I didn't know what it was. It could be potentially dangerous not to be understood in a clinical setting..

FWIW I can't understand Glasgow, Texan or Geordie either.

I don't care whether someone is black, white, sky-blue pink with purple spots, from the Bigg Market or Outer Mongolia - onceamia has it spot on: it's critical for people to be intelligible and easily understood when dealing with clients/customers etc.