Teacher with heavy accent

[heavyaccent]

NC as controversial.........

DS has been moved up to top set maths for year 8 which is great. He claims to not be learning anything however, as he's having difficulty understanding the teacher because of her thick accent. She also apparently speaks quite quickly. When other students have asked her to repeat something she has exploded at them for not listening. He says she's very strict and not an approachable character.

I'm not sure how to advise he deals with this- he thinks asking her to speak slower or repeat details will get him in trouble. So do we just accept that he will sit there for the whole of year 8 not learning anything? He is now dreading this class every day. It was his favourite subject previously.

My only related experience is when learning to drive with the AA. I was allocated a Nigerian instructor. Very nice friendly man made me feel at ease but honestly I just nodded along with everything he said as I could barely understand a word. After 3 lessons like this I decided to switch instructor- I felt bad but I just wasn't learning anything and I couldn't afford to waste money on lessons.

So what is my AIBU- I'm not really sure. I would rather he drop back to set 2 and really understand the teacher and continue to learn. Is this a bit 'racist' of me though?

"It should be a given for everyone who lives and works in the UK to be able to speak (and write) English properly."

Well, it certainly helps you fit in if you speak at least a basic level of the indigenous language!

But teaching is different. If a student can't understand your basic speech what chance do they have of understanding the subject? We tend to skirt around thick accents in case of causing offense, but it is pretty important in a teacher. Having said that, 'd actually be more concerned about her reaction to being asked questions. This is not right. I'd be talking to the school about this.

The teacher could be asked to speak more slowly, that would help.

Is the teacher scouse

Dh really struggles with scouse

That poster clearly means the English LANGUAGE not the accent! hmm

Well it’s not that clear as the OP is commenting on the accent - not the math’s teacher’s ability to actually speak English

Oh come on, it’s not an everyday occurrence that people can’t be understood. The accent (whatever it is, who gives a damn) must be bad

Actually I know plenty of English people who struggle with English accents - and plenty of PP have also commented that Scottish/southwest/Yorkshire accents can be tricky for them. If that’s what you mean by a ‘bad’ accent....

OP - is it a school in NW London? My son keeps telling me the same thing about his Maths teacher...

FWIW, the teacher will have had to register with a regulatory body to be allowed to teach. Part of the assessment is communication with pupils, and so if it was so bad that there was no way around it she wouldn’t have passed that part.
I suspect he will get used to it. If not, it might be worth him speaking to her before/after class and just explaining that sometimes she talks quite fast and he struggles to hear. She is likely to respect the fact that he has come to her privately and it may make a difference. I know I would if a student came to me about something like that.

It's also a bit worrying that OP's been advised to leave it a few weeks because DS might "get used to it"... whether or not he's able to, what about the learning he's missing out on in the meantime?

And if it's correct that DS is worried about asking for repetition because the teacher's "exploded" at others who've asked the same thing, that surely suggests he's not alone in struggling

Dh isnt good at any strong accents really

We were on holiday once and as people walked past speaking in their own language he was trying to see if we could work out the language

There was one he couldn’t get and he asked me what language i thought they were speaking

They were talking in english...they just had a Scottish accent

Do other children in the class have the same problem with this teacher?

It's also a bit worrying that OP's been advised to leave it a few weeks because DS might "get used to it"... whether or not he's able to, what about the learning he's missing out on in the meantime?

I was one who thought that was a good plan...but rethinking i agree with you

If he does wait a few weeks he might get too far behind

For those posters suggesting that no one should be allowed to live in the UK without speaking English ‘properly’ (whatever that means)
This link explains just how difficult it can be for non native speakers to lose their accents - especially if it means forming sounds like ‘th’ which often don’t exist in other languages
www.wired.com/2014/09/whats-up-with-losing-accents/

Is the teacher scouse

We did our French exchange in the 1980s with a French school which had a Scouser English teacher, all the children had slight scouse english accents - it was slightly odd

I'm not sure why people are seemingly deliberately misunderstanding the difference between accent and language ability.

I shared a flat with a bloke with a strong Northern Irish accent. His English was, of course, as good as mine (what with him being a native speaker and all) but I couldn't understand a word he said.

I would approach the school and find out for myself just how strong and incomprehensible the teacher's accent is. And take it from there.

My DS had a Portuguese teacher and he was very hard to understand. We gave it a few weeks but no improvement. Head of Year then sat with class during his lesson. He was never seen again. It was a shame as apparently he was a really nice person.

Everyone assumes the teacher is a different race

I don’t think this is the case

And yet the OP is worried about appearing racist so has put that implication in the post. And they have apparently not tried to ascertain any facts around this "furrin accent" before wanting the child moved.

I'd go to the school and speak to them - and fairly soon. The issue is that if he can't understand he'll soon fall behind. My DS had a science teacher he couldn't understand, I spoke to the teacher at parent's evening and I couldn't understand him either. It was a nightmare because he taught top set. Most of the boys (it's boys school) in the top set got tutors in the end. School did zero but the guy has now left which for us is good.

No, it's not racist, accents can be difficult to understand if you're not used to them. I'm British currently living in America and I've experienced a few instances of people genuinely not understanding me because I pronounce certain words v. differently. "Water" is the classic example, I always have problems asking for it in a restaurant unless I pronounce it American-style! I also need to speak more slowly when I first meet people so they can get used to my accent...I feel that the onus is on me to make myself understood, not them.

The teacher needs to acknowledge that many people take time to get used to a new accent and slow her speech down, not get annoyed when her students ask her to repeat things. I think you do need to speak to the HOY.

This year my DD has a Maths teacher with an Eastern European accent and she's getting used to it as well.

One term when I was teaching I was asked to fill in for a French teacher. I ended up with a class of Norwegian teens speaking French with a Belfast accent.

I didnt assume the teacher was ‘foreign’

Probably cos i didnt read all the way to the bottom though

Good God! This thread!

All the anecdotal evidence of good teachers losing their jobs for thick accents. I really hope those teachers got their unions involved and take their employers over the coals for unfair dismissal and racism.

OP- why don’t you phone and ask to speak to the teacher? Then you’ll find out just how hard the accent is to understand. Maybe while you’re at it you can ask the teacher to tone down their natural accent to bette suit your son. And then describe the conversation to your child so they can discuss it with their mates at school. Maybe if you all bulky her enough she can change herself to suit you.

Some poor teacher, who is just trying to get on and do their job, is being rounded on by and group of kids all happy backed up by their parents.

I think you need to meet the teacher yourself and assess whether the accent is indeed impenetrable or your DS is exaggerating and will get used to it. Is there any way you can arrange that, under some pretence?

It doesn’t matter what the accent is. It’s up to your Year 8 DS to learn how to decipher it and if he can’t understand raise it in a diplomatic way that doesn’t disrupt the majority of the class who do understand. Pretty sure if he asked after class for her to run through the work or recommend extra notes she would be more amenable rather than a shouted ‘I don’t get it Miss’ in the middle of a lesson

We had a maths teacher from a certain Antipodean country, and we did exactly what she said. The whole class covered our books and wrote "Meths Bok" on them.

She saw the joke.

If you have an accent (even if you are a native English speaker, but from a different area), you need to slow down and enunciate properly however irritating you may find this personally. I say this as a fast talking foreigner btw.

There used to be a locum GP who was absolutely terrible as she couldn't understand much and just diagnosed dry skin and dehydration randomly .

@TheCanterburyWhales I really struggle with Irish accents, accents in general really. One of my closest friends is from Batley, I have known him for about seven years and I still sometimes struggle with his accent.